Modeled after Geo. Washington’s Mt. Vernon, this 18th century Virginia Tidelands mansion is home to a mythical sea captain. Several rooms, such as the upstairs Japanese room, contain furnishings and art from his worldly travels.

Our unique Tucson Museum of Miniatures, The Mini-Time Machine, is one of our favorite local attractions. We’ve taken visiting friends and family here for the past few years and all have found it fascinating.

The first thing visitors usually notice is the state-of-the-art facility. The Mini is definitely not a dusty garage stuffed with old dollhouses. However, in our travels around Southern Arizona writing about & photographing the most interesting people & places, we have come to the conclusion that most locals have no idea what’s here. And they don’t understand why it’s called The Mini-Time Machine. True, the Mini delights school-age children with their whimsical, magical, fairy tale exhibits. But if you’re an adult history buff, this fine museum will reach out and grab your interest. Many of the miniature exhibits transport visitors to another time and place. The Mini showcases miniatures created as far back as 1742.

And then, of course, there’s the extraordinary talent that it takes to make these miniature sets: such amazing precision and attention to the most-minute detail. The exhibit creators have to be artists, craftsmen, architects, interior designers, historians, carpenters, costume designers, and engineers of incredible patience and imagination.

Each time I go, I discover new & deeper layers of detail. This was particularly true when Neighbor Roy & I recently photographed several of the models. I could see even more detail through my macro lens. Here are some of the images we created along with some historical background.

(FYI: click on any of the images to enlarge.)

19th century automated mechanical Swiss public house.

Automated Public House (size: about 18″ long)
Toward the end of his life, Emil Wick created five masterpiece mechanical houses, one each for his five godchildren. Each was unique and is today an extraordinary living document of early 19th century European village life. This three-story wooden house or hotel, typical of Basel, Switzerland in the early 1800s is populated with mechanical figures animated by a key-wound and weight driven mechanism. Inside the cabinet base is a music cylinder that chimes two different tunes.

The inner workings of this house are a web of string, pulleys, wires, and cams set in motion by the descent of a carefully balanced weight. Winding a key inserted into the front of the miniature raises the weight, which also spins a music box cylinder hidden in the cabinet below.

Despite their jumbled appearance, Wick’s mechanics yield surprisingly sophisticated animation. There are over 30 different movements, some of them remarkably complex. The dancers on the upper balcony, for example, don’t just spin randomly, but pause and pirouette in step with a stately waltz. Wick modeled all his figures on people he actually knew, perhaps using his skill as a portrait photographer to capture their personalities in miniature.

Nuremberg Kitchen (size: slightly less than 1′cube)
From the seventeenth century until well into the twentieth century the most popular toy room was the kitchen. Especially popular in Germany, toy kitchens resembling the real kitchens in South Germany were known as the “Nuremberg” style. The typical Nuremberg kitchen has a central cooking area with overhead flue, rows of shelves for displaying plates and a checked pattern floor as well as poultry pen. This 18th century Nuremberg kitchen includes an early ceramic stove with unusual design that sits against the back wall with a built-in chimney. It duplicates a kitchen in an early Georg Bestelmeier Catalog. Nuremberg merchant Georg Bestelmeier listed in his 1798 catalogue over 8,000 toys and educational materials including fully furnished doll’s houses and kitchens.

Japanese Family Farmhouse (size: slightly larger than a 1’ cube)
Shoichi Uchiyami is a Japanese miniaturist committed to recapturing the buildings and countryside of Japan’s historic villages. Although they have survived through many generations, most have given way to modernity and disappeared in the last thirty years.

Created by Uchiyama in 1992, this miniature is a re-creation “of a traditional wood and thatch farmhouse, an architectural style known in Japan as minka. This particular type of farmhouse could be found in an area 200 miles north of Tokyo, where very large farms were common; typically accommodating multiple generations of one family under one roof— and the roofs of these houses are remarkable. The thatched roof, called kusabuki in Japanese, is primarily constructed of tightly packed reeds, or ashi. These traditional thatched roofs were capable of keeping rain and snow at bay, as well as regulating the temperature inside the home year-round. The roof also provided a natural air-filtration process. In his article “Saving Traditional Japanese Farmhouses, or In Praise of Thatched Roofs,” Harris Salat writes that “in these traditional farmhouses, cooking was originally done in an irori, a charcoal-fired hearth. The roof absorbed the gases from these fires like a giant sponge, filtering them to the outside and keeping the air in the house clean.”

