Los Angeles: Disney Concert Hall

Disney Concert Hall

Understated Sign

Soaring Architecture

Narrow Passageway Through “Sails”

Photographer Reflections

Glass Reception Desk

Lobby’s Wooden Support Columns Mimic Trees (designed to hide structural/mechanical equipment)

Pre-Concert Lecture Hall for “Talks with Maestro”

Concert Hall’s Massive Pipe Organ (nicknamed “Hurricane Mama”)

Close-up of Unique Curved Pipes

48-Foot Mural “Blue” by Peter Alexander

Rose Fountain Centerpiece in Garden Outside

“A Rose for Lilly” Commissioned by Mrs. Disney’s Children and Grandchildren

Close-up of Fountain’s Delft Porcelain Mosaic

Coral Tree in Blue Ribbon Garden

Hong Kong Orchid Tree Near Triangular Doorway

Hong Kong Orchid Tree Flower

When we visited Los Angeles, California, we attended a classical concert at the Disney Concert Hall.  The acoustics were incredible!  We sat front row center – so close to the musicians that we could almost read their music.  There is nothing quite like being that close to a full orchestra – it is unforgettable!  Lillian Disney commissioned the building in tribute to her late husband Walt to honor his dedication to the arts.

Before the LA Philharmonics concert, we went on an architectural tour of the building.  It was designed by Frank Gehry, who said the building’s billowing shape was meant to evoke a sailing ship.  Initially the stainless steel exterior was buffed to a mirror-like shine, but the shiny metal reflected too much heat, so the surface was changed to matte.

Inside the concert hall the acoustics are absolute perfection.  Douglas fir wood lines the walls and ceiling of the auditorium.  The cushions of the chairs are engineered to reflect sound in the same way whether people are seated in them or not.  The organ at the front of the hall contains 6,134 uniquely curved pipes (its nickname is “Hurricane Mama”).  The size of the pipes range from smaller than a pencil to as big as a telephone pole.

Outside the building, visitors can enjoy the public Blue Ribbon Garden (up a left staircase to the second level from the street).  The lush garden is a nice counterpoint to the modernistic building.  A centerpiece of the garden is a fountain designed for Lillian as a tribute from her children and grandchildren.  Its flower shape reflects her fondness for roses, and its composition reflects her passion for Delft porcelain.  Designer Frank Gehry commissioned 200 Delft vases from Holland at a cost of $34,000 to produce the thousands of pieces needed for the sculpture’s mosaic.  It took a team of 8 artists over 4 months to complete the lovely fountain.

When speaking of his work, Gehry said “Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.”

A fun TV show about the Disney Concert Hall by Huell Howser of “California’s Gold” is at:  https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2007/09/11/disney-concert-hall-downtown-111/

More info is at:  http://www.laphil.com/visit/tours

Catalina Island’s Crown Jewel: 1929 Casino

Walkway to Casino

Entrance to Casino

Close-up of 18-foot-tall Catalina Tile Mermaid

Black Walnut Paneled Lobby with Seashell Theme Chairs

22-Karat Gold Leaf Stars on Ceiling

Art Deco Avalon Theater (seats 1,154 people)

Looking Toward Entrance Doors Inside Theater

1929 Exotic Peacock Mural in Theater

California Desert Landscape Mural with Stylized Leaping Antelopes in Theater

Reproduction in 22-Karat Gold Leaf of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus Above Stage

Close-up of Intricate Design of Proscenium Arch Above Stage

1929 Page Pipe Organ in Theater (one of three in world and still in use today)

Theater Projectors / Original Editing Room where Cecil B. DeMille Viewed Daily Island Movie Shoots

Benny Goodman Poster

World’s Largest Circular Ballroom (can hold over 6,000 people and has no support beams)

Looking Straight Up at Tiffany Chandelier in Ballroom

Riding a Dolphin Design in Sterling Silver Leaf in Ballroom

Romance Promenade Overlooking Avalon Harbor

Casino Fish Bar

Lyrics to Avalon, Sung by Al Jolson in 1920

Catalina’s historic Casino is the crown jewel of Avalon, California. Its name means “gathering place” or “entertainment” in Italian (it never hosted gambling). The Casino was built in 1929 by chewing gum magnate William Wrigley and features the world’s largest circular ballroom. Benny Goodman’s Big Band music was broadcast live from there to a nationwide audience in the 1930s and 1940s. Movie stars including Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, Cary Grant, and more visited the Casino during that era. The ballroom is still in use today.  

