The films that have used the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanical Garden as a location are plentiful; you can't go down this lengthy list without some serious scrolling.
Westerns are few among the movies, but very common? Tropical or island-set flicks, from "Tarzan" to "The Lost World: Jurassic Park 2." Yep, even the opening of the original "Fantasy Island" relied upon the lush Arcadia-based gardens.
This all makes the fact that a certain Wild West festival will be clip-clopping into the Arboretum rather charming, and even a little brain-bending, indeed. Call it a living mash-up between the desert and the tropics. Orchids meets cactus. Peacocks meet ponies. Lagoon meets mesa.
Wild West Days will yee-haw through the Arboretum on Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5. The price? Arboretum admission. The chap-clad to-dos? Plentiful, pardner. (You never say "pardner" as "partner" during a Wild West-style party, right? Good. Just checking.)
Some of the festival's 10-gallon haps include gold-panning, cowboy fashion, roping, and horse shoes. Plus a root beer saloon for the youngpokes. We don't like to trot out the word "cute" too often, but please. That deserves it.
If you hung out at the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival a few weeks back, and want to get some more wear out of your shiny spurs, here's your chance.
We'd probably dress up all cowpoke and pose for a pic in front of the "Fantasy Island" house on the property.
The Scene
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Wasn't there an episode where a guest wanted to play out their Wild West, yippee-ki-yay dreams? If not, there should have been, because western spirit is alive and saddled to ride in this modern day.
