My Super Duper Road Trip 2017 Part 2

The next morning, we got up and had breakfast at a Panera Bread. We still needed to find a credit union and Google located one just on the other side of Highway 5 from Disneyland. We drove over the freeway and into this seemingly industrial area...and then I began to have an odd feeling. Were we in a...? YES! The place we had turned into was a Disneyland production facility (on the other side of the freeway from the park). Um... I don't think we were supposed to be there...but there was a credit union somewhere around the facility. We eventually found it (just passed the security area---but they let us use it). It was kind of cool seeing this unexpected backstage area of Disneyland where cast and crew start/end their days. Notice the Mickey Mouse hands pointing out directions on the sign and the Mickey Mouse-shaped bicycle stands. Ha!  And is THIS (the guest parking lot) where they shoot the fireworks from? There's a sign below that makes me think so. Hmm...

Once we were cashed up, we headed out again. Our next stop was the city of Watts and a visit at the Watts Towers Arts Center to see the amazing towers of Simon Rodia and his "Nuestro Peublo" art project, better known as the Watts Towers. They may seem like junk to most, but I found them fascinating. Rodia was an immigrant from Italy who built the towers from 1921 through 1953. The tallest is 99 feet (because, back in the day, there was an ordinance that forbid building anything 100 feet tall) and they are created from cast off "junk"--bottles, tile, shells, even coat hangers. It wasn't an "art piece" per say. It was the man's home and yard decor. Part of it was the fencing he put along the street. He did incorporate his house in it to an extent (the house is now long gone--having burned down in the 60s), but the bulk of it is in his "backyard". Built on a triangular lot and designed to look like a ship, the towers are simply awe-inspiring and so much more amazing seeing them in real life. In a way, Rodia's towers remind me of Baldasare Forestiere's Underground Gardens here in Fresno. Very cool and they really have to be seen in person to be fully appreciated.

From the Watts Towers, we raced over to near LAX to attend one of the "has-been" celebrity shows. There really wasn't anyone there I wanted to meet that badly, but I had promised my friend John I would go to this one. Erich didn't want to go. But I promised we'd be there an hour or less (it turned out to be less--amazingly). We did see the 60s BATMOBILE and the car from KNIGHT RIDER (everyone was more interested in the BATMOBILE though).  Some of the 60s BATMAN people were there---but I had "met" them on previous visits. I did "meet" Lee Meriwether (who played CATWOMAN in the 60s BATMAN movie--and looked amazing for being 81 years old). I also "met" David Hedison, a character actor you'd recognize instantly (if he were younger...he's 89 now and looking good) from the original THE FLY, the VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA tv series, twice he played James Bond's FBI friend Felix Leiter (in LIVE AND LET DIE and LICENSE TO KILL), THE COLBYS, etc. My biggest regret was not getting a picture WITH my friend John --- I just got one of him alone. Oh well... NEXT time.

After the has-been show (and I sooooo regret also ---in a way---not getting poor Tommy Kirk's autograph. He is at almost EVERY show, it seems...and he NEVER seems to have anyone at his table. He just sits there and hungrily looks around for someone to come see him. He's back again for the July show. IF we I go to that---and my co-worker Alicia and i may or may not be there that weekend---I will definitely visit him then. I mean, come on. OLD YELLER, SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON, THE MONKEY'S UNCLE, THE SHAGGY DOG, PAJAMA PARTY...WHY NOT? Following the show, we headed for Griffith Park, intending on stopping and seeing the Griffith Park Observatory---but it was jam-packed with people and there was NO place to park. UGH!  So, we headed to the hotel we usually stay at in the area between Glendale and Eagle Rock and got our room.  My friend Nedra called and wanted to know what we were doing. We got ourselves ready and drove over to her place. Nedra is my oldest (meaning the number of years I've known her---not her age) and dearest friends. She is the only person I still know from high school. 

The three of us Lyft-ed over to CLIFTON'S CAFETERIA in downtown Los Angeles. I have wanted to go there for years and years, but not long after I first heard about it, it closed for extensive renovations. But I thought it was truly spectacular. It is a true cafeteria. You walk up to counters and ask for whatever you want---each item is priced individually. The dining room is made to look/feel like you are in the wilderness. I need to go back someday.

Do-it-yourself mimosa anyone? Orange juice and a mini-bottle of champagne. Ha! What a fun time--and a novel idea for a restaurant.

There used to be several different Clifton's restaurants in the area. One of them was a massive tiki bar/restaurant called CLIFTON'S SOUTH SEAS (Google it. It was amazing). To honor that old restaurant, the fourth floor of Clifton's (which you have to enter by exiting the restaurant and then entering another side door and climbing stairs) features a new tiki bar called Clifton's Pacific Seas.It's not nearly as grand as the old one---but it sure is tiki-riffic on its own. 

From Clifton's, we Lyft-ed over to another tiki place I've long known about but have never visited (I tried before and it was always closed. Waaaagh). It's the legendary Tiki Ti, Los Angeles' second oldest tiki bar!  The place was jammed! It was standing room only, but we actually found seats in one corner. Be warned--Tiki Ti is a CASH ONLY bar.

It was a groovy experience, but all too soon it was time to go. We Lyft-ed Nedra back to her place and then drove to the hotel. Another full day had come to a close. But there was a LOT more ahead of us...

 Stay tuned. (Or jump to the next part HERE.)

 CHEERS!