Lillian Watchtel, is an editor for Miniature Collector. The above quote is from her article “The Nostalgic World of Shoichi Uchiyama.”

To view our brief video of The Mini-Time Machine, go to SouthernArizonaGuide.com > Home > Our Videos.

What used to be admin offices on the 2^nd floor will now house TMA’s collection of Pre-Columbian art, Spanish Colonial & Post Colonial art, and Latin American folk art.

The collection will offer enhanced, bilingual didactic materials. Ms. Karen has a degree in Art History, so she’s more familiar with art objects like these. But I particularly appreciate the interpretive material that TMA coordinates with each piece so I can better understand the cultural significance and historical periods from which they were created. Moreover, when we visit a new TMA exhibit, we usually take advantage of the Musuem’s free tours guided by their knowledgeable docents. That way we get a great deal more out of each exhibit than we otherwise would.

Here are 3 examples.

From the Pre-Columbian Collection.

El Tajin Style Stela Fragment, from Orizaba Region of Veracruz, Mexico, Late Formative/Early Classic Era, 100 BCE-250 CE, Serpentine.

This thin Stela with low relief carving depicts a male figure in profile, holding a tasseled object, probably a spear or standard. The border beneath the figure includes a snub-nosed mask, and curvilinear step-fret designs. This motif most likely represents a ruler performing a ritual activity.

The style of the Stela is transitional from the aesthetic of Olmec iconography to the later Maya iconography that dominated the region. This artwork is characteristic of the aesthetic that characterizes El Tajin monuments. Similar low relief carvings depicting rulers and incorporating the diagnostic curvilinear step fret design are found in sites such as Cholula, Puebla, a testament to the extent of socio cultural power exerted by elites in the Gulf region during this time period.

From the Spanish Colonial/Post-Colonial Collection.

Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, ca.17th century, wood, paint, gilding, copper, and lace.

This statue depicts the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, as indicated by the crescent moon upon which the Virgin is standing. Recently restored by a professional conservator, with funding provided by a special grant from Institute of Museums and Library Services, the sculpture is a highlight of TMA’s Spanish Colonial/Post-Colonial collection. Most likely of 17^th century origin, it has clearly been painted multiple times. The intention of the over painting seems to have been to change the message conveyed by the statue. Overtime, the elaborate gilt design on the Virgin’s robes was covered with simple blue paint, the complexion of the figure was changed, and, in general, the statue was made to appear less elaborate.

The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception statue provides an interesting insight into how the Catholic Church modified its iconographic message to be more palatable to Mestizo peoples in the New World by depicting the Virgin Mary less as a regal queen and more as a common woman.

From the Latin American Folk Art Collection.

Tree of Life, Aurelio Flores, 1960, ceramic.

This tree of life is a great example of the work in the Latin American Folk Art collection. This elaborate candelabrum, produced in Puebla, was created by Aurelio Flores, a well-known folk artist. The lively tree is bursting with polychrome birds and flowers in a style that is characteristic of the Flores family. This tree of life depicts the vibrancy of Mexican Folk Art and the degree to which individual creativity, tradition, and regional specialization in folk art production are comingled in the production of these vibrant objects.

Southern Arizona has many fine museums. You can find our favorites at SouthernArizonaGuide.com > Main Menu > Museums.

In association with The Mini-Time Machine: A Museum of Miniatures, the Tucson Garden Railway Society hosts its 10th annual “Rails In The Garden Tour” this coming weekend, March 2nd & 3rd 10AM to 4PM.

For 2013 there are ten garden railways, two of which are new on the tour, as well as annual favorites, many of which have been expanded or have added features or scenes since last year. This year’s layouts are located primarily on the west side of Tucson and you can visit all venues as often as you wish.

