by B.J. Beauchamp

Where would you find the Garden of Eden in Los Angeles?  You wouldn’t, you think? Well, there are a couple places depending on who you are.

Literally there is an exclusive club on Hollywood Boulevard called "The Garden of Eden."  It claims to be worth the wait to get in, if you can get in at all.  You are told to be patient, look your best and to remember that it’s all about attitude… but you still may not get in if they don’t like your face or your attire.

This is a place that Hugh Hefner hangs out with his playmates.  One website lists that “People on the guest list are given priority and men have a hard time getting past the bouncers.”  Oy.

“The 9000 sq. ft. $2 million restaurant and nightclub located in the heart of old Hollywood, is the brainchild of South African ex-patriot David Judaken, and creatively master-mined by award winning designer Margaret O'Brien” – those words are taken from a website rating clubs in the area.  Okay, so indeed it may very well be the place for original sin and mankind’s wrong doings, but you won’t find me there, not even out of curiosity.   

For those of us who might never set foot in Mr. Judaken’s garden, we might find solace in the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino.  There you’d find 14,000+ different kinds of plants in settings of Japanese, Rose, Shakespeare, Jungle, Palm and Chinese gardens.  The Huntington is set on 207 acres of land in the San Gabriel Valley.  There is even a library, and an art center where the “The Blue Boy” painting by Thomas Gainsborough hangs out. Need wildlife?  Well the koi in the ponds aren’t wild, but there are three different species of squirrels, plus hawks, raccoons, possums and coyotes that visit the place.

Different strokes for different folks.