by Linda Knoop
posted August 13, 2004
) Downtown Sausalito, Ca. It is across the bay from San Francisco. Click to enlarge. |
We tried our best to get four ladies’ luggage packed for 10 days into the trunk of a Honda Accord so that we could keep the cost of our gas bill as low as possible, but it just would not fit. Enterprise Car Rental then brought a Buick LeSabre around and a nice young man got it all in for us. We had to remember just how he packed it so we could get the trunk closed. The last day it would not close at first, but after pushing down we finally got it locked in place. A few souvenirs had been added to the suitcases.
It was very easy getting out of the Burbank Airport and I had directions to the Best Western Mikado Hotel where we stayed four nights in North Hollywood. This was a convenient location for us to see Hollywood, J. Paul Getty Center, La Brea Tar Pits,
Page Museum, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, L.A. Farmers Market, The Grove Shopping Mall and to attend the Jay Leno Show at the NBC Studios. The rooms were very comfortable and the hotel was decorated Japanese style with a full breakfast at the Mikado Restaurant included with our stay.
Due to the three hour time difference it was easy to get up early. When it was 9 a.m. in Chattanooga it was 6 a.m. in L.A. Thursday morning we were eating a leisurely breakfast around 7:30 a.m. and then off to see Hollywood. My niece, Heather Hines, is employed by Enterprise Car Rental on Yucca Street just a few short blocks from Hollywood Boulevard. She gave us the family and friends rate, saving us about $300 on the car rental for 10 days. We got to park the car there for free and she gave us a ride to the Chinese Theatre and Kodak Theatre. We made plans to meet Heather at 11:30 a.m. for lunch at The California Pizza Kitchen. In the meantime, we had fun looking at the hand prints and foot prints of famous stars also posing with Batman, Superman, Dr. Seuss and taking photos of William Shatner of Star Trek. He met with his fan club to have lunch with them at the CPK Restaurant. While eating, we were watching a giant TV screen outside the Ryan Secrest Show and he was interviewing Brad Pitt. Unfortunately, we did not get to see Brad.
After lunch we were on our way down Wilshire Boulevard to find the J. Paul Getty Center. In 1983 the J. Paul Getty Trust purchased about 750 acres in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. The following year, after an international search, Richard Meier was chosen to design the Getty Center. The smooth stone used to build the Center is travertine from Bagni di Tivoli, Italy. Romans used travertine from the same quarry to build the Coliseum, Trevi Fountain, and the colonnade of St. Peter’s Basilica. The amount used to build Getty Center is 16,000 tons, which is 1 million square feet.
The only cost to see this magnificent arts and humanities center is $5 for parking. Mr. Getty wanted this Center to be a gift to all people. Cars are parked in a garage and a tram – essentially a horizontal elevator- moves visitors up the hill at a top speed of 10 miles per hour. The 5-minute ride to the summit was designed to give visitors the feeling of “being elevated out of their day-to-day experience,’’ says Meier. “At the same time,’’ he adds, “They’ll have a powerful sense of being in the center of this great city.’’ You can also take a 15-minute walk up the hill along the road that runs parallel to the tram. The total cost to build J. Paul Getty Center is a cool $1.2 billion.
Friday morning we spent at the La Brea Tar Pits Park and Page Museum. For millions of years, the area that was to become Los Angeles and Rancho La Brea lay beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean. During this time, marine sedimentary layers formed and in some places these eventually became rich with fossil fuels produced from ancient sea life. When the ocean levels receded less than 100,000 years ago, long after the extinction of dinosaurs, the area of Rancho La Brea became land. At Rancho La Brea, the crude oil has been seeping out of the ground through conduits and fissures in the coastal plain sediments for the past 40,000 years, the seeps forming pools in low-lying areas. Fresh sediments from rivers running out of the Santa Monica Mountains and nearby hills continued to form new layers on top of older ones and asphalt continued to seep to the surface. Over tens of thousands of years, this produced the asphalt deposits found at Rancho La Brea.
The George C. Page Museum houses the Earth’s richest and most important Ice Age fossil collection. Visitors find a working paleontology laboratory and scenes depicting Southern California and North America thousands of years ago. More than 30 complete skeletons of fossil mammals and birds are on display. Across the park from the Page Museum is the Pit 91 excavation. Started in 1969, it is the longest on-going urban paleontological excavation site in the world. The excavations are conducted during the summer months from early July until the beginning of September. Plants of the Ice Age are being planted now as I write this article; we learned from the gardener working in the park.
