Gardens – California’s Gold (131)

The theme of this episode is gardens! Combining two episodes, join Huell as he travels to two different gardens to explore their rich history and beauty. The first half, follow Huell as takes a trip out to Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay. Alcatraz Island, or commonly known as “The Rock” by some of the prisoners that were once held there, is often seen as an ominous place, but on this trip Huell decides to observe the beauty in the island through the gardens that have been planted in the 1860s by the military families when the island used to be a military garrison and prison.

The second half is a visit to the original Busch Gardens in Pasadena. Although many may remember the Busch Gardens in Van Nuys, now the Anheuser-Busch brewing facility, many might not be familiar with the original Busch Gardens. Located in Pasadena, these gardens were created by Adolphus Busch, co-founder of Anheuser-Busch, for his family and open to the public. Now long gone, one can still find remnants of the original Busch Gardens in Pasadena.

Note: This episode is a combination of episodes from California’s Gold and California’s Golden Parks. It was released across Public Broadcasting Service’s (PBS) affiliated stations in California, but not necessarily on the same day for each station. The date shown represents an earliest, approximate airdate for this episode. A more conclusive airdate may potentially be between 1/9/2008 – 12/31/2011.