2023-12-09 - Dinner At Rothchild's And Then One Thousand Lights!
Another magnificent day in California!
We began the evening at Rothschild's for dinner after working all day in the yard. Robin, Bob, and Nick came by the house at 4:00 p.m. and we all jumped in the Silver Fox and headed down the 55 toward Newport Beach.
We arrived right on time!
Rothschild's is your classic Italian Restaurant Offering homemade pasta, locally sourced produce, international award-winning wines and a staff and ambiance that welcomes you in like family.
Rothschild's has been the cornerstone Of Corona Del Mar for over 45 years. It has been family owned since early conception and has become a place where customers and staff have come to call home.
Donna makes sure all is correct on the menu!
Our group was dressed for the season.
"Pardon me, does the wine have grapes in it?"
Donna checks out the flavors and makes a pronouncement.
Someone gots the giggles!
Jim and Vicky just enjoying life.
Jim was mistaken for Santa Claus many times by the little children!
Vicky is going to sell tickets for people to get their picture taken with Jim!
We have a wonderful time with each other.
Champagne for the grandson! Photo-bombed By Mom!
Their Cioppino (Fish Soup) was the best I have ever had.
Mary's soup was missing something!
We dined and laughed and giggle until it was time to take a walk!
It is quite a romantic setting.
Santa is ready to go!
"Come over here little reindeer!"
The Gardens' holiday décor will be reminiscent Of the vintage board game we all remember as children.
Stroll along the Rainbow Trail, past the Lollipop Woods and the Gumdrop Mountains, through the Peppermint Stick Forest, and the glistening light tunnel, on your way to the Candy Heart Carnival, featuring carnival games for kids Of all ages.
Visit the Molasses Swamp, the Old Peanut Brittle House, and the Candy Land Express Train on your way to visit Santa in his workshop. Then head to the fire pit and whip up your own batch Of s'mores.
The Garden Shop will be open and is a must-see for unique holiday gift ideas. Make a wish at "The Wishing Tree" and create lasting memories with friends and family celebrating the holidays at Sherman Library & Gardens.
Even the outside was lit up with lights!
Gumdrops everywhere!
Did You Know? - Originally, gumdrops were flavored with spices: orange(clove), yellow(allspice), red(cinnamon), green(spearmint), purple(anise), white(wintergreen or peppermint), and black(licorice).
Branch's Candy holds the world record for largest gumdrop which weighted in a little larger than 10 lbs. If you had eaten it you would have consumed 15,127 calories.
We gained weight just walking around looking at everything!
Then there were the lollipops!
Did You Know? - Lollipops have been around for a very long time. Ancient African and Asian societies created fruit and nut treats that they candied in honey, which acted as a natural preservative. They inserted a stick into the treats to make them easier to eat.
The lollipops we know and love today began to emerge in the 17th century. As sugar became more widely affordable and available, Europeans enjoyed creating boiled sugar confections and they also inserted sticks to keep the treats from getting their hands sticky.
In 1908, the first lollipop machine was created. It automated the process Of placing hard candy on sticks – the machine could create more than 2,000 lollipops every hour!
The Dum Dum Pop's mystery flavor isn't such a mystery. It is created when a batch Of one flavor is running out and they begin a new one in the same vat, so you never know which two flavors will be combined!
In 2012, the world's largest lollipop was created in California. A candy manufacturer made a chocolate-flavored lollipop that stood over 5 feet tall and weighed more than seven thousand pounds!
Lick yourself crazy!
We has a complaint, we only counted 99 lights!
Vicky found a Milky Way
The Clauses take a pauses!
Red is the Official color Of the evening.
Great fun with friends.
"Hey Sugar!"
Many folks were taking pictures.
Look this direction!
Bob was ready to smile, almost!
"Watch the hands there buster!" Caught it! The Bob Smile!
Christmas would be different without color!
Vicky was quick to point out the "wardrobe malfunction"!
It was a magical evening.
They looked good enough to eat!
Did You Know The Genesis Of Candy Land? - In the late 1940s, polio was still a looming threat to the population. While convalescing in the polio wing Of a San Diego hospital in 1948, a retired schoolteacher named Eleanor Abbott decided to create a board game that could become a distraction for patients.
The result was Candy Land, a fanciful and easy-to-understand diversion that saw players advancing game pieces through a sweetened landscape based on a color system—so no reading was required.
The game proved to be so popular that Abbott decided to submit it to Milton Bradley (which was purchased by Hasbro in 1984). The company examined the layout, which Abbott had drawn on butcher paper, and decided to publish it in 1949.
A sucker is born every day!
Did You Know? - Candy Land helped put Milton Bradley on the map. Before Candy Land was released, Milton Bradley was still primarily known as a maker Of school supplies. Their other big game acquisition, Clue, had just been released, but it had yet to fully take Off.
Candy Land distinguished itself because, unlike most board games, kids could play it by themselves—an important feature in a country still concerned with the spread Of polio.
As parents kept their children indoors, distractions like Candy Land became a way to keep them occupied.
The game's success leveled the playing field against game rival Parker Brothers, and the royalties it earned for Abbott paid Off in another way: She reportedly donated most Of her earnings from the game to be used for the purchase Of supplies and equipment for area schools.
Inside the hot houses there were 3-D displays and we needed glasses.
He looked like he might bite when viewed in 3-D
Bugs everywhere!
We found one Of the miniatures.
Strolling through the myriad Of lights on display this evening.
Looking good! Vicky! Red Uggs?
A happy couple indeed!
Strolling down the avenue!
The trees were magnificent.
Up close and personal!
The hunks Of ice did not drip, it was a puzzlement!
Dancing to the music!
Of course we had some songs from the Nutcracker Ballet.
The kids really enjoyed the dancers! Especially when they handed our candy!
Santa at his best! Santa was greeted by kids and adults all night long!
Heart candies, straight ahead.
Did You Know? - Daniel Chase, the brother Of Necco founder Oliver Chase, created the first "Motto Hearts" in 1866 after inventing a machine that printed phrases onto the hearts with vegetable-based dye. Necco, founded 14 years earlier, stands for "New England Confectionery Company."
Did You Know? - Originally called Sweethearts, this tasty and chalky treat was stamped with sweet sayings and sold throughout the Valentine's Day holiday season. But before there were Sweethearts there were lozenges courtesy Of Oliver Chase—the inventor Of the machine that pulverized sugar and cut out the lozenge shape.
Jim could get a new career advertising for candy!
We had a wonderful evening.
...and someone else did too!
We needed directions from the candy cane forest!
Scout says "Hurry Home, I Need Petting!"
