The Wedding Day

Our nephew, John, got married on Friday, Oct 17, on the beach in Coronado. In the morning, we went to where the ceremony would take place. He and 5 of his groomsmen had raked the beach and erected a set of bamboo posts to be draped with flowers later. As a reward for their labor, they went surfing! Here are some pictures of the event.































I call this one "His Last Solo Ride"























The ceremony began around 5, almost without a hitch. I'm not sure the photos do it justice, but the bridesmaids were wearing hot pink and the adornments were, too. The bride, groom, and wedding party were barefoot.



















































































After the ceremony, when the sun was almost setting...


























...we were shuttled to the reception for a cocktail hour while the wedding party had pictures taken. Then came dinner, speeches, and dancing.






















More tomorrow!

Whirlwind is over!

On Thursday, we toured Paramount Studios. They didn’t have all the bells and whistles that Warner Brothers had, but we enjoyed the tour more. They have a water tower, too, as seen here from the New York City backlot.
















This is the tank where Cecil B DeMille parted the Red Sea in the Ten Commandments. They were setting it up with fake snow for a winter scene.













This is the original gate to Paramount. It used to face a city street, but the studio grounds expanded around it. Lots of movie stars passed through these gates back in the day. They touched the gate for luck (and the guide allowed us to). The fountain was designed to spew water in the shape of the mountain peak in the Paramount logo.















This is where they filmed the scene in Seinfeld when he stole a loaf of bread and threw it up to George in a window.













Here we have a 2fer. On the left is where they filmed the scene in Ghost where Patrick Swayze died. On the right, is the soda shop where Indy and his son started the fight to get away from bad guys in the new Indiana Jones movie.














Here is Paramount’s working theater. This is where James Cameron and Leo watched the dailies of Titanic.














Last but not least, we went to Hollywood’s first studio, now a museum.














This photo of the Hollywood Hills before development was in it. Sorry about the glare.














Then we left town to rush to Coronado for the beginning of the wedding events.
That night we went to a local pub for some pre-wedding celebrating. This is Bryan, Doug, Megan, and John (the happy couple).

Boy, were my feet sore!

On Wednesday, we arranged for some guided tours. We first did Grauman’s, where we saw the hand and footprints in cement and went indoors for an historic tour. The walls were painted with murals in the 30s by actor Key Luke of Charlie Chan and Kung fu fame.



















We then took a 2-hour bus tour of Hollywood, Mulholand Dr., Bel Air, and Beverly Hills.

















This is Jack Nicholson’s house on the right. Yes that’s his tennis court hanging over the canyon.


















We then toured Kodak Theater, where the Academy Awards are held. We weren’t allowed to take pictures there, but it was really impressive.

In the afternoon, we took another tour of Hollywood that emphasized historic sites. This is the building that housed the realty company that developed the Hollywood Hills. They named neighborhood Hollywoodland, which is what the Hollywood sign used to say.



















Last but not least, we went to Jimmy Kimmel Live and saw Lisa Kudrow and David Alan Grier. Again no pix allowed and they even confiscated our cameras.

Hollywood Ho!

Tuesday morning we passed miles of produce fields--mostly strawberries and tomatoes. We then took the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway for you East-Coasters) through Malibu. We stopped at yet another liquor store and spoke with a clerk who said celebrities come in there all the time. Of course, we didnt see any. She especially likes Danny Trejo, who she says is a really nice guy (inspite of always playing bad guys in the movies). I searched the street signs for the road that Robert Downey, Jr, lives on with no luck.
We continued up Sunset Blvd from Malibu and found the Menendez home (just because it was only a couple of blocks off the main drag). We went through Bel Air and Beverly Hills, then past all the hotspots on the Sunset Strip. Here's the Whisky a Go Go, where the doors were the house band.

















In Hollywood, our first order of business was to see what was up. This theater is on the Walk of Fame, the 16 blocks where the stars have stars in the sidewalk. It advertised an actual visit by the doggie stars of the movie.