John Carmicheal attends to detail on his “G” gauge garden railway: Tucson, AZ.

Yesterday, I visited one of the venues at the home of John Carmicheal. John has been a sculptor of sun dials for over 20 years, but he is new to garden railroads. In his front yard is a labyrinth of rails, bridges, tunnels, depots and other features among a variety of cacti, primarily cholla and prickly pear. Laid end to end, John’s railroad is longer than a football field. His trains are “G” gauge, which is much larger than the more familiar “HO” scale. John explained that the model trains have to be larger for outdoor operations so that small objects, such as a leaf or pebble, won’t derail them.

From what I saw, John has two steam engines that each pull a variety of cars, and this little yellow trolley that provides local transportation for miniature passengers.

One has to be a serious railroad hobbyist to develop and operate one of these garden railways. I could not help asking John what I would have to budget to replicate something like his layout in my own gardens. He explained that the layout I was watching took him 14 months of near-full-time effort, including design time. He also told me that I should budget at least $10,000. WOW! Given the precision & complexity of this garden railway, I was surprised that it wasn’t more.

The Tucson Garden Railway Society will again be collecting donations (cash or check only) for the Community Food Bank. Also, they will raffle off a railroad-themed quilt, the proceeds of which will go to Ronald McDonald House.

Funds raised by tour ticket sales help fund the Society’s projects at the Tucson Children’s Museum, Tucson Botanical Garden, the Diamond Children’s Center, Tucson Medical Center, Veteran’s Administration and modular displays at various locations throughout the year.

Tickets cost $5.00 per adult and there is no charge for children/teens 18 and under when accompanied by a ticket holding adult. Tickets are good for both tour days and all venues. Each ticket includes entry into a drawing for a complete “starter” train set. Click HERE for local businesses where you can purchase tickets. Click HERE for a map of each garden railway on the tour.

For more information, click HERE.

The announcer obviously knows rodeo, from the contestants to the sometimes complex and seemingly archaic rules. The wranglers were great, as were the clowns, and the audience was definitely engaged. And the contestants? Awesome. These folks are rugged cowboys & cowgirls, and terrific role models for our school-age children. If you’re looking for something to do with the young ones, take them to the rodeo. Lots of food and drink here, and plenty of merchandise to purchase at dozens of booths surrounding the grandstands.

Parking was $5 and the cheapest admission is $12. Some 700 contestants will compete for serious prize money this year. Proceeds from the rodeo go to the University of Arizona Scholarship Fund and other worthy charities.

Here are a few photos I took. You can see more at SouthernArizonaGuide.com.

The Tucson Rodeo began way back in the 1920′s during that era of high morals known as Prohibition: if it was fun, it was prohibited. Don’t miss the Rodeo Parade Museum on the rodeo grounds. And don’t miss the Parade this coming Thursday. Gabby & Mark are Grand Marshalls.

The new Warden Aquarium at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

On a clear Sunday morning in early February, Neighbor Roy, Ms. Karen, & I arrived at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum for our 2nd Behind The Scenes tour, this time of the new Warden Aquarium. Lacey was our guide for our group of 8, including two little boys who looked to be about 4 and 6 years of age. Lacey, a young woman who clearly loves her job,  told us that she is an aquarist. An “aquarist” is a curator for aquariums, similar to a zookeeper, but for animals that breath water.

This young man watches in fascination as Lacey tosses crab meat into the seahorse tank.

The Aquarium has about a dozen fish tanks. Some are salt water representing the Sea of Cortez, an integral part of our Sonoran Desert south of the border. The other tanks have fresh water representing our now almost completely lost above-ground fresh water. Because human population has caused the loss of over 90% of Southern Arizona’s free-flowing rivers and streams, it’s not hard to understand that most of the creatures in the fresh water tanks are endangered. Many in the Sea of Cortez are also struggling to survive.

Rio Yaqui
The Yaqui is a river in Sonora Mexico and was the home of  our Southern Arizona Yaqui Indians before they were driven out by the Mexican army in the late 1800′s. That river has been badly degraded by farmers.  The Yaqui topminnows, Mexican stonerollers, beautiful shiners, and Yaqui chubs are all found in the San Bernardino Wildlife Refuge not far from Douglas, AZ. Many of these fish have been threatened by habitat loss, wildfires, and invasive species. The Desert Museum partners with Fish & Game to care for fish that were “rescued” from a wildfire so they can be return to the wild and repopulate their native waters.