It was interesting to learn about Mr. Page; when he was a young school boy his teacher gave him a navel orange from California so while growing up in Nebraska and at the age of 16 years old he decided he wanted to go where the navel oranges grew. With $2.50 in his pocket he arrived in L.A. That first Christmas, being away from home, he got some pretty tissue paper to pack oranges in a box as a gift for his parents. All their neighbors wanted a package of oranges and that was the beginning of a very lucrative business for Mr. Page.
We had time to check out the original Farmers Market started in 1934 at Third and Fairfax. The Gilmore Ranch, site of the Farmers Market, was originally a dairy farm on which its owner, Arthur Fremont Gilmore, discovered oil while drilling for water. This was an excellent place to purchase souvenirs and to eat lunch.
A month before the departure date of our trip, I had written to NBC Studios for us to have free tickets to the Jay Leno Show. Friday, April 30, at 3:30 p.m. was the date and time for us to be at NBC. We were advised to get in line early as possible that afternoon because even if you have a ticket you may not get into the show. They count 382 people, that’s all the studio has seats to accommodate the crowd. We got in line about 2 p.m. and did make it into the show. While standing, a VIP line was allowed to go ahead of us. They are friends and relatives of the performers on the show. The show started at 4 p.m. which allowed Jay Leno to come out on the stage before camera time. He explained the part we were suppose to do for the live TV show performance which is to clap very loud when we see the applause sign go up. At first Jay came out in his blue jean shirt and pants (his signature) and the actual camera performance, coat and tie. Ellen was his guest and the conversation was about Jay’s collection of cars showing us pictures of them and then Ellen’s collection, which were not as elaborate. The singing group was Cure, I did not know who they were but all the younger people seemed to enjoy their type of music. Of course, we saw some interesting hairstyles that afternoon.
We got lucky for dinner, across the street from NBC was a wonderful Mexican restaurant and happy hour started about the time we got out of the show. The buffet amounted to a full Mexican meal; all we had to purchase was a beverage. Of course, this was our best deal for one of our dinners and the food was great.
Saturday morning, May 1, we headed back down to Hollywood Boulevard for a visit to the Hollywood Museum and Max Factor Museum. In the Hollywood Museum we saw the sets for Star Trek, Cheers and X-Files; also, we learned the motion picture is made first then sound comes later on. We got to participate in making sound effects.
The Max Factor Museum building once was a storage building for the luxury cars of stars such as Mary Pickford. It has the largest freight elevator on the West Coast so the cars could be driven inside the building. When Max Factor bought the building he used it for his makeup factory. He was the first to invent the tube of lipstick. Downstairs were the beauty parlors. One room was for blondes, one for brunettes and one for redheads. I stood in the room where Lucille Ball became a redhead. Also in this beauty parlor is her personal makeup and memorabilia. The second and third floors house costumes
worn by Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Clark Gable and numerous other movie stars. At the end of our tour we were told to get onto the freight elevator where we were taken down into the basement. We started walking down a hallway of jail cells and the last one on the left is Hannibal Lecter’s from the movie “Silence of the Lambs.” Inside the cell was his mask and drawings that he had on the walls. Also across from the cell was the chair actress Jodi Foster would sit on while talking to Hannibal. The legs on the chair had been shortened so she would appear to be a lot smaller than she actually is; the director wanted Hannibal to be as intimidating as possible.
We wanted to try a nice restaurant in L.A. so Heather and Kristian took us to the Elephant Ear, which we enjoyed very much. It was decorated with large plants such as the elephant ear, palm and a variety of other large leaf plants. The carpet was leopard spots, and there was a great atmosphere, food and prices at the Elephant Ear. It was a treat for Heather to be driving us around L.A., especially since evening was beginning to fall and it was starting to get dark.
We all agreed one place we wanted to visit on Sunday morning was the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. I have watched Robert Schuller’s program on TV for years and I promised myself if ever I was close to it, this I wanted to see. Robert A. Schuller was the preacher May 2 and his guest was former tennis pro Andrea Jaeger.
Andrea starting playing tennis when she was 8 years old and had turned pro at the ripe old age of 14. On her 16th birthday she won the French Open, but her tennis career was over at 19 due to injuries. With her fortune she set up The Silver Lining Foundation amid the Colorado Rockies, a non-profit organization benefiting children with cancer. When she speaks you can see the love of Christ in her face.
