I think we always seem to be in the same place at the same time.

Hello again!

So, the BU in LA program is pretty lax about us taking off and flying around the city at our leisure on the weekends (can I fit any more airport puns into that sentence?), but occasionally the administration does require us to be at certain places at certain times.

The Getty, and the garden.

This weekend's field trip was a Saturday morning excursion to the Getty Center, an art museum that is free to the public, thanks to the trust of the savvy and philanthropic oil tycoon, J. Paul Getty.

The view from the tram.

To get to the Getty Center, we parked at the main gate (at the base of a mountainous hill), and took a tram up to the actual complex. As we learned on the tour, this tram is a horizontal elevator. It will come into play more prominently later in our day.

Fossils! Also, lots of travertine.

Once all of the students were gathered up, we took a walking tour around the Getty, learning about the architecture and the landscaping. The whole complex is made of only three materials, all of which are only two colors (minus one notable purple structure). The architect, Richard Meier, prefers to only use the color white in his creations, so everything around is either T-Shirt White, or Getty White. However, the man who designed the central garden, Robert Irwin, took the opposite approach to the complex. His gardens are ever-changing and colorful, a bright complement to the minimalist architecture surrounding the garden.

The garden was filled with a variety of strange plantlife, accurately deemed "SPACEPLANTZ" by Amadeo.

That's enough learning for now. See, BU? Clearly we gleaned something from that tour. I think that means we've earned a trip to the beach. But ducking out of the Getty so soon would be a waste, so we checked out the garden, some famous Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, and Picasso paintings, then headed back to the tram.

We had some fun on the tram, because we were given an empty car. No harm, no foul...right?

This horizontal elevator is comparable to the Tower of Terror, ob-v.

After that madness, we felt a little hungry, so we GPS'd the nearest IN-N-OUT Burger. I mean, as long as we're being tourist-y this weekend, shouldn't we eat at this famous establishment? Answer: Yes.

Erin approves of this.

And, great minds thinking alike, we ran into another group of BU in LA kids there. Success. The burgers were great...and inexpensive. Double success.

The very condensed pier at Santa Monica. It's like Jersey...but in SoCal!

When our street meter ran out, we decided it was high time to head to the beach. We got back on the 10, and drove to Santa Monica. I think this blog is about to be transformed into a serious picture post. Ready? Go!

Hellllo, sand and surf!

View from the pier, looking at the beach.

View from the pier, looking toward the ocean.

"Is that a baby?!" One ride allowed young children to be strapped into a bungee cord.

The Promenade.

After exploring the pier for a while, we killed time pre-sunset by heading to the Third Street Promenade. We saw musicians, clowns, kittens, and even a monkey. Also, you can shop there, I suppose.

...and it's decorated with dinosaurs!

...for reasons we can't explain!

Anyway, after walking up and down the promenade, we walked back to the pier for some serious sunset-over-the-ocean action.

Underneath the pier.

Josh joined us for some kettle corn and coughing.

As the sun set, we listened to some great covers by musician James Valenti.

The sunset. Y'all know how I feel about sunsets.

After the glorious colors faded from orange to pink to yellow to blue, we walked back down the pier to take some photos with the ferris wheel. Because, if you know Lauren, you know how she feels about ferris wheels. It's akin to how I feel about sunsets.

The ferris wheel...the pier...the water. Sigh.

Happy Lauren is happy.


The Ferris Wheel!

Let's be honest, we're all happy.

Some people might think all-green is boring, but I think it screams "Science!"

Last picture of the evening. What a good day!

So, that was our first Saturday in LA. Come visit us, we'll take you to the beach...in winter!
-Jenn