A gem in Torrance

I am a bit ashamed to say that it was not until my uncle and his bride decided to get married that I learned there is a Japanese garden in Torrance.

I have lived in the South Bay for 18-plus years and never knew this.

I really need to get out more. Especially to see all the things in my own back yard.

Anyway...

The wedding was Saturday at the Pine Wind Garden at the Torrance Civic Center. I took a few pictures before the wedding started.

This is by no means the biggest or most elaborate of the Japanese gardens in the L.A. area.

The garden at the Huntington in San Marino is far larger, with a tea house and the red lacquer bridge.

In La Canada-Flintridge, the Descanso Gardens offering has a tea house where you can actually get tea service.

But the small garden here in Torrance was a beautiful place for a small wedding.

The garden is manicured, yet with a natural, rambling feel in its small space.

A series of steps leads down to a small areas in front of a rock waterfall. There are tiered benches around that and space for more chairs. This is where the arbor was set up for the ceremony.

To the side of that area, a stone path winds its way around the small garden passing a fountain on its way to a koi pond.

Even though there were classes, a martial arts event and an arts event taking place in the surrounding rooms and auditoriums, the garden was still a peaceful place.

Since it is November, I think I was lucky to see a lone lily blooming on the pond.

Now that I know it is there, I want to go back in spring to see what flowers might bloom there.

And I really do need to get out of my little rut and get to more of the places the South Bay has to offer.