The Casino reflects its island location through designs and furnishings with sea themes. The murals were painted over 3 months’ time by John Gabriel Beckman in 1929 (he had previously worked on murals at Grauman’s Chinese Theater). Murals outside above the main entrance feature ocean life, kelp forests, and an 18-foot tall Catalina tile mermaid. Murals inside the art deco Avalon Theater reflect California’s early history and environment. The Avalon Theater was used as a model to design the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The architecture of the Casino is amazing, and the setting is stunning!    (Click on any image for enlargement and more detailed information.)

California: Palm Springs Art Museum

Your Dog Fiberglass Statue

Sputnik-Style Starburst Chandelier

Golden Rain

Acoma-Hopi Seed Jar

Rattlesnake and Desert Iguana Basket

Paiute Beaded Basket

Navajo Yeibeichai Rug with Female Dancers

Driftwood Bronze Horse

Picasso Owl

Twin 6-Foot Bronze Hearts in Outdoor Sculpture Garden

Costa’s Hummingbird at Red Salvia in Dining Courtyard

We always enjoy visiting the Palm Springs Art Museum in Southern California. There is a wonderful variety of items on display, and it is delightful dining outside beside cacti and hummingbirds. Info about visiting the museum is at: http://www.psmuseum.org/

Nature at Alcatraz Island National Park

Fog Bank Flowing Over Alcatraz

Alcatraz Island – “The Rock” Front Side

Alcatraz Island – “The Rock” Back Side

Western Gull

Juvenile Black-Crowned Night Heron

Pigeon Guillemot

Beautiful Peach Rose

Gorgeous Calla Lily

Succulent Garden

Alcatraz Island National Park is San Francisco’s number one tourist attraction.  Most people visit “The Rock” to learn about its role as a Federal Penitentiary housing criminals such as Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly (1934-1963).  But some visitors come for a different reason – they come to see its historic gardens and nesting sea bird colonies in spring. 

The gardens were important to everyone living on the island.  Park rangers say the gardens demonstrate the importance of plants to the human spirit.  More info is at:  http://www.alcatrazgardens.org/index.php  and  http://alcatrazgardens.org/featured-on-the-internet.php   A self-guiding brochure of the gardens is at:  http://www.alcatrazgardens.org/pdf/AZ%20Garden_05_12.pdf      You can watch an episode about the gardens by Huell Howser’s “California’s Golden Parks” at https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2007/11/08/alcatraz-gardens-californias-golden-parks-158/     

Sea birds nest on the island from February – September.  Birds that breed on the island include California and Western Gulls, Pigeon Guillemot, Brandt’s Cormorants, Black-Crowned Night Herons, and Snowy Egrets.  A brochure on the “Waterbirds of Alcatraz” is at:  http://www.nps.gov/alca/naturescience/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=388749

Sea Lions at San Francisco’s Pier 39

Sea Lion Statue at Pier 39

Sign Pointing to Sea Lions

Sea Lions on Floating Docks

Sea Lions Sleeping

Sea Lion Hello

Sea lions are quite a tourist attraction at San Francisco’s Pier 39 at Fisherman’s Wharf.  The animals first showed up in 1989, and have made their home there ever since.  Sea lion numbers rise and fall with the seasons and food supply.  Activity is lowest in summer, when most of the sea lions migrate south for breeding season.  The animals are endlessly entertaining.  Visitors always laugh when they watch them!  Imagine yourself there with the cool fog on your face,  the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance, and these raucous sea lions in front of you.  Adding to the ambiance are the deep booms of a fog horn and sea gulls calling overhead – what fun!  A live cam is at:  http://www.pier39.com/home/the-sea-lion-story/sea-lion-webcam/   

Killdeer Nest at Matanzas Creek Winery and Lavender Gardens

Killdeer Distraction Display

Killdeer Eggs in Nest

Matanzas Creek Wishing Well

Lavender Flowers

View of Matanzas Creek Lavender Gardens

Killdeer nests are a simple depression scraped out of the ground with added bits of sticks, grass, rocks, or shells.  If a predator gets too close, killdeer perform a distraction display.  We knew we were near a nest when this mother killdeer pretended to have a broken-wing – the performance was quite convincing!  We didn’t want to upset her, so we quickly walked away in the other direction.  Just like that she “recovered” and ran back to the 4 eggs safely tucked in her nest.  She couldn’t have picked a more scenic place to raise her family – right in the middle of the lavender gardens at the Matanzas Creek Winery in Sonoma County, California.  Info on visiting is at:  http://www.matanzascreek.com/

