On the Road and In Your Backyard

Good Morning All,

This weekday feature is for Juicers who are are on the road, traveling, or just want to share a little bit of their world via stories and pictures. So many of us rise each morning, eager for something beautiful, inspiring, amazing, subtle, of note, and our community delivers – a view into their world, whether they’re far away or close to home – pictures with a story, with context, with meaning, sometimes just beauty. By concentrating travel updates and tips here, it’s easier for all of us to keep up or find them later.

So please, speak up and share some of your adventures and travel news here, and submit your pictures using our speedy, secure form. You can submit up to 7 pictures at a time, with an overall description and one for each picture.

You can, of course, send an email with pictures if the form gives you trouble, or if you are trying to submit something special, like a zipped archive or a movie. If your pictures are already hosted online, then please email the links with your descriptions.

For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.

Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!

 

Today, pictures from valued commenter Mary G.

The Sherman Library & Gardens in Corona del Mar was named for Moses H. Sherman, who among many other business ventures, created the failed Hollywoodland real estate division and put up the Hollywood Sign. He also built the first electric railway in LA, along with establishing the cities of Canoga Park, Van Nuys, and Encino in the San Fernando Valley. In 1914 he hired Arthur Haskell, a desk clerk at the Mission Inn in Riverside, to be his personal secretary.

Sherman passed away in 1932 pretty close to penniless and Haskell took over and restored the Sherman Company’s fortunes. He bought a lot more land in So. California and became very rich. He turned to philanthropy in 1951 and set up a charitable foundation, giving away a bunch of money. He also secretly acquired a complete city block (2.2 acres) in Corona del Mar, which is the southern part of Newport Beach. Once he had it all in 1966, he started to build a library and gardens on it. The work was finally finished in 1974. He named it not after himself, but his mentor Sherman, who had always wanted his name to be perpetuated and taught Haskell everything he knew about business.

It’s right on Pacific Coast Highway, just south of McArthur Blvd., so a bazillion cars a day go by it. Once you’re inside, you can’t hear the traffic noise at all, probably because it’s surrounded by a thick adobe wall. It’s divided up into a number of shade and sun gardens, with a big conservatory, a cafe, the library, and gift shop. Parking is free and admission is $5 for adults. I took two teenagers and should have paid $3 each for them, but the volunteer was so happy to see them she let them in free.

Taken on 2018-06-15

These are beautiful potted hydrangeas right by the entrance in front of the gift shop. It’s really hard to get them to stay this color, or at least it has been for me. The soil has to be very acid.

Taken on 2018-06-15

You can call on your cell phone and listen to a guided tour as shown on this sign.

Taken on 2018-06-15

We were greeted by the resident cat, Julius Caesar, who escorted us around. (Sorry for the somewhat blurry picture, but as you can tell by his moniker, he is a very imperious character.)

Taken on 2018-06-15

There are a number of water features, including this lily pond near the entrance.

Taken on 2018-06-15

This summer they are featuring sand sculptures by local artist Chris Crosson.

This is the main one, about nine feet tall, of a castle in the big central bed surrounded by four beds of gorgeous dahlias and geraniums. The whole effect was spectacular! I like the “Cultivate Your Creative Nature” slogan on it. Behind it you can see the working greenhouse where they grow plants to be put out when the seasons change, or snails attack.

Taken on 2018-06-15

Here are my teen wheelchair/mobility scooter wranglers playing in the sand box the artist left for visitors.

 

Thank you so much Mary G, do send us more when you can.

 

Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.

 

One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email