THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL SHRINE AND SMILEY LIBRARY in REDLANDS, CA

When we think of monuments to Abraham Lincoln we look to Washington, DC and the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, or perhaps to Springfield, Illinois, where Lincoln lived and worked before he became President. But we don’t think of Redlands, California, a small city surrounded by orange groves in the heart of the “Inland Empire” as a special place to honor Lincoln.

The Lincoln Memorial Shrine, constructed in 1932 by British-born businessman Robert Watchorn in honor of Lincoln, sits in a tree-filled park adjacent to downtown Redlands' main street. It houses Watchorn’s personal collection of Lincoln memorabilia ranging from artworks, manuscripts, copper pennies, Civil War weapons, to a lock of Lincoln’s hair. A history of Watchorn’s  family and his career before building the shrine are also part of the exhibits. But most of the items on display are objects he collected in connection with his fascination and admiration of Lincoln.

Robert, Emory Ewart, and Alma Watchorn, donors of the Lincoln Memorial Shrine, a gift honoring Abraham Lincoln and memorializing their son.

In early March I attended a conference held at The University of Redlands, and when it was over had the chance to explore the historic downtown, visiting the Lincoln Memorial Shrine and Smiley Library with my friend and fellow author Alexis O'Neill and her husband David Boeshaar.

Bust of Lincoln. "He being dead, yet speaketh."

A bust of Lincoln mounted on a pedestal is the first thing you see as you enter the building. The formal setting and darkened room give it almost a religious aura. More than 3000 books are in the shrine collection and are available to researchers. Here are just two examples of the hundreds of items on view in the shrine.

Examples of the Lincoln penny.

In 1909, the centennial of Lincoln’s birth, he became the first person to have his portrait featured on an official United States coin, the copper penny.

The President's Emancipation March.

President Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in September, 1862 after the Battle of Antietam. Composer George Fawcett was so moved that he wrote a piece he called “The President’s Emancipation March” dedicating it to Abraham Lincoln.

Caroline and Alexis at entrance to the Smiley Public Library

After viewing the Lincoln Shrine, we crossed the street to tour the Smiley Public Library, a magnificent structure featuring a tower over the front entrance.

Reading room of the library.

The large rooms inside are filled with light coming through beautiful stained glass windows. I couldn’t resist checking the card catalogue (now online) to see if they had any of my books on their shelves and discovered that they had quite a few.

Winnie the Pooh window in the children's room.

I especially enjoyed touring the children’s room and seeing the windows depicting characters from some of my favorite children’s books such as Winnie the Pooh and Charlotte’s web.

Smiley brothers, Albert K. and Alfred H., and library.

Redlands, California, a city of 71,000 people lies about an hour and a half east of Los Angeles, at the base of the San Bernardino Mountains. The Lincoln Memorial Shrine is at 125 West Vine Street, Redlands, CA 92373. The Smiley Lib rary is across the street from the shrine.

CHINESE LANTERN FESTIVAL: Franklin Square, Philadelphia, PA

Dragon, Chinese Lantern Festival, Franklin Square, Philadelphia, PA

The Chinese Lantern Festival in Philadelphia is back! It returns to Franklin Square June 21, 2022 and will be there through August 7th.

New this year, Franklin Square Fountain Show will debut a new spectacular performance of choreographed water and lights!

A portion of the proceeds from the Lantern Festival benefits Historic Philadelphia, Inc. for the programming and care of Franklin Square. For more information and tickets click HERE.

Here is my report from my visit to the Lantern Festival in the summer of 2016:

Franklin Square, one of five public squares laid out by William Penn in his original plan for Philadelphia, offers a refreshing, urban green space with a variety of activities including a miniature golf course, classic carousel, burger stand, storytelling bench, picnic area, and more.

