Lake Shrine Temple Garden

Today Baby M and I spent the morning at the Lake Shrine Temple Garden in Pacific Palisades. The 10 acre plot is a spiritual sanctuary with beautiful gardens, waterfalls, a lake, meditation areas, swans, ducks, koi and, somewhat mysteriously, a reproduction of a 16 century Dutch windmill.

I was a little apprehensive about taking Baby M, a boisterous 2 year old, to a place intended for quiet meditation and serenity, but he and his 3 companions behaved very well. Maybe all the inner peace and harmony rubbed off on them. We walked along the shady paths, enjoyed the flowers and fed the swans. Halfway around the lake there is a small shaded landing with a bucket of food for feeding the fish and birds. The kids loved tossing the pellets to the animals while the parents enjoyed the view and some adult conversation. We spent about 2 hours at the site and circled the lake twice (that's at toddler pace, on my own I probably could have done 5 or 6 laps during the same timeframe).

The Lake Shrine was a fun, easy outing. Free parking, free entrance to the garden and free duck food. And, most importantly, Baby M was tired out after running around in the fresh air and took a nice long nap.