Vintage Romantic Author
About a century ago, several Hollywood studios trekked over the Cahuenga Pass to the San Fernando Valley. Why not? There was lots of land and it was cheap. Many years ago, I heard that Warner Bros. Studio had a tour. I pictured it as low-key and casual. I never tried it out. In light of …
Southern California is home to 2 of the 16 presidential libraries. We have often visited the Reagan Museum, known for its interesting and informational exhibits. Probably the first one we saw was about baseball, but we’ve been to many others through the years. Leonardo da Vinci and Egypt’s Lost Cities are two that come to …
Bullocks is an iconic name in department store luxury shopping. The more mainstream original Bullocks location opened downtown Los Angeles in 1907. The elegant, art deco masterpiece, Bullocks Wilshire, opened in 1929 and was the jewel in the crown of the Bullocks chain. I don’t have any memory of visiting Bullocks Wilshire. Bullocks Westwood was …
This was supposed to be a relaxing sea day. Well, we had to forget that. First order of business was showing up at 7 a.m. to stand in a line and get tickets for our face-to-face immigration interview. That information is listed in the GOOD TO KNOW section. Our original plan was to sleep in, …
I woke up as we were about to go under the Golden Gate Bridge. It was still foggy, but we could see! This is the only building remaining from the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, The Palace of Fine Arts. We were scheduled for an architectural tour of San Francisco on a previous coastal cruise, but …
Today’s feature event was a shore excursion to Muir Woods and then back to Sausalito. Our guide, usually a tour bus driver, knew a lot of history. He could answer questions although he was a little snarky. Maybe that comes from having to be quiet when he drives. Muir Woods smelled so good, the way …
This was yet another early morning. Tender tickets were available at 7 a.m. No matter how management framed their ridiculous tickets from today and San Francisco, I was not impressed. We ate a late breakfast while watching the shoreline as the ship approached shallow Avalon Harbor, thus the need for tenders. Once they started calling …
When my daughter was in 4th grade California history class, her teacher arranged a field trip to Olvera Street. A stay-at-home mom, I volunteered to help out. It was a beautiful spring day. Our docent was an energetic young lady, extremely knowledgeable. She guided us through the Avila Adobe, L.A.’s oldest home, and the historic …
Since this decade began, almost all my adventures have been day trips. I’ve gotten awfully used to staying home. I guess it’s no wonder the thought of spending the night away causes some apprehension. There really is no place like home. Recent improvements upstairs and down provide eye candy. I have plenty to keep me …
There are times when celebrating the seasons with decorations is more an obligation than a joy. Not so this Easter. Sparser than trimmings in other seasons of the year, I had a good time putting them up. We’ve undertaken two ginormous home improvement projects in 2023. First, it was installing new quartz countertops and tile …