Outside the Crystal Cathedral down the walkways and gardens are numerous statues of Job, Moses, the Christ Family, the Shepherd and the most amazing Christ walking on water.
After a light lunch at the Crystal Cathedral we were on our way north to Santa Barbara to start our sight seeing voyage up the Pacific Coast all the way to San Francisco. I had driving directions for a car tour in Santa Barbara. Near the end of the tour was the famous Santa Barbara Mission, known as the Queen of the 21 missions along the California coast. It was founded by the Spanish in the 18th Century under the leadership of Father Serra.
By this time we were getting hungry for dinner and we drove upon the wooden Stern’s Wharf to the Harbor Seafood Restaurant. We were told that you get the same food upstairs at a less price because it is more casual. It was loud and noisy but great seafood.
Our destination for Sunday evening was the Silver Surf Motel in San Simeon where we had reservations to spend the night and a breakfast was included with our stay at the restaurant next door. I thought this was a bargain for $43 per person. At this point on our trip we are located halfway between L.A. and San Francisco.
It was nice to have an early morning walk before breakfast with the ocean being so close. In the restaurant was a tour group from Germany. While we were eating, one of the bus drivers for Hearst Castle Tours chatted with us. We were impressed when the lady we bought our tickets from at the window asked, if we were the ladies from Chattanooga, TN. Her husband had finished breakfast before us and had told her to expect us. Just before turning into the drive for the visitor’s center of the Hearst Castle we went down to see the elephant seals sunning themselves on the beach. At first they looked dead, but then after looking again you see their little flappers toss sand upon their backs.
There are five different tours offered at the Castle. The Experience Tour was recommended for first time visitors at the price of $18, which we all chose on Monday morning, May 3.
After purchasing our tickets we got on a bus which took us up to the extraordinary hilltop estate built by William R. Hearst and architect Julia Morgan. In 1919 they started a collaboration of 28 years on the structure which includes 165 rooms decorated with European art objects and 127 acres of gardens, pools and walkways. It was turned over to the State of California in 1957.
Stepping off the bus, we were greeted by our tour guide, Steve Miller, and his assistant. Working at the Castle for 14 years, he is very knowledgeable, loves his job and has a wonderful speaking voice. I could have listened to him all day long and he wasn’t bad to look at either.
The first area we viewed was the outside garden patio close to the guest house and Grecian pool. From there we went inside the guest house and then a walk through the flower garden where we saw a 4,000-year-old Egyptian statue. The walkway through the garden took us up to Casa Grande where we walked into the assembly room where guests gathered for cocktails before dinner. Cary Grant came to visit on 40 different occasions because he would draw the glamour crowd and he was a gentleman. Mr. Hearst would not put up with heavy drinking. Errol Flynn received only one invitation.
The dining room table came from the Vatican. Amidst the china setting was a bottle of ketchup and mustard plus paper napkins. Often he would invite the top paper sales boys for a visit to the Castle and they would have hamburgers and hot dogs. On the buffet alongside the Vatican table was a huge silver wine chiller that once belonged to the Queen of England. The corner where I was standing was the very same spot Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers would perform for Mr. Hearst and guests. Tumbling Tumble Weed was his favorite song.
Most of the time after dinner they would all go into the theatre to watch newsreels and a movie, Peg Of My Heart starring Marion Davies (his companion for 30 years) was his favorite movie. The house staff was invited to come in and watch movies with the guests.
Moving on from the theatre to our last room of tour we saw an indoor Roman Pool lined with Venetian glass and gold. Walking outside we saw the tennis court and then boarded the bus taking us back down the hill to the Visitor’s Center to view the IMAX National Geographic film Hearst Castle: Building The Dream. The movie portraying Mr. Hearst's life by itself was worth the $18 I paid for this visit.
Leaving the driveway we took a right turn onto Highway 1 heading north along the Pacific Ocean for Big Sur to find a place for lunch. Driving along the coast was like driving along in a beautiful painting. Around each curve was a spectacular view.
I hoped that we could get to Big Sur before having to buy gas, but the tank was getting low and gas stations are few and far between towns. Out in the middle of nowhere we drove into The Gorda Springs Resort. We paid $3.30 per gallon for gas; needless to say I did not fill up, we purchased $10 worth and got out of there. I knew we would have enough to get us on to a larger community. Average price of gas in California is $2.25 a gallon.
