Lincoln Robot - Gettysburg Address
Blue Diamond, Nevada
Bonnie Springs Ranch is fun, with its fake frontier town, petting zoo, reported hauntings and other desert amusements. Its wax museum is a hidden gem, displaying a series of lit dioramas of wild west life: a saloon, a mountain man battling a grizzly, and various denizens and luminaries of 19th century Nevada.
But our favorite thing is this unusual tableau of Abraham Lincoln. We know it's Lincoln because he sports a black beard, wears a stovepipe hat and black suit, and sits next to a sign: "Hear the Gettysburg Address $1.00."
We accept that a more realistic wax Lincoln was not available. But no attempt has been made to create the atmosphere in Gettysburg where the President delivered his 270-word, immortal speech on November 19, 1863. He was standing that day, not sitting behind a painted desk and a stack of mildewy books. It's as if we're seeing an alternative Abe years after he left office, un-assassinated, but scratching out a living by giving performances and selling autographed copies of his old speeches.
Don't get us wrong -- not a bit of this display should be changed. It is perfect. Put your money in the Gettysburg Address machine, and enjoy.