Catfish
Yaqui Catfish are also found in the Rio Yaqui. It is the only catfish native to Arizona and their numbers have been reduced by the non-native catfish via hybridization and competition. While still found south of the border, most on the Arizona side have been extirpated and re-introduced in hopes of reviving their population. The one in the tank we saw was about 18 inches long.

Apache Trout
Apache trout are one of only two native trout species and is our  Official Arizona State Fish. They were one of the first species listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1969. Despite efforts, they are still threatened by mismanagement of land, competition and interbreeding with non-native trout that are stocked in their streams.

Colorado River
Pikeminnows are the largest minnow in America, historically growing to 6 feet long and weighing 100 pounds. At that size, one might wonder how they maintain their “minnow-ness”.

The razorback suckers can live more than 40 years and have a keel-like dorsal fin that allows them to stay along the bottom of fast flowing rivers. Both of these species have been greatly affected by dams built along their native rivers and by introduced non-native fishes.

The bony-tail and round tail chubs prefer flowing pools, rivers and lakes but their habitat is now divided by dams. A population of bony tail in Lake Mojave are 40 years old but aren’t reproducing. Once abundant, their numbers are dwindling and they are also listed as endangered.

Cabo Pulmo Reef
The Cabo Pulmo reef tank is a representation of the area off the tip of the Baja California peninsula.  People in that community have worked together to conserve this area as a National Marine Park since 1995. Even though the laws are difficult to enforce, the community has continued educating others and their hard work is paying off. The diversity of wildlife is returning.

Sea of Cortez
The Sea of Cortez is famous for its diversity of species, including a highly endangered porpoise, the vaquita (model of a mother and calf hanging above the Cabo reef tank). There are only a couple hundred of theses shy porpoises left and most are only seen dead in fishermen’s nets. The main threats to this area include overfishing, pollution from runoff, and trash such as plastics. Many commercial fishing practices are unregulated, and unsustainable. The trash poses many threats to the wildlife who may die from entanglement, ingestion, or even toxic exposure as these compound take many years to degrade but never fully disappear.

Touch Tank
One of the many benefits of this Behind The Scenes tour is you get to handle the creatures in the “touch tank”. If you have young children, this is a “must do”. They will be fascinated.  You have to wash your hands before putting them in this tank. But once your hands are clean, you can pick up  the arrow crab (or spider crab), dwarf red-tip hermit crab, chestnut cowrie, turbo snail, sand star, serpent star (or Brittle Star),  sea cucumber, and sea hare ( brown sea slug with “bunny ears”).

Lacey shows the boys how to handle the sea creatures in the touch tank and explains something interesting about each one. The touch tank is only available to those on the Behind The Scenes tour.

Price
The price for each of the Desert Museum’s Behind The Scenes tours is $35. But readers of our SouthernArizonaGuide.com can get a $5 discount by clicking on the Desert Museum’s advertisement in the Guide. Here too you can get a more detailed description of each of the BTS tours. These are private tours with the Museum’s professionals. Each offers a very rich, in-depth experience. If you’re looking for an amazing experience for your school-age children, these tours are highly recommended. Last November, we took the Walk On The Wild Side tour and it was great. Ms. Karen wants to do the Winged Wonders (hummingbird) tour next.

The race horses at Rillito are magnificent animals. At Rillito, they race both thoroughbreds and quarter horses. The racing season is from mid-January to mid-March on weekends. Only $5 for grandstand seating. $8 for Clubhouse.

Here are two photos that I did not include in that slideshow.

Yesterday was cold and breezy, but by the 3rd race, the place was beginning to fill up. Here you can see the horses on the back stretch. Both the grandstands and clubhouse are enclosed, so weather isn’t much of a factor for spectators.

(1) The first item is about The Walt Disney Railroad Story. This will be  a limited seating engagement with Michael Broggie, Disney historian and author on Saturday April 13th.