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: Owl Painting

San Francisco MOMA Owl Painting

When we visited the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, I fell in love with one piece of art in particular by Joseph Cornell from 1957. The painting features an owl and is called “For Sale”.  The delightful text reads:
“FOR SALE. Sequestered bower – numerous compartments, look-outs, guest rooms, cozy nooks (feather-lined), pine-scented lounge, ivy-covered observatory for early dawn views and romantic sunsets, cheese cellar, moss-lined alcoves with dripping water and large variety of snails, cool storage, chalet-view of valley, bird’s eye view of old chateau inhabited by storks, aquarium in base of trunk with rare deep forest specimens, salamander’s crannies, violet-banked approaches, musical waterfalls, natural mineral specimens, and easy walking distance to enchanted lake.”

Ghost Town Bodie: Touching Cemetery

Bodie’s Fenced-In Cemetery at the Edge of Town

Granite Tombstone of Waterman Bodey (town is named after him)

Blue Tombstone of Irishman James Perry

Angel Tombstone of Evelyn Myers

Plain Wooden Tombstone

Obelisk Tombstone of Anthony Thumann

Tombstone of Bodie’s Beloved Prostitute Rosa May

Life in the 1800s in Bodie, California, was tough.  Winters were long with frequent blizzards, 20-foot snowdrifts, and 100 mph winds.  Fierce epidemics claimed many lives.  Gold mining was dangerous, and crime was rampant.  Many residents perished, and they were buried at the edge of town in Bodie’s fenced-in cemetery.  Visitors are welcome to walk through the cemetery and pay their respects to these pioneers of long ago.

Bodie – America’s Best Ghost Town!

Methodist Church

Building with Saw Blade

Fire Station with Bell

False Front Building

Wagon Wheel

Bodie’s Gold Mine

Gold Pan at Town’s Entrance

Bodie’s Historical Marker

Bodie is America’s best and most authentic ghost town!  It is located on a high desert plateau north of Mono Lake, California.  Walking down the dusty streets is like taking a step back through time.  Buildings and their contents are preserved exactly as they were when the gold rush ended.  Bodie is now a California State Park.  Because of the tough climate, it is best to visit in summer or early Fall.

During its peak in the late 1800s, Bodie’s mines produced $100 million in gold.  Lawlessness was rampant – gunfights and stagecoach holdups were frequent events.  Saloons outnumbered churches 65 to 2.  All supplies had to be transported to the town’s remote location.  Despite the hardships, people stayed until the gold ran out.  Now people come from around the world to see what life was like in the old Wild West.

San Francisco: Lombard Street

Lombard Street Looking Down

Lombard Street Looking Up

Cars Driving Down Lombard Street’s Tight Curves

Lombard Street Christmas Card

San Francisco’s Lombard Street has been called the “Crookedest Street in the World”.  One of the homes was filmed as Jimmy Stewart’s residence in the movie Vertigo.  The block’s extremely tight eight curves were designed to slow down traffic on the steep slope.  Tourists love to come and drive or walk down this famous hill!

Spectacular Hearst Castle

Hearst Castle Main Entrance

Tower Closeup

Patio near Outdoor Neptune Pool

Neptune Pool Modeled after Roman Coliseum

Indoor Pool with Lapis Lazuli Tile and Real Gold

Indoor Pool with Marble Statue

Formal Dining Room

Holiday Decorations

Marble Statuary: Woman and Bird

View from Top of “Enchanted Hill”

Zebra Grazing on Grounds of Estate

The spectacular Hearst Castle is located at the south end of Big Sur.  This palace on the “Enchanted Hill” overlooks 14 miles of undeveloped California coastline.  Construction started on the estate in 1919 after William Randolph Hearst told his architect that he was “tired of sleeping in tents, and would like to build a little something”.  That “little something” took 25 years to build and turned into one of the world’s most expensive homes! 

