Thanksgiving

This holiday is traditionally all about family and food and we observed the traditions in an orthodox manner.

Daughter Cheryl and cousins Leora and Ed created a wonderful feast including some healthy foods.

 Ed and Leora set a goal of a dessert per person but fell short about three desserts.  What we had was so yummy.  Jeff was a major contributor to the sweet buffet.

When we weren’t eating, we played games, took naps and looked at devices.

At the end, we took a family photo.

It was another wonderful family Thanksgiving.

Kvel (Brag) Time

We are back in DC enjoying time with family.  Our first adventure of this trip was to go to Natural History to see the exhibit Cheryl created on elephants and their plight today

The exhibit goes back in history to show human’s interaction with these magnificent creatures.  Included are Theodore Roosevelt’s photos of his hunting trips to Africa as well as his later leadership regarding the environment.

For too many decades people were indifferent to the consequences of poaching elephants.  This exhibit calls the public’s attention to what is currently happening.

The exhibit contains a collection of books and articles show the gradual awareness of the importance of these magnificent beasts.  This one is covered in elephant hide.

Included on display are two books from Bennett’s collection

 one from Dave’s family’s  collection

Cheryl, Dave and Bennett are leaving DC and moving to upstate NY.  We have been helping with the packing.  Bennett jumped right in to help.

Getty Center

You all know we are museum people.  Well, we reached our ultimate experience at the Getty in LA.  We arrived about 10:30 and left at 7:30.  We took three tours, had both lunch and dinner, and walked over 10,000 steps.  Our expenses were $15 for parking and for our meals.  Yes, J. Paul Getty, at one time the world’s richest man, created one of the best museums and so endowed it that all visits are free.  His Getty Villa is a separate museum in Malibu.

From the parking lot a tram takes visitors to the top of the hill.  You arrive in the midst of the amazing architecture of Richard Meier and lovely gardens of Robert Irwin.  The two men did not get along but managed to create an outstanding and unique environment for the acclaimed art collections.

Our first tour was of the buildings and gardens.  Neighbors strongly opposed the idea of a museum blocking their view of the hills.  We think they stopped complaining.  The architect was careful to be sure the views remained and the buildings were a plus.

Meier used travertine blocks, 30 inches square, on the floors, walls, walkways, and windows.  Some of the blocks stick out to show fossils of leaves and shells imbedded within the rock.

Irwin’s garden includes a maze.

Our second tour was of the general collection, sampling each room.

Getty was partial to art of the ancients through the 1800s.

 He did not like modern art. Three Brush Strokes by Lichtenstein has recently been added to offer a pause from one gallery to the next.

We enjoyed lunch on the terrace basking in the sun.

Then we traveled back to ancient Egypt and the era of Ptolemy, a Greek who took on the role of king of Egypt and claimed descent from Egyptian gods.

This sarcophagus is a rare find because it is intact.

The hedgehog was a popular addition to tombs because its hibernation symbolized death and rebirth.

This hippo would have been in an Egyptian garden.

This mummy is unique because the picture of the deceased was found intact.

Our wanderings also included an early photographic exhibit and an exhibit of books created as art rather than to be read.

That dinner we mentioned was fabulous, the view of the area shared with gourmet dinning.  What a great way to end the day and the trip.

Los Angeles: The Peterson Automotive Museum (with a lot of pictures)

The Peterson is an auto museum like the Empire State Bldg is an office building.  The first thing you notice about The Peterson as you approach it is the unique and striking architecture. Remodeled for $90 million, red and silver stainless steel ribbons catch the eye from blocks away.

Inside, four floors of displays tell the history of cars in California, pay tribute to the nearby movie industry, tell of Japanese and German influence on car design and function and show off great vehicles.

In 1886 Karl Benz made the first practical self-propelled vehicle.

In 1900 the Smith brothers built this car but added a place to attach  reins in case the car had to be towed by horses.  This car is the oldest surviving gas-powered vehicle built in LA.

Fannie Arbuckle owned this Renault.

This is the 1989 Batmobile

You know that you are getting old when something you owned and drove is now in a museum.  Jerry drove a Datsun just like this one in the 70s.  It is also the car that Anna Lee used to learn to drive a stick shift

 Anna Lee loved all the Corvettes.

Lightning McQueen from Cars attracts the younger visitors.

This McClaren is made from Legos

Race cars from past eras pose for action.  This one is a hybrid, just like our Avalon only a little faster.

In a side room are classrooms for engineering students to design their own cars.

Jerry took a VR trip in two Ford powered race cars.  It was really cool.

A small special exhibit shows the High Art of Riding Low, the car art of Chicana/o artists.

Laguna Beach sans photos

We started our day with lunch with Paul and Carol, RV friends with whom we enjoy crossing paths (see earlier post).  Our lunch at Nick’s South was excellent even with the special modifications both Carol and Anna Lee requested.   We spent a lovely afternoon catching up since we last met in June.

Back at our motel we met with Mark and Ellen.  They were the ones to give us the impetus to take this trip.  Our purpose for going down the Southern California coast was to see the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach.  But first we took the free tram for a lovely ride along the coast watching the ocean view and interesting homes.  We returned to another Nick’s for lunch, not as good this time but compensated for by wonderful gelato at shop nearby.

We entered the Pageant grounds early to have a bag dinner, listen to the music and view the outstanding collection of art pieces on display for sale.  (no photos allowed within the grounds) Then we entered the wonderful venue laid out for the audiences’ benefit.

It is difficult to describe what we saw.  Act One was a history of the area, using statues, paintings (larger than life), music and dancing, tableaus, all live or painted/sculpted.  We were surrounded by art in an entertaining and creative format.  The second act was a tribute to the great paintings and sculpture of the Impressionists, Art Nouveau to the early to mid 1900s.  The flag raising on Iwo Jima stirred the heart and New Waves got everyone tapping their feet.  The conclusion was performers entering the stage, as it turned we saw that they had “entered” Da Vinci’s Last Supper, their traditional finale.  This is the 85th year and they have created a unique, educational and fascinating event.   We hope to return in a few years.