After checking our options, we decided to go on the Warner Bros. Studios tour. Very cool. Here's the famous water tower.




















Even though we weren't at Disney, I got a picture of Goofy with Bugs Bunny.






















On the tour, we saw sound stages, back lots, and got to see the set for Two and a Half Men. They weren't taping that day, but had rehearsed earlier. We weren't allowed to take pictures there.
We were allowed to take pix of the set of Friends, which they keep around for tourists, but no longer use.
















Another high point was the flying car from Harry Potter. We also saw tons of props and costumes from the HP movies, but couldn't take pix of those.



















It was after dark when we got back to Hollywood and went in search of the Super 8 I had made reservations for. When we found it, it was clear we didn't want to stay there. The desk clerk let us out of our reservations and we're thinking that was because we weren't the first tourists to look out of our element and we decided he didn't rent many rooms for more than a few hours anyways!
We ended up at a nice Days Inn nextdoor to an In and Out Burger and across from IHOP.

I don't know when I'll be blogging again, as I'm going up the mountain today to my brother's. He only has dial up.

A Whirlwind Tour

We're alive and well and have arrived in Coronado. I have some catching up to do. I've been so tired by the end of the day, that I've had no brainpower left to keep up with this blog, sorry. Here's Monday's adventure.


We got up early to go to Hearst Castle. The visitor center is by Highway 1 and the ocean, but the castle is 5 miles up a mountain, as you can see in the photo taken through a window of the bus.
















Of course, once we got up there, I had to have a shot of what it looks like looking back down.

















The house and grounds are indescribable. One of the first stops on the tour is the Neptune Pool.

















One of the last stops on the tour is the indoor Roman Pool. All the yellow tiles you see here have gold leaf.
















In between, you can see the main floor of La Casa Grande and a guest house.































After we left there, we stopped in Cambria, a quaint little town just south of San Simeon. This is where I found my new favorite beach. This is Moonstone Beach, where you can collect Moonstones, explore tidal pools, and watch harbor seals. Not necessarily in that order!






















At the end of the day, we went out for some comfort food at Outback, then checked into the original Motel 6, in Sant Barbara, only a block from the beach.

All I can say is Wow!

First of all, I'm too tired to post, but I don't want to get further beind. Here are a couple of pictures I promised of the Winchester Mystery House.
















Now, the reason I didn't post yesterday was this. That drive south on Highway 1 is a doozy! Take my word for it, if you have the choice, go north! I was the passenger (since Bry is directionally challenged I had to navigate.) Anyway, the pasenger is on the cliff side southbound. You'll see when you get to those pix. After 90 miles and 7 hours, we had a couple of stiff drinks when we finally got to our motel. Then, I was too wasted to write.
But, let's start at the beginning. We went to Carmel and Carmel Valley. This is a view of Pebble Beach golf course from Carmel Beach.
















We went down memory lane in Carmel Valley searching for a bar called the Stirrup Cup that was there in the 50s when we were. This is now and then.















Here is a taste of the Big Sur coastline, photos taken with white kncukles! It's hard to see, but we crossed the bridge in the 2nd picture!








































This is the waterfall on Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park beach. It was outstanding,but there was no beach access, only a viewing path.
















We found time in the afternoon for a stop at an annual Jade Festival. It is held at Pacific Valley School as a fundraiser. The 60s are alive and well on the Big Sur coast!

















Across the street from the jade fest, we made the long climb down to Sand Dollar Beach, where we hunted for jade. There were some huge pieces, but we found enough manageable ones to satisfy us.















Later, we passed by the Chalk fire.

















Near the end of the day's journey, we found the beach where the elephant seals come at different times of the year. These are juveniles up to 4 years old. Amazing!















Again, I'm too tired to be very creative or to even catch up, because these are all yesterday's events. I'll write about today tomorrow!