In addition to trains, Walt Disney was fascinated by miniatures and amassed a large and distinguished collection, which is now displayed at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. A facet of Disney’s life that is not generally known is that he became a major preservationist of America’s steam railroad legacy. This was the basis of Broggie’s first book, Walt Disney’s Railroad Story, which is also the topic of this engagement. Using historic photographs, Broggie will trace the history of America’s railroads and the Disney organization.

The event is FREE, but reservations are required because there are only 100 seats available. There will be two sessions that day, one at 10 AM and the other at 2 PM. When I say FREE, I mean that the presentation is FREE, not admission to the galleries. However, for this event, attendees can purchase admission to the Museum for only $5 (a substantial discount).

(2) Included in her message, Gentry mentioned that this engagement is sponsored, not only by the Mini Museum, but also by the Tucson Garden Railway Society. One of the many delights of my job as Southern Arizona Guide is I am constantly discovering amazing places, events, and people I never knew about. Come to find out the Society has an upcoming event that combines the fascination with model trains with the love of gardens.

The 10th Annual “Rails In The Gardens” tour is Saturday & Sunday, March 2nd & 3rd from 10 AM to 4 PM.  This is a self-guided, driving tour of 10 garden railways plus the Toy Train Operators Museum. Tickets include maps and directions to each railroad. For 2013 there are two garden railways that are new on the tour, as well as annual favorites. Many railways on the tour have been expanded or have added features/scenes for 2013. This year’s layouts are located primarily on the west side of Tucson and you can visit all venues as often as you wish.

As importantly, this 10th tour will raffle a railroad themed quilt! All proceeds from the quilt raffle will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House. And again they will collect donations for the Community Food Bank … but only money, not canned foods, this time.

For more details or to make a reservation for the Disney presentation, visit www.theminitimemachine.org/waltdisneyrailroadstory or call 520-881-0606. The Tucson Garden Railway Society website had most of the info you may want about their garden tour.

You may also find my Mini Time Machine video of interest as an orientation to this fine museum. It’s in our SouthernArizonaGuide.com Museum section. Because we will be adding a lot of new content to SouthernArizonaGuide.com this coming spring, you might want to subscribe. It’s FREE & EASY. Subscribers receive our weekly newsletter with our most recent posts all of which has to do with the Best of Southern Arizona. Just click on Subscribe in the Main Menu.

Jane is a fairly newcomer to our area, having moved here seven years ago after a nineteen-year career as an association executive in Washington, DC, and was a client of the MTCVB.  She  grew up in South Florida, and wanted a return to the sunshine without the humidity … can you blame her?! She has a BA in Business from Florida State and attended grad school at George Washington University.

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The gem shows have begun!  Some shows opened last week, and several opened on Saturday.  You will notice several still have yet to open, including the Main Show—TGMS (Tucson Gem & Mineral Show)—the show that started it all.  One show opened mid-January!

Confused by all these starts and stops?  Know this:  The Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase is comprised of more than 40 shows (44 this year!).  Each show has its own start & end dates, venue, vendors, systems and listings at our web site www.tucsongemshow.org , all driven by the show owner or promoter.

The show owners and promoters are my clients.  I communicate with them year-round, and one-half of my year is dedicated to serving these clients and assisting them with everything from promoting their shows to finding temps for their check-in desks, to connecting them with local (and sometimes state and national) policy makers.  The official Showcase dates (this year, Feb. 2-17), are set in advance to signal to our various audiences:  the show owners, their vendors & buyers, the City of Tucson and the public;  when they may expect to see enhanced City services, Welcome Program materials distributed, as well as many other special initiatives underway.

Within our community of clients, there are many different business models:  the 501c3 nonprofit TGMS is a year-round local gem (had to say it), offering members and local residents ongoing opportunities to learn, network and share the love of gems, minerals & fossils.  Many shows, like JOGS, Gem & Lapidary Wholesalers and African Art Village, are family-owned & operated!  Some show owners also own the venue at which the show takes place, like Pueblo Gem Show at Riverpark Inn, Superb Minerals India, and others.

