On Saturday, Oct. 21, I got up early, showered, dressed, packed up and left the Palm Motel fairly early. I didn't know what the traffic would be like on a Saturday, but I didn't want to take any chances.
For breakfast, I just decided to do fast food. I hit Taco Bell and had a "Naked Egg Taco". Yes, it was a real egg deep fried into the shape of a taco shell. Weird. (And horribly greasy.)
My goal for the day was the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. I expected it to get busy on a Saturday so I was there before it opened. As it neared time to enter, I got right up to the door so I could get in first and snap away without people in the background (hopefully). Ah, the best laid plans... At 9:30, the guard unlocked the door, but he did not removed the padlock and chain and he just walked off. Another employee waved the line over to the re-admission door and we got in.
I had to get in and out. I had another appointment later in the day before the long drive home. The Natural History Museum was huge and I had a lot of ground to cover in only 90 minutes or so.
There were two large dinosaur fossils just inside the door, but either of the two long corridors on either side were displays of dead stuffed animals (very sad) set up to look as if they were in their natural habitat.
And suddenly, there they were...
They even had petrified eggs.
Beyond the dinosaurs, they had a section with skeletons of extinct mammals as well as current ones.
This guy was hanging out talking about saber toothed animals. You could feel his reproduction skull if you wanted to. I passed.
Through the Museum Store, you could visit the gardens outside.
I came back inside from one of the wings of the museum. I was going to make a quick return walk through of the dinosaur exhibit and leave.
But I didn't leave. I kept seeing something I'd missed, like Megamouth below.
Then there was the gems and minerals display I had overlooked.
One last creepy thing and it was time to leave...
You can visit the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County website HERE.
900 W. Exposition Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90007
The next stop was another of the has-been conventions, the Hollywood Show. (Learn more about it HERE.) I had promised John I'd be there. There were several celebrities I'd have loved to have seen and got autographs from, but I was watching my finances and didn't have much money. When I arrived at the Westin Hotel near the airport, the place
was already packed.
John and his brother Steve were there. They were in line (for more than an hour) to meet Lou Diamond Phillips and Esai Morales. They were in line from the time I arrived until after I left. I took pictures, but not too many...and they generally suck. You kind of have to sneak the photos as the has-beens...er, celebrities want their money for photos. John took a bunch, too, which he let me borrow for this blog entry thing. The following seven photos are his and mine follow.
Here is Kathy Garver (Cissy from "Family Affair") (you can see her face in the mirror) interviewing Tony Dow, aka Wally from "Leave It To Beaver".
Lou Diamond Phillips with Bill Mumy (Will Robertson on "Lost In Space").
Mackenzie ("One Day At A Time") Phillips
John's brother Steve with Stephanie Power. She photographs okay, but in real life she was looking old and it was obvious she was wearing a wig.
Here is Tawny Kitaen (who?), looking totally unrecognizable today (thanks to extensive plastic surgery) from "Bachelor Party", "The Perils of Gwendolyn in the Land of the Yik-Yak" and "Witchboard".
"I Dream of Jeannie"'s Barbara Eden
Here is John with Esai Morales and Lou Diamond Phillips.
Bernie Kopell, aka Doc from "The Love Boat" and Siegfried from "Get Smart".
Esai Morales
The older guy on the right is one-time Disney sensation ("Babes in Toyland", "Old Yeller", "Swiss Family Robinson", "The Monkey's Uncle", etc.), Tommy Kirk. He seems to be at ALL of these shows. Every time I see him, he sits there all alone, looking hungrily for someone to visit him. I've never seen him with anyone talking to him. Poor Tommy Kirk. He was at the April show and I meant to go talk to him, but forgot about it until we were in the parking lot. John had followed us out then, but was returning to the show. I gave him $20 to go talk to Mr. Kirk, but he didn't do it. This time, I was bound and determined to talk to him. However, every time I went up to him, he was occupied with a fan. Zowie! I came back later and...he was talking to someone else. I came back again, same story. My guess is that these people have some sixth sense and know he will be dead soon and are out to get his autograph while they can.
When I told Christa that Kookie from "77 Sunset Strip" was going to be there, she about flipped. She wanted me to get a photo of him, so here is a shot of Edd Byrnes. He is in the middle of eating something, I have to say.