The Hearst Castle has over 90,000 square feet of living area including 165 rooms, a formal dining room, library, movie theater, and indoor and outdoor swimming pools.  The home is decorated with antiques and statuary collected from Europe and Egypt.  The buildings are surrounded by 127 acres of formal gardens and orchards.  In addition, Hearst owned the largest private zoo in the world from 1923-1937.  The zoo has now been dismantled, but descendants of some of those original animals can still be seen grazing on the grounds of the estate.  The home was especially famous for its parties in the 1920s and 1930s, and movie stars flocked there on the weekends.  After Hearst’s death, the estate became a California State Park in 1958.  The home is especially beautiful over the holidays.  Info about visiting the Hearst Castle is at:  http://www.hearstcastle.org/content/facts-and-stats 

Insect Museum and Live Insect Zoo

Beetle Display at Insect Museum

Papua New Guinea Insect Display at Insect Museum

Richard and Giant Lime-Green Walking Stick at Insect Zoo

Giant Lime-Green Walking Stick Closeup

The Insect Museum at the University of California, Davis, is a fun place to visit.  The Bohart Museum of Entomology has the 7th largest insect collection in North America.  On display are cases of colorful insects along with a description of criminal cases solved with “Insect Forensic Evidence”.  Visitors especially enjoy the live Insect Zoo featuring giant millipedes, hissing cockroaches, scorpians, a rose-haired tarantula, and a giant lime-green walking stick from the Lesser Antilles.

UPDATE 2014:  There is a fascinating article in Bay Nature about fire-chasing beetles.  At football games in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1940s when multitudes of fans lit up cigarettes in the stadiums, the beetles came from far and wide to descend on the fans!  Read about these amazing beetles here:  https://baynature.org/article/fire-chasing-beetles-make-appearance/

Honeybee Research Facility and Bee Garden

Honeybee Research Facility Entrance

Honeybee Statue in Bee Garden

Vanilla Honey Bee Ice Cream

The Honeybee Research Facility and Bee Garden at the University of California, Davis is an interesting place to visit.  The garden was funded by Häagan-Dazs through their special edition “Vanilla Honey Bee Ice Cream”.  A giant honeybee statue stands at the entrance to the garden.   Visitors are encouraged to stroll through the garden and see honeybees at work.  Bees are very important – they pollinate one-third of all the food that we eat!

2019 UPDATE:  New research suggests that flowers can hear bees!  https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2019/01/flowers-can-hear-bees-new-research-suggests/

Monterey Bay Aquarium: Outer Bay/Open Sea Exhibit

Monterey Bay Aquarium – Outer Bay/Open Sea Exhibit Window

The window at the Outer Bay /Open Sea Exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium is massive!  Standing in front of it is like scuba diving without getting wet!  At night a wall of bubbles obscures the window so that the fish don’t run into it in the dark.  We arrived at the window before the bubbles were turned off for the day.  The beautiful blue color of the exhibit comes from the blue tiles covering its walls – over 1.6 million tiles were used! 

Monterey Bay Aquarium: Draw Your Own Digital Jelly

Draw Your Own Digital Jelly Touchscreens and Wall-Size Virtual Ocean

Touchscreen to Draw Jelly

Touchscreen to E-mail Jelly Link

Richard’s Digital Jelly Swimming in a Virtual Ocean

Pam’s Digital Jelly Swimming in a Virtual Ocean

At the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Jellies Experience Exhibit, you can use a touch screen to draw your own digital jelly and launch it into a wall-size virtual ocean. You can also use the touchscreen to e-mail your jelly link. This display is irresistible and very popular!  

UPDATE December 2015:  Videos of digital jellies swimming in a virtual ocean are no longer available online since the special exhibit has been closed. 

Monterey Bay Aquarium: Glowing Jellies and Corals

Flower Hat Jellies

Button Polyps

Glowing Coral

Tiny Elegant Jelly

Fluorescent Jelly Proteins Display

At the Monterey Bay Aquarium, jellies and corals in the Light Show Gallery can be seen brightly glowing under special lights as a result of fluorescence and bioluminescence. Scientists use fluorescent jelly proteins for laboratory research and diagnostics. Richard has used glowing jelly proteins in his own research. The protein was famously used in the year 2000 by French geneticists to create a rabbit named Alba whose hair glowed green under ultraviolet light. For those especially interested in science, check out this new article on the world’s first artificial jellyfish at Harvard University that is being used to study pumping of the heart muscle:   http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22088-heart-muscle-helps-cyborg-jellyfish-come-alive.html