Throughout the Tucson metro area, you will find thousands of visitors who are here for this collective of gem shows and the vendors they represent.  So many languages are spoken throughout the stalls and the halls, yet the common language centers on the unique rock, the rare find,  the item you need to make your collection complete.  Sure there are gems, minerals, fossils, rocks and finished jewelry; but there are also home furnishings & accessories, wearable art, beads galore, petrified wood, glass, clothing…and a holiday gift for everyone on your list!  This is why Tucson’s Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase is the largest event of its kind in the world.  Go forth and shop!

Ms. Karen & Neighbor Roy in King Canyon Wash near the Desert Museum.

Yesterday, she & I, along with Neighbor Roy, spent a delightful early morning at the Desert Museum’s new aquarium on a Behind The Scenes Tour. More on that manana. Afterwards, we drove a few hundred yards west of the Desert Museum entrance and parked at the King Canyon trailhead (K-24). Our modest goal was to find and photograph petroglyphs.

Ms. Karen had hiked King Canyon from the summit of Mt. Wasson a year ago with relatives from Colorado so she knew (about) where to find the petroglyphs. Back then, I couldn’t walk a city block, let alone hike up a mountain. But following my surgery last November, I’ve been walking a little more each day and got up to 1.5 miles last Friday.

Ms. Karen told me that from Kinney Road, our goal was only about a mile up a wash, so I started out feeling confident that I could make it. Of course, having hardly walked at all for years, the muscles in my lower extremities have atrophied. After a quarter mile or so of walking in sand and gravel, my legs and hips were burning. Fortunately, getting to the petroglyphs was not a timed event, and I sat and rested several times on the way up. Here are a few photos of what we saw.

I don’t know what the paleo-Indians who carved these figures were trying to communicate, except perhaps that we should know they were once here.

Why do you suppose a pre-historic American Indian would feel the need to draw a rattlesnake on a cliff wall?

After our King Canyon hike, we went back to the Desert Museum to have lunch at the Ocotillo Cafe, one of our favorite Southern Arizona restaurants. Excellent, as always! You can find our 2012 List of the Best Restaurants In Southern Arizona by category on our website: SouthernArizonaGuide.com.

A Magnificent Mata Ortiz Pot

Following lunch we walked over to the exhibit called: The Women Potters of Mata Ortiz. Sunday was the last day of this exhibit and we were very glad we had not missed it. Not only is their pottery masterful works of art, but we also met some of the women potters who were at a table working on their next piece. Because some of the patterns on the pots are so tiny and precise, I assumed without thinking that they were machine-made.  That is until I witnessed one of the potters creating a very intricate pattern by dipping a single strand of hair in dye and painstakingly applying it one stroke at a time. And not just any hair would do. So tiny are the lines in the pattern that she used the ultra-fine hair from a baby. Extraordinary indeed!

1. Anamax Off-Leash Dog Park: 17501 S. Camino de las Quintas; Sahuarita
2. Brandi Fenton Park: River Rd and Dodge Blvd.; Tucson
3. Christopher Columbus Dog Park: 4600 N. Silverbell;  Tucson
4. Dennis Weaver Park: N. Oracle and Magee; Oro Valley
5. Gene C. Reid Park Off Leash: 900 S. Randolph Way; Tucson
6.  Jacobs Dog Park: 3300 N. Fairview Ave.; Tucson
7. James D. Kreigh Dog Park: 23 W Calle Concordia; Oro Valley
8. McDonald District Park Off-Leash Area: 4100 N. Harrison Road; Tucson
9. Northwest Center Off-Leash Dog Park: 2075 N. 6th Ave.; Tucson
10. Palo Verde Park Off-Leash Area: 300 S. Mann Ave.; Tucson
11. Smiling Dog Ranch at Mehl Park: River and Pontatoc; Tucson
12. Udall Dog Park: 7290 E. Tanque Verde; Tucson

Additionally, the City of Tucson website show that Mansfield Park at 2000 North 4^th Ave. has a dog park across the street.

Before I post this info to our SouthernArizonaGuide.com, do any of you have experience with any of these parks or know of others?