These are two people I really wanted to meet, get autographs from and pictures with. The woman on the far left is Kimmy Robertson. She was the sheriff's receptionist Lucy on "Twin Peaks". The guy on the far right is Harry Goaz, who played Deputy Andy (He was also Lucy's boyfriend) on the show. Sherlyn Fenn, who played Audrey Horne, was also there...but I didn't go up to her either.
Valerie Harper
Tim Matheson from "Animal House". The blonde woman behind him is Karen Allen from "Carrie", "Dressed to Kill" and "Blow Up". I wanted to see them as well, but didn't.
Joyce Bulifant
88 year old Don Murray was there. He starred opposite Marilyn Monroe in "Bus Stop", was Sid Fairgate on the first season of "Knot's Landing" and was in "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes", among other things.
There were dozens of celebrities there, but I did not go up and visit (and shell out cash to) any of them...except for this nobody. This is James Balsamo. Who? Exactly! I was walking down an aisle and this guy sticks this DVD in my face and starts this spiel filled with bad jokes and lame puns. I looked at his DVDs. He wrote, directed and STARRED in them. Clearly low budget, but the guy was so in your face (in a good-natured way), and so enthusiastic. I liked his attitude and chutzpah. He was only asking $20 for one of his flicks, so okay... Why not? He's living the dream and doing it ALL himself. He was pushing the horror comedy "Catch of the Day". The DVD he sold me came with a T-shirt for his new project, an autograph (on the cover), a plastic spider, and a selfie with me! Ha!
The movie later turned out to be a crapfest, but oh well... The guy really had chutzpah. I was glad to have encountered him and maybe helped him out a bit.
After the celebrity show, it was time to make the 4+ hour drive home. There was going to be one big stop on the way home, though. I was returning to Bakersfield, not to eat at Coconut Joe's again, but to check out a new tiki bar called "Tiki Ko".
Tiki-Ko was a WONDERFUL place. I dug it so much I wrote about it as soon as I got home. You can read about it HERE. It wasn't so much that the place was all decked up and was uber-tiki. It's small and simple, really. But I felt so welcome and at home there. I felt like a regular on my very first visit.
Benny (Real name is Belisario) the bartender had a lot to do with that welcoming feeling. He is the one who greeted me when I first wandered in.
The place was done up for Halloween. I dug the giant retro-Halloween masks in boxes...just like supersized versions of the costume packaging back when I was a kid.
The place is small. There are two booths and seating around the bar. However, plans are underway for a 2nd larger bar in the basement---a pirate cave themed tiki bar.
Benny and some other customers were talking about another bar a few blocks away that was stuck in the 1980's and was "like walking on to the set of 'Miami Vice'." I had to take a look.
However, on the corner across the alley from the bar was an antique store I had to visit first. Not because I wanted anything antique...but because the front of it was still decked out in the original Woolworth's signage from when it was a five and dime years ago. Wow!
The inside was pretty standard antique mall, but you could see echoes of Woolworth's all over. The most amazing portion was the preserved lunch counter! No way!
The front of the store is amazingly preserved and could be used as a movie set.
Bill Lee's Bamboo Chopsticks was the Chinese restaurant with the '80's-looking bar.
After the '80's bar, I headed back to Tiki-Ko for one last cocktail before hitting the road. I couldn't not go back. This is a place I would visit all of the time if it was near me.
Benny made me a special drink that wasn't on the menu, a Guana Zombie. Zowie!
On my return visit, there was a very drunk mother and daughter team there. Oh my! Interesting... I think the mom's name was Jo and the daughter was Tosh...something like that. Mom was 67 and daughter was in her 40s. The lighting disguises them somewhat. Mom was going on and on about living through all of the talks about the environment and politics, etc before (late 60s/early 70s obviously) and the daughter was just super excited about every little thing. "Oh my God! It's so great! You HAVE to go there. Oh my God." Who bar hops with their mom?...and, it seems like it is a fairly frequent event. But I found them to be an interesting encounter. They were so chatty. Glad I did NOT tell them I was doing an article. Ha!
Here are the guys behind the bar.
I ordered two tiki mugs before leaving. I had to have souvenirs.
TIKI-KO
1919 "K" St.
Bakersfield, California 93301
You can check out their Facebook page HERE and the Tiki-Ko page on Critiki HERE.
Bakersfield, California 93301
You can check out their Facebook page HERE and the Tiki-Ko page on Critiki HERE.
I got a shot of the back door to the Woolworth's.
Here are the mugs I picked up. Loved the bar. It was a great ending to a great trip!
Stay tuned! More adventures await!
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