Monterey Bay Aquarium: Delicate and Beautiful Jellies

Spotted Jellies

Upside Down Jellies

Egg Yolk Jelly

Blubber Jellies

Crown Jelly

Moon Jellies

Indonesian Sea Nettles

Crystal Jelly

The new Jellies Experience Exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium is outstanding!  Jellyfish are extremely delicate and beautiful.  Their bodies are 95% water.  They are a main source of food for sea turtles and ocean sunfish.  Some jellies sting as a defense and as a way to collect food, so always be careful around them.   An excellent article about how Monterey Bay Aquarium grows its jellies for display is at:  http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/how-to-grow-a-jellyfish/

Weedy Sea Dragon with Eggs

Sea Dragon with Eggs at Monterey Bay Aquarium

Sea Dragon with Eggs Illustration

We got extra lucky at the Monterey Bay Aquarium last week and saw a male weedy sea dragon with eggs. The male sea dragon doesn’t have a pouch like sea horses. Instead he has a tail that grows cup-like crevices for the eggs. He watches over the eggs until the baby sea dragons swim away. Note that the picture was very difficult to take because of the round glass of the tank.  UPDATE August 6, 2012:  The weedy sea dragon Dad and his 80 babies are now being cared for behind the scenes!  Success!

Monterey Bay Aquarium: New Jellies Experience is the BEST!

Jellies Experience Entrance

Tubes of Moon Jellies

Moon Jellies Lamps

Jellyfish Polyps Lamps

Comb Jelly Walk-Through Light

Beautiful Comb Jellies

Crown Jelly Lamp

Jellyfish Mod Wall

Glowing Jellyfish Seat and Wall Art

The new Jellies Experience Exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium is the BEST!  It is one of my ALL-TIME favorites!  I particularly enjoyed the exhibit’s “mod” feel and cool lighting.   

I remember when the Monterey Bay Aquarium debuted their wildly popular “Planet of the Jellies” in 1992, they enhanced the mood of the exhibit with a wall of lava lamps (the “lava” looked like jellies swimming).  In 2018 it was announced that the cybersecurity firm Cloudflare in San Francisco uses a similar wall of lava lamps to encrypt the internet.  It turns out that the randomness of the lava’s movement is so unpredictable that it is much more secure than randomly generated code.  Read more at:  https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/encryption-lava-lamps

UPDATE August 2016:  The aquarium has now figured out the best way to raise comb jellies.  It all comes down to what the baby jellies eat.  You can read about it at: https://futureoftheocean.wordpress.com/2016/05/04/untangling-comb-jelly-culture/?utm_source=AugustEnews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2016-enews    

You can watch a video about shimmering rainbow comb jellies at:  https://montereybayaquarium.tumblr.com/post/34849426540/checked-out-our-comb-jellies-these-beautiful

Lego Art at Turtle Bay Exploration Park

Lego T-Rex

Lego Man’s Chest

Lego Spider

Lego Musical Note Head

Lego Geometric Men

The Sundial Bridge is located at Turtle Bay in Redding, California.  Turtle Bay Exploration Park also features the McConnell Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, and the Turtle Bay Museum.  The museum contains exhibits related to the area’s natural history, culture, and science.  Our favorite exhibit there from the past featured Lego Art.  Exhibits are ever-changing, so more info is at:  http://www.turtlebay.org/

Near Mount Lassen: Sundial Bridge

Sundial Bridge

Sundial Bridge Spire

Underneath the Sundial Bridge

Sundial Bridge at Dusk

Sundial Bridge at Night

The Sundial Bridge is a pedestrian suspension bridge that crosses the Sacramento River at Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding, California (near Mount Lassen).  The spire of the bridge is one of the largest working sundials in the world!  The steel, glass, and granite span opened on July 4, 2004, and was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.  The Sundial Bridge is particularly spectacular at night!

San Francisco: Japanese Tea Garden

Entrance to Japanese Tea Garden

Temple Gate at Japanese Tea Garden

Buddhist Pagoda at Japanese Tea Garden

Cloud-Pruned Tree and Stone Lantern at Japanese Tea Garden

Blooming Cherry Tree at Japanese Tea Garden

The Japanese Tea Garden is located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.  It is the oldest public Japanese garden in the United States.  Makoto Hagiwara ran the garden from 1895 to 1942.  He served the first modern fortune cookie in America at the Tea Garden in the 1890s or early 1900s.  More info is at:  https://www.japaneseteagardensf.com/

San Francisco: Conservatory of Flowers

Conservatory of Flowers, San Francisco

Conservatory of Flowers Building Close-Up

Conservatory of Flowers “Flower Clock”

Conservatory of Flowers High-Altitude Orchid

The Conservatory of Flowers is located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.  The building is the oldest Victorian greenhouse in North America.  It was built in 1878 and is modeled after the Palm House at London’s Kew Gardens.  Of special interest is the Conservatory’s rare collection of high-altitude orchids. 

