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Surrounded by easy-commute communities with an abundance of attractions, Pasadena is a great base for the day-tripper. In the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, northeast of Pasadena, is SIERRA MADRE, a charming small town with the largest blooming plant in the world, a wisteria vine that is the center of a yearly festival (626/355-5111; www.ci.sierra-madre.ca.us). • In MONROVIA (www.ci.monrovia.ca.us), about 10 minutes by car from Pasadena, the Old Town's Myrtle Avenue, which dates to the 1890's, is a leisurely stroll down memory lane, with sweet shops and antiques stores. • SANTA ANITA PARK (285 W. Huntington Dr.; 626/574-7223), the famous racetrack, lies just a 15-minute drive east of Pasadena, in Arcadia. The track has a tram tour that celebrates Seabiscuit, the Thoroughbred that won the Handicap there in 1940. • At the L.A. County Arboretum & Botanic Garden (301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia; 626/821-3222; www.arboretum.org), you'll find a less pedigreed, but no less thrilling, attraction for pop-culture fanatics. Near the park's tropical forest is a 19th-century structure on a lagoon that served as the seaplane-arrivals building for TV's Fantasy Island.
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