We found out the Luther Burbank Gardens were located in Santa Rosa. Luther Burbank (1849 - 1926) was a world renowned horticulturist who introduced 801,000 new varieties of fruits, vegetables, flowers, nuts and grains!!
The garden is not the typical manicured garden but has flowers flowing all around you. One of his creations was the Shasta Daisy.
Having spent 10 years in the Arizona desert we were shocked to see a Prickly Pear Cactus that was nothing like any pickle pear we had ever seen before. This one was huge!!
After seeing all of the Charlie Brown character's statues all over Santa Rosa, we knew we had to visit the Charles Schultz Museum and Research Center. The last original Peanuts Comic Strip was printed 2/13/2000, the day after Schultz's death. At the time Peanuts was in 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries in 21 languages!
The first thing you notice when you walk into the museum is this 17 by 22 foot Tile Mural. The artist used 3588 ceramic tiles which included 10 years worth of daily Peanuts Comic strips that make up the secondary picture of Lucy holding a football for Charlie Brown.
Here is a closer look at the components.
The bathrooms have comic strip ceramic tiles - even above the toilet stall (upper left) in case you need reading material???
Charles Schultz (Sparky) always managed to communicate a unique view of the human condition. Two strips that we could relate to:
The other piece that was commissioned by the artist that did the Tile Mural is this carving called Morphing Snoopy.
Large sections of the upper floor covers the history of Charles Schultz and all of the awards and accolades he received over his lifetime. In addition to five awards from the National Cartoonists Society , he received an Emmy and a Congressional Gold Medal. In addition, the Apollo 10 command module was named "Charlie Brown," and the lunar module, "Snoopy." The most interesting part of this floor, for us, was to actually visit his studio with all the pieces he used to create Peanuts.
Surprisingly, he drew the comic strip with a pen dipped in ink - see the large pen in the middle with white finger hold area.
On the TV you can see in the studio (above) they showed Charles Shultz drawing some strips. In this he is using a pencil not his pen, and my video skills need some work but it was amazing to see how easily he creates the strip. He draws even faster with the ink pen!!
We visited the outside garden and enjoyed the Linus sculpture that included a crossword puzzle. A docent advised us that the answers were on the back!!
They even have the famous Kite Eating Tree!!
Here is a close up so you can find it
Charles Schultz loved to play tennis so he built an indoor tennis center located beside the museum. He also loved to play ice hockey so he built an ice rink and the Warm Puppy Café. He ate breakfast and lunch during his workdays at the round table that is still reserved. Naturally, the coffee mugs have Peanuts characters on them!! He played ice hockey with his team and he also designed ice skating shows. Schultz was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame!
How can you not love this walkway that has Peanuts Characters drawn (flat on the concrete surface) to create a 3D image of them. This is similar to the chalk drawing we saw in Kayenta (Utah) last year where it looked like we were standing on 3D pillars.
You have to enjoy all of the characters you run into around this fun and interesting museum!! If you are in the area, we highly recommend a visit. Who can't relate to Peanuts!!
Before we found out about the wedding date we had planned to go to the LPGA golf tournament that comes to Phoenix every year. But, as we had to leave early we missed that event. Checking into the LPGA schedule we found another one in Daly City, CA. We adjusted our schedule to be nearby. Mark's sister Trish, the twins and Hailey's partner Andrew joined us for the LPGA Mediheal tournament.
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| Left to right: Andrew, Hailey, Harmony, Trish, Mark and Me |
We saw all of our favorites: Danielle Kang (center) , Michelle Wie (left) and Lexi Thompson (right).
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| Michelle Wie (top and bottom left, Danielle Kang (center) Lexi Thompson (right) |
I can't believe I didn't get any photos of Jessica Korda or Angel Yin, who can hit a drive over 300 yards!! We heard lots of men saying "I want to hit like a girl!"
But, best of all , Andrew's parents texted that they were watching and saw us on TV. So when we got home we fast forwarded the recording and got a photo of us behind Lydia Ko who eventually won the tournament. Sadly, I am taking a photo so you don't see much of me.
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| Left to right: Trish, Harmony, Hailey, Andrew, Mark, and me with the phone taking a photo! |
After the tournament we headed back to Trish's house and enjoyed a wonderful Chicken Picatta Dinner with Trish and Harmony. We were all in agreement that the crowds at the LPGA event are just a fraction of what shows up for a PGA event and the LPGA has not done a very good job. Harmony is going to take on the project in her capable hands. We can't wait to see what happens!! Sadly, I forgot to take photos.
That's it for Santa Rosa. We had a great time but now its time to head north to Arcata, California for a visit to our 36th of the 59 US National Parks.
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