We have made two visits thus far to the Sherman Gardens in Newport Beach. It is a beautiful place and if you are in the area it is well worth your time spending a couple of hours there. It is fairly small, but the grounds and a couple of buildings are jam packed with things to see.
On both occasions we were camping for a few days at the Newport Dunes RV Park. Our first visit was in September of 2018. We had gone down to compete in the Lexus Lace Up 5k in Irvine that morning. We went to the Gardens in the early afternoon.
During the covid outbreak, July 2020, we headed down to Newport Dunes once again. Just to escape the desert heat and enjoy a change of scenery. Again, we were there for only an hour or two, but it was well worth the effort.