Trip to LA Part III: Griffith Observatory

Part 3 of 3: Griffith Observatory

A model of the telescope in one of the displays at the Griffith Observatory.

I don't know why, but aerospace engineers seem to have a fascination for space. (Space week on the science channel was like couch-glue for these guys.) So our final destination of the day was the Griffith Observatory. (For those who might not know, observatories are buildings that house giant telescopes.) Because of its remarkably calm skies, there is less atmospheric distortion on the west coast than probably most of the country, making California a haven for astronomers in the 19th century. Consequentally, California has lots of important observatories, including Palomar, Mount Wilson, and Lick.

The beautiful city of Hollywood stretched out beneath Griffith Observatory, giving off light pollution that I'm sure the astronomers curse.

Supposedly, Griffith Observatory was only 40 minutes or so from Hollywood, so we stayed in Hollywood for dinner and enjoyed delicious, satisfying meals at Johnny Rockets. (I caught myself singing along with the oldies eminating from the cieling a couple of times.) We headed out expecting to arrive at the observatory with plenty of time. Little did we know our GPS had other plans for us that night!

First, it tried to take us up a road through a park that was closed off with a gate. After failing to find a way around it, we stopped to ask directions from an elderly Japanese man returning to his car from a picnic. "Yes... yes! I know how to get to the observatory. It's been many years though.... If you exit the park, you'll be on Los Feliz Blvd. Then, ah... you turn on Vermont Ave. Very simple, yes?" We thanked him and headed out on Los Feliz. To our excitement, the GPS was now plotting a new course to the observatory that didn't involve crashing through locked park gates!

A few minutes later, we passed Vermont Ave. Oops! But our GPS had us turn at the very next road, so they probably meeted up somewhere, right? An extra block wouldn't hurt us. As we drove, the road became steeper and narrower. Imagine one of those windy roads they film car commercials on, except with one-lane. And cars parked on each side. This road goes on and on, and as we're getting closer to where the GPS shows our turn is, a park ranger car with lights flashing comes from around a corner and barely misses us! When we look back at our GPS, we've passed our turn. The road's too narrow for us to turn around so we keep following the road, which turns out to be a loop, and descend back down the mountain. Thinking we might have just missed the turn due to the distraction of the near-accident, we head back up. When we get to the spot though, there is no road to turn on. There's a house sitting where our road should be. Our GPS has misled us again! Giving up, we head back down and trace our steps to find Vermont, like the wise old man had suggested.

We find Vermont, and it does take us to the observatory. However, the observatory is packed and the parking had overflowed back down the road for a quarter mile. So we park, and start hiking up the road in the dark, without flashlights. We suspected the people were there for fireworks, since it was July 3, but we were never sure. The observatory was packed too, so maybe it's just really popular. It was like a small science museum, with exhibits on how telescopes work, the history of astronomy, and general space topics like the solar system. It would be perfect for an elementary school field trip. Plus, it's free! The planetarium costs extra, but we didn't do that.

Don't look now, but there is a gas giant above your head!

Me with my buddy Einstein, a humble guy who tries to deflect attention.

The observatory closed at 10 o'clock, and we drove back to San Diego. We were fairly worn out, so we spent the rest of the weekend recovering by sleeping in and watching the Science channel.