On the way for lunch at the Nepenthe Restaurant, which overlooks 40 miles of coastline, we stopped at Pfeiffer-Big Sur State Park to look at Coast Redwood Trees. I could have spent the rest of the afternoon here, but we had other sites to explore.
About 4 p.m. we pulled into Carmel for the 17-Mile Drive Tour. This is where you see the famous lone pine and, of course, Pebble Beach Golf Course. We stopped in the Poppy Hills clubhouse for souvenirs and then went around to the Pebble Beach shops. The salesperson suggested we come back for breakfast at the Lodge Restaurant.
Taking a drive through Carmel-By-The-Sea we realized it would cost a small fortune to spend the night. This was one night I had not made reservations not knowing exactly where we would be for the evening. A 10-minute drive to Monterey and we found the Padre Oaks Motel. I could not believe the cost of only $26 per person. It was beautiful with lots of pretty plants, very clean and continental breakfast. Coffee, OJ and a muffin tided us over until we drove back over to the Lodge Restaurant at Pebble Beach for breakfast. The view from the large picture window was the 18th hole of Pebble Beach Golf Course with the Pacific Ocean in the background. I will remember this breakfast for a long, long time.
Clint Eastwood could have walked in any moment, but he didn’t. He is the Chairman of the Board at Pebble Beach and the Lodge is where the corporate offices are located. People working there see him frequently.
After breakfast that Tuesday morning of May 4 we took a walking tour of Carmel-By-The-Sea and were thrilled to find The Cypress Inn (a Mediterranean Hotel) co-owned by Doris Day which is pet friendly. Posted in the courtyard garden was a little sign, “Please don’t eat the daisies.”
Being this close to Monterey we had to stop in at Cannery Row and then we were on our way to Pacifica which is 10 miles from the Golden Gate Bridge. Somewhere in between Monterey and Pacifica we saw the Pigeon Lighthouse, so we stopped to get a picture. Lo and behold, we saw whales migrating from Baha to Alaska. A very exciting day!
Starting in this area we saw farms. It was strange to see crops growing along the Pacific Ocean. I missed a great picture of a farm tractor plowing with the ocean in the background.
When we pulled into the Lighthouse Best Western at Pacifica, all the girls were in favor of staying here for two nights because of the location. Our rooms were oceanview and big, with white robes hanging in the closet and cottonballs furnished in the bathroom. It was
wonderful hearing the roar of the ocean against the big rocks at Rockaway Beach.
By the time we got checked in we were all hungry for seafood. Jeanene, the desk clerk, advised us to try Nick’s across the street. They have been in business for years and are popular with the locals. I asked if anyone famous comes here to eat, and she told us Chuck Norris was in last week and Sharon Stone comes in once in awhile. The food was great and there were big picture windows for ocean views while eating our dinner.
We decided not to be in such a hurry on the morning of May 5, just relax and enjoy our morning coffee and the view of Rockaway Beach.
It was only a 15-minute drive to Fisherman’s Wharf and after parking the car we decided to take the Alcatraz Island Tour. The Cellhouse Recorded Tour allows you to join former inmates and correctional officers as they remember life on Alcatraz in this award-winning, 35-minute recorded tour. Al Capone and the Birdman of Alcatraz are two of the most famous inmates. It was interesting to learn the Birdman never had birds there at Alcatraz but had them at Leavenworth before being transferred to Alcatraz.
We were starving when the boat returned us to the Wharf. A local guided us to a great little place that was good and we got waited on fast. Just outside the back door was a pedestrian bridge that took us over the busy street so we could go ride the cable cars. This was FUN, FUN, FUN!
Once we got up to Nob Hill we took a stroll through the famous Fairmont Hotel Lobby. This hotel was the scene for TV Hotel, St. Gregory, starring Connie Sellica and James Brolin. The bellmen told us about happy hour at 5 p.m. in the Tonga Room. We had time
to walk a block over to see Grace Cathedral, the third largest of America’s Episcopal cathedrals.
We had to pay $7 for the oriental buffet happy hour and it was well worth it. The Tonga Room made us feel as though we were in Hawaii, complete with a tropical shower from time to time. In the middle of the room was a band area surrounded by water and a sprinkler system in the ceiling outlined the area. We would hear thunder and then in this rectangular area it would start to rain a small shower. Of course, the patrons would not get wet.
