Museums of the Arroyo

This Sunday, five museums in Northeast LA will throw open their doors (and garden gates) for free. They call it Museusm of the Arroyo Day; it's now in its 16th year.

If you've got the energy to hit all 5, take the Gold Line to the Southwest Museum for starters — be sure to wander the halls, as it closes for a long-overdue renovation in July — and then board free shuttles to the other hot/free museum spots.

There will be tours of the Lummis Home and Garden (pictured), which was handbuilt from 1896-1910 by naturalist and civic booster Charles Lummis.

Across the arroyo, Heritage Square will have music and woodcarving demonstrations in and around the 8 Victorian-ish-era buildings, including the Longfellow-Hastings Octagon House.

Up in Pasadena, there will be a puppet show and more at the Pasadena Museum of History, which is housed in a Beux Arts-era mansion on Walnut.

The Gamble House, also in Pasadena, is a remarkable Greene & Greene craftsman, all the more remarkable for the fact that it's in perfectly preserved condition and is open to the public.

Kids are welcome at all locations — even the Gamble House, which will have crafting in the back yard. But grown-ups — particularly broke grown-ups like us — are sure to be museuming, too.