Page Museum / La Brea Tar Pits
Wilshire Boulevard Miracle Mile
August 15, 2015
We took Margaret to see the Ice Age fossil collection at the Page Museum. We have been there several times before but our most recent visit was two years ago. The La Brea “tar pits” (technically asphalt seep pools) are home to an unparalleled set of fossil remains from the Pleistocene period. In 1913, the first systematic excavations began when the Hancock family gave the newly established Los Angeles County Museum the sole right to excavate fossils from the tar pits for two years. Inside the museum are displayed many full skeleton fossils of extinct mammals such as mastodons, mammoths, sloths, horses, camels, dire wolves, and of course saber toothed cats, which Margaret liked best.
We opted to see one of the two shows on offer, “Ice Age Encounter,” a family friendly 15 minute docent presentation with media clips and a life size saber toothed cat puppet. There is also a 30 minute “Titans of the Ice Age” 3D film shown in another theater inside the museum. Both shows are ticketed separately from the basic museum admission.
We decided to skip the outside tour of the current excavations because of the record heat. That tour is included with the museum admission. The Page Museum is located in Hancock Park, next to LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), and it is generally a very nice park to stroll through. There are several active asphalt seeps within the park grounds, including a pit where excavation is still going on. Additionally, the museum is very busy with Project 23, an exploration of 23 separate large excavated boxes of material dug up recently when LACMA expanded its parking garage.
There is an area inside the museum where visitors can look through glass windows to see scientists, both paid and volunteers, sorting through fossils of various sizes, cleaning and categorizing them. It is fun to watch that activity and realize that this institution is not just a warehouse for fossils dug up years ago; it is also an ongoing research institution.
The basic admission price for adults is $12; with one show added, the price is $16; a “passport” including both shows is $19. Student, youth, and senior prices are $9 basic, $13 with one show, and $16 for the passport. For children ages 5-12 those prices are $5, $8, and $11. Wheelchair accessibility is good. The staff are cheerful and helpful.
We usually like to park in the lot behind the Page Museum when we visit it or LACMA. The charge is a $10 flat rate; that lot is located at the corner of Curson Ave. and 6th St., directly behind the museum. Enter from the western side of Curson Ave. However, it tends to fill by late morning, and we were running a little late today. We found it full, so parked across the street in the commercial parking garage behind Johnnie’s New York Pizzeria, our favorite area restaurant. We like to eat at Johnnie’s whenever we go to one of the Wilshire Boulevard museums – there are about half a dozen located within a block or two on “Museum Row” – and we made it our lunch stop today. Margaret was in touch with her inner hobbit and wanted mushrooms, so she ordered the mushroom calzone. Meredith ate cannelloni, and Bob had a chicken Panini. Both food and service were very good.
We met up with Meredith’s sister Kathleen at Starbucks back in the San Fernando Valley near Margaret’s home for cold drinks at the end of the day. The heat was even more extreme in the Valley then it had been at Hancock Park. We dashed from air-conditioned car to air-conditioned restaurant.
Margaret did a little better with the car / wheelchair transfers today. The exertion tires her, but her balance and ability to stand seemed a little better than on our last several visits. She did not talk much today, although she asked after her grandchildren, and she seemed engaged and happy at the museum.