Our Best Video of the Golden Gate Bridge and Fog (time lapse 10X speed)

Since today is the 75^th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge, here is our best video of the Golden Gate Bridge and fog.  The original 6 1/2 minute video has been speeded up to play in 39 seconds.  Enjoy!

Solvang: Danish Fun near Santa Barbara

Solvang Windmill

Solvang Stork Nest on Roof Top for Good Luck

Solvang Danish Bakery

Unique Solvang Clock

Solvang (which means “sunny fields”) is located north of Santa Barbara. The town is a replica of a Danish village, and celebrated its 100th birthday in 2011. The main crops in the area are wine grapes and strawberries. Several windmills are found throughout town, and replica stork nests decorate the roof tops for good luck.  We especially enjoyed the authentic Danish bakeries in the village. The pastries were the best we’ve ever had!

Hummingbird Taking a Bath

Anna’s Hummingbirds at Cherub Fountain

Anna’s Hummingbird With Yellow Pollen on Bill

Anna’s Hummingbird Dipping Head into Fountain

Hummingbirds enjoy baths.  Sometimes they will flit in and out of the spray from a garden hose.  One time we watched an Anna’s hummingbird bathe in a cherub fountain at Filoli Gardens.  She dipped her head in the water to wash off the yellow flower pollen.  How sweet!

Filoli Gardens: Roses

Rose Meadow at Filoli Gardens

Pastel Rose at Filoli Gardens

Yellow Rose at Filoli Gardens

Rose Petal Swirl at Filoli Gardens

Roses start blooming in May at Filoli Gardens.  The rose is the national flower of the United States, and a symbol for love and beauty.  There are over 500 kinds of roses at Filoli Gardens!

Marine Mammal Center

Marine Mammal Center Seal Statue

Marine Mammal Center Swimming Pens

Marine Mammal Center Kitchen

Rodeo Beach near Marine Mammal Center

The Marine Mammal Center is located in the Marin Headlands (north of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge).  It is a state-of-the-art animal hospital with research labs, pharmacy, swimming pens, kitchen, and education center.  The patients are mainly seals and sea lions.  The center’s water filtration system runs through an abandoned Nike missile silo.  When we arrived, it was feeding time.  The volunteer kitchen staff were making fish milkshakes.  They brought out frozen blocks of fish, pulled them apart, and then ground up the fish in a blender.  Mmmmmm.  More info is at:  http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/

Trees You Won’t Believe!

Basket Tree

Closeup of Basket Tree

Emblem Tree

Optical Illusion Tree

Revolving Door Tree

The world’s most unusual trees can be seen at Gilroy Gardens in Gilroy, California.  These unique trees were twisted, curved, and woven into imaginative shapes by farmer Axel Erlandson in the 1940s for his roadside “Tree Circus” near Santa Cruz.  The trees were featured in LIFE magazine and Ripley’s Believe-It-or-Not”.  Axel used grafting and frameworks to create his tree art.  He found that tree limbs thicken over time, but the shapes remain the same.  When children asked him how he did it, he said, “I talk to the trees”.  Eventually the property was sold and the trees were forgotten.  In 1985 the trees were rescued and moved for display at Gilroy Gardens.  Nineteen of the Circus Trees are on display throughout the park.  If you would like to try your own hand at arborsculpture, information on tree art is at:  http://www.arborsmith.com/   More info about Gilroy Gardens is at:  https://www.gilroygardens.org/play/circus-trees  You can watch a television show about the trees by Huell Howser on California’s Gold at:  https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2004/05/26/circus-trees-californias-gold-6008-2/

San Francisco Bay Wave Organ

San Francisco’s Wave Organ

A special Wave Organ is located on a jetty in the Marina District of San Francisco.  This unique “instrument” is played by the sea.   A water symphony is created by wave action through the organ’s pipes.  Visitors listen at periscope-shaped ports around the sculpture.  Sound varies from bell-like tones at high tide (best), to running water sounds at low tide (worst).  Notice the granite and marble stones of the jetty – they are debris from an old San Francisco cemetery discussed in this Huell Howser episode of “California’s Gold”:  https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2000/01/08/san-fransisco-cemetaries-californias-gold-2008/

A video I took of the Wave Organ at low tide (unfortunately) is below.