After dinner we jumped on the open cable car for a ride through China Town and back down to Fisherman’s Wharf. We had not been to the Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory. They give out free samples and you can watch how they make this wonderful product; also we had to buy some souvenirs.
The morning of Thursday, May 6, was our day to drive across The Golden Gate Bridge. MAGNIFICENT work of architect. There is a vista stopping area after crossing over the bridge for viewing the San Francisco Bay and to take pictures. It was like standing in the middle of a beautiful painting.
I was told by two different people, Alvena Allen and Karen Tatro, to be sure and drive on over to Sausalito, the next community north of the Golden Gate Bridge. As you exit off the freeway and begin to drive down the street in the heart of Sausalito, looking over to the left is a picturesque view of the bay with green hillsides in the background; it’s an artists’ heaven. Just park anywhere along the street and you will find a café or two and plenty of shopping. I could not afford the redwood grandfather clock in one particular shop, but I certainly enjoyed having the opportunity to see this one of a kind work of art. We were told this would be a very expensive place to shop and for the most part this is true, but if you look it’s possible to find a good bargain. This was the cheapest place we found to buy gas on the entire trip and it was $2.05 per gallon. I hope that I’ll get to come back here again someday, it’s so pretty.
After lunch in Sausalito, it was time to pick up our pictures at the Long’s Drug Store in Pacifica and start heading south. We had to hightail it back to Burbank because our flight home was Saturday, May 8, at 12:10 p.m. We got a great deal on Southwest of $229 round trip, but the clincher was, we had to fly in and out of the same airport.
To take a break from the long drive back to Burbank, I included a stop in Saratoga to see the 150-year-old Hokane Japenese Gardens. Everyone agreed it was worth the stop. A fellow with a film crew at the gardens told us it would be on the House and Garden TV channel in November.
We found our way to Highway 5, the truckers route which is the faster way to travel back to L.A. We could have stopped about 9:30 p.m. along Highway 5 and stayed at a decent motel for the economical price of $30, but my desire was to stay close to Malibu and Santa Monica Beach. I wanted to wake up and be able to walk on the beach first thing in the morning. This was to be our last full day on Friday, May 7.
After our stroll, in the quiet early morning on Santa Monica Beach near the boardwalk, we headed six miles north to Malibu. Pepperdine University is located right in the middle of Malibu upon the hillside, a breathtaking campus with a tuition for one year of $36,000. It being lecture week the campus was open to the public, so we parked the car and jumped on a tour van. Also, we had a nice lunch in the campus dining hall for the price of $6.
Our tour of Malibu included a stop at the Colony Shopping Mall where I am sure local residents such as Cher, Barbara Strisand, Mel Gibson, Charlie Sheen and other movie personalities do their shopping. Betty Ann told us to meet her in the Ice Cream Parlor and while sitting there she noticed a woman with straight bangs and hair with a profile like that of Barbara Strisand. She’s almost sure it was her.
Leaving the Malibu area we headed to Rodeo Drive - we could not go home without having walked down this street. I was “window shopping” at the Harry Winston store and asked the security guard the price of the largest diamond ring on display, it was only $900,000. About this time, a petite blonde dressed in a black two-piece pants outfit came walking out the door with a very large shopping bag in her hand. Only someone rich and famous could afford to walk out of the Harry Winston store with a bag this large. I snapped her picture as she started to walk across the street. Of course, the security guard was not at liberty to say who she was and I did not find out her identity until I got home. Two young college girls who are up on fashion identified her as as Donatilli Versace.
The security guard advised us to go up the street to McCormick & Schmick’s Restaurant outside café saying, “No telling who you may see up there.” We trucked up the street past Iceberg, Versace, and Cartier’s stores to find a seat in the café at the top of the hill. We did see several beautiful young people but we did not recognize any of them.
Traveling back in the direction of our hotel we decided to shop again at the Farmer’s Market. We could afford to buy stuff here.
The last night was spent back at the Best Western Mikado where we would have a full breakfast on Saturday morning, May 8, before checking out and getting our return flight home. Heather met us for breakfast for a goodbye farewell. We all want to come back. For me, it was a trip of a lifetime.
Linda Knoop
lknoop@chattconvention.org
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