During our recent visit to Philadelphia, Franklin Square was lit up every night with 25 amazing illuminated Chinese lanterns–including a 200-foot long dragon. Around the park various booths offered Chinese crafts and foods and on the open-air stage performers juggled, did balancing acts, and demonstrated the art of “face-changing”–in which the actor changed masks so fast it seemed almost magic.

Juggler

The nighttime visit required a ticket. We purchased our tickets ahead of time online, and made our way from our hotel to Philadelphia’s Chinatown, which is adjacent to the park.

Entrance to the festival

It was still light when we arrived, and although the lanterns were colorful and impressive, we knew they would be even more dramatic in the dark. So, after enjoying a drink in the beer garden under the watchful eye of the dragon, we went to a nearby restaurant for dinner and returned as the sun was setting, entering through a tunnel of lighted arches.

Tulips and Roses

We then wandered through the park past displays of glowing flowers, stars, fish, penguins, flamingos and more, but the star of the show was the giant dragon. This was our last night in Philadelphia after a week of meetings for Art, and it was a fitting finale to the trip.

Penguins

The Chinese Lantern Festival, which ran from April 22, 2016 to June 12, 1016 was a celebration of the tenth anniversary of the rebirth of the once-derelict city park.

Lilies

DARE TO FACE A COBRA LILY! (A CARNIVOROUS PLANT IN OREGON) Guest Post by Caroline Hatton at The Intrepid Tourist

Cobra Lilies (Darlingtonia californica) at the Darlingtonia Wayside, Oregon

My friend Caroline Hatton, a frequent contributor to this blog, dared friends and family to enter a bog crammed with carnivorous plants in May 2022. She took the photos in this post and lived to share them.

One of the Oregon natural wonders I had read about ranked as the weirdest in my view. So I planned a creepy encounter with it. One gloomy, rainy day, while driving down the Pacific Coast with husband and friends, I dragged them all to the Darlingtonia Wayside, an Oregon State Natural Site where carnivorous plants lurk in a dark, dank bog.

Plants that eat animals? In some Hollywood movies, green vines shoot across the screen, whipping about until they coil around an unlucky human to gobble down in one slurp, while adventure mates desperately attempt frantic rescues. In reality, carnivorous plants merely trap and digest insects.

The Cobra Lily (Darlingtonia californica), so named because it looks like a snake out to kill you, is one such plant. Native to Southwestern Oregon and Northern California bogs, it is also known as Cobra Orchid or Pitcher Plant.

The boardwalk

Cobra Lilies are rare, but easy to see at the Darlingtonia Wayside where they are protected. The site is located on Highway 101, roughly 3 miles north of the town of Florence, halfway down Oregon’s Pacific Coast. From the parking lot, a paved trail leads to a boardwalk over the bog.

Knee-high Cobra Lilies

I had seen other carnivorous plants before, hard to spot, so small and delicate, that’s why they deserved protection, some kept practically as pets in kids’ bedrooms. But as I stepped on the boardwalk, the sight of thousands of stout, knee-high plants with a top part as big as my fist, made me feel queasy.

Cobra Lilies crammed in a bog

It didn’t help that the mud pond they crowded looked like a giant snake pit.

Cobra Lily anatomy

An info board detailed the plant parts and sickening feeding habit.

An insect lured by the nectar on the snake-tongue-like appendage enters the leaf hood from below. Transparent spots on the hood let light through, looking like exits, which they are not. The confused insect ends up in the vertical leaf tube, sliding down to where sharp hairs, pointing down, prevent escape. The insect falls into the liquid inside the bottom of the leaf tube, where digestive enzymes turn it into soup that the plant absorbs through its inner wall.

Slurp.

Despite being a bit grossed out, I couldn’t stop taking photos. And my friend, feeling “so excited,” declared this site to be “out of this world.” Who needs space tourism when such a quick and easy trip to an alien universe is free?

The Cobra Lily blooms in May or June.

All text and photos, copyright Caroline Arnold.   www.theintrepidtourist.blogspot.com