ORANGE APPEAL FIND THE BEST OF WHAT THE COUNTY HAS TO OFFER IN COSTA MESA.

Byline: Richard Irwin Staff Writer

COSTA MESA - A beautiful park with a meandering stream sparkled outside the sliding glass doors of the hotel room. On a bright, sunny day in this upscale community in Orange County, the sound of running water hid the noise of the city.

Slipping between two high-rise buildings, I suddenly found myself in a stand of redwood trees with a river crisscrossing the valley below.

I had stumbled upon the outdoor sculpture garden ``California Scenario,'' by Isamu Noguchi. Sections of the 1.6-acre garden represent different regions of the state, including the redwoods and desert. Located at 2 Town Center, it's open daily from 8 a.m. to midnight.

Costa Mesa, with a strong cultural presence and an impressive concentration of high-end retail stores, holds many such pleasant surprises.

Adjacent to the sculpture garden is the Orange County Performing Arts Center, where the sun's rays glint off ``Fire Bird,'' an enormous sculpture that sweeps across the grand portal and into the lobby through a great glass wall. Made of red, gold and silver aluminum and steel, the sculpture glowed, spreading its metal wings in the suggestion of flight.

Inside, flights of fancy await patrons. More than 600,000 people attend performances here every year. Programming ranges from Broadway shows (``Les Miserables'' arrives in early April, ``Cats'' at the end of May, ``42nd Street'' in June) to international dance (the Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg, Russia, in May).

Opera Pacific has found a home here. ``Il Trovatore'' by Verdi opens April 29 for a short run.

The center is also home to several other groups, including the Pacific Symphony Orchestra and the Pacific Chorale.

Be sure to take one of the free tours, offered at 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays. You'll get the chance to slip backstage and see one of the largest stages in the world. Visitors also get a look at some of the 19 dressing rooms that can hold 200 performers, as well as the wardrobe room and scene shop.

The $72 million Orange County Performing Arts Center was built with private funds. I was impressed by the offset balconies the first time I gazed across Segerstrom Hall. The unique, asymmetrical balconies were designed this way to make the 3,000-seat theater acoustically perfect.

A few steps away is the South Coast Repertory Theater, a $6 million, Tony Award-winning theater that presents many cutting-edge productions. Alan Ayckbourn's ``Relatively Speaking'' is currently being staged, to be followed by the world premiere of ``The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow,'' by Rolin Jones (April 29).

Visitors to Costa Mesa can also be jolted by the transition from park to Park Place - that was my impression after I crossed Bristol Street to South Coast Plaza, which houses Tiffany, Cartier and Saks Fifth Avenue, among other prestigious stores.

The lineup of stores offers a true shopper's paradise, reading like a fashion designer's who's who: Ann Taylor, Chanel, Christian Dior, Donna Karan, Gianni Versace, Giorgio Armani and Louis Vuitton.

While South Coast Plaza may look like a typical mall from the outside, the resemblance stops there. One giveaway is valet parking. There are four locations where shoppers can drop off their cars and not have to worry about finding a parking spot.

Inside, shoppers find concierge desks to help them. (How civilized!) The concierges will help make restaurant and theater reservations. They also offer foreign language assistance and tourist information.

It seems strange to find a Thomas Cook Foreign Exchange in a mall, but there you have it. A convenient place to convert those euros you brought back from Europe last summer.

Don't look for a food court: South Coast Plaza has restaurants like a Wolfgang Puck cafe and Vie de France. Picking the French cafe, I settled in for some serious people-watching over a croissant sandwich.

Later, I took a respite from shopping by visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Orange County Art Museum. Both have branches at South Coast Plaza.

Sated by fine food and spirits, refreshed by culture, I was convinced that this planned community offers world-class adventure on a very human scale.

COSTA MESA

Where: To reach the Orange County Performing Arts Center or South Coast Plaza, exit at Bristol Street off the 405 Freeway. Both are a short distance east of the freeway.

Orange County Performing Arts Center: [phone]; www.ocpac.org.

South Coast Plaza: www.southcoastplaza.com.

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Enjoy the serene park behind the Marriott and Wyndham hotels.

Richard Irwin