Caroline – Page 79

Oregon Coast – Day 7

November 23, 2012 JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Entering Ecola State Park in Oregon

This is our version of Black Friday. A misty day with a drive in the forest, that sounds about right. No crowds of hysterical people fighting over discounted stuff for us, nope, just the serenity of the woods. While we had opted not to stay overnight in Ecola State Park, which worked out because it turned out that we couldn’t have, we were still curious about what the park looked like. Well, this is perfect; we love ferns, wet plants, heavy bark, moss, red leaves, and spiders. I am so happy most everyone else would rather be at Best Buy or Walmart today; lucky them.

Moss covered trees in Ecola State Park in Oregon

Before entering the park, a sign called our attention to Mo’s Seafood Restaurant in Cannon Beach. Hot chowder sounded good, but they don’t open until 11:00 so we are here in the park instead; eye dessert before soul food never hurt anyway. The rain starts to come down harder and we’re feeling too lazy to don rain gear, so we restrict our tour of the park to the car. No matter because we are distracted by thoughts of steamy hot clams and coffee.

Ferns at Ecola State Park in Oregon

After leaving the park, we returned to Mo’s for a big bowl of Slumgullion – clam chowder with bay shrimp. This is the first time we’ve visited this location in Cannon Beach; normally, we stop at their original location in Newport overlooking the bay. It’s great here as we are right on the beach, and the chowder does just what it’s supposed to do: warming our insides.

Entering Fort Clatsop in northern Oregon

The turn-off to Fort Clatsop National Historical Park talks to Caroline and her collection of Junior Ranger badges, “This is the opportunity for another.” Of course, we’ll stop in the rain. It doesn’t matter how many other times we’ve been here, I’m certain it’ll be wonderful again. In front of the park ranger, my wife turns into an age-appropriate kid to ask for a Junior Ranger booklet. Bouncing up and down with her broad smile, she nearly pleads with the ranger, “No, really, I’m a 12-year-old at heart; let me do it, please, please, please – pretty please!”

On the grounds at Fort Clatsop in Oregon

The ranger hands over the booklet, and she’s off like a kid at Christmas about to open a present. With rain jackets and a loaned umbrella, we go down the trail into the dripping wet forest where Lewis & Clark wintered over, following their historic journey to this point near the end of the Columbia River and what is now called Lewis and Clark River. Along the way, Caroline has to identify a bunch of plants, describe them, and draw pictures of their primary characteristics. At the recreation of the fort, she sits down out of the rain in one of the rooms to compose a poem as one of the exercises.

Inside the replica of Fort Clatsop in Oregon

The now-famous location where my wife composed the poem earned her a coveted Junior Ranger badge.

A dugout at Fort Clatsop National Historical Park in Oregon

Back into the rain and over to the river, we walked for a return visit celebrating one we made many years ago. The remaining Junior Ranger test takes place in the museum where we were headed after this visit to the shore and this replica dugout, similar to one Lewis and Clark might have used.

Caroline Wise being sworn in as a Junior Ranger at Fort Clatsop National Historical Park in Oregon

I already gave away the surprise that once again, and probably for about the 25th time, Caroline is being sworn in as a Junior Ranger. Now officially badged as an officer at Fort Clatsop, she will have to meet her obligations and oath to protect yet another park and help educate visitors to be responsible. With the badge, patch, and certificate of accomplishment, we are off to celebrate with a cup of coffee from Dutch Brothers – yum. We make a note as we pass through Astoria to come back for a visit to the Columbia River Maritime Museum; seems like we can never do it all. It rains all the way back to Portland. After checking in at the Rodeway Inn near the airport, we go on the hunt for the Acropolis – a Steak and Tile joint, Caroline’s first. Her impression of having poontang flashed before her was: meh.

The next day, we had enough time to visit downtown Portland for a return to Powell’s City of Books and something to eat at Food Truck Square. Snarfed down some grilled cheese sandwiches, a chunky monkey Belgian waffle, an order of poutine, and six and a half hours of scouring shelves at the bookstore. A perfect end to our Thanksgiving trip to Oregon. Oh yeah, after leaving Powell’s, we went one more time over to the food trucks for a yummy pork belly sandwich from the same guy who makes poutine; check him out at Sideshow Eatery.

Oregon Coast – Day 6

November 22, 2012 JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

View from our yurt on the Oregon coast

The luxury of our Jetboil never ceases to amaze us; the best camping purchase we’ve made in years. Typically, we would break camp and head for a restaurant or have sandwiches or granola bars at the ready. Making oatmeal in the Jetboil is not only fast, but the hot food enjoyed in the camp where we stayed is perfect. Not only that, we are saving a ton of money from going to town. We also purchased the optional French Press that stows perfectly within the Jetboil, so we have coffee, too. (Now, if only this thing were self-cleaning…) Over breakfast, I’m still reading through Austin Kleon’s “Steal Like An Artist” and want it to last forever. It is a short book that will too soon be over; I wish I could give it to everyone I know.

Patterns in the sand on an Oregon Beach

The next hours are spent out at the ocean; we are easily lost in the magnificence of the coast and could stare at the patterns in the sand for the entire day.

On the Pacific Coast in Oregon near Cape Lookout and Cape Meares

The sky will never look much different than this right now, though the sun, on rare occasions, will punctuate their outlines and lend some minor drama to the show. We’re okay with this; it’s quiet, feeling isolated, and quite alone – we can deal with this.

View of Netarts, Oregon

Netarts Bay and the village of Netarts lay motionless on this autumn day. While it’s already noon, the golden light being filtered by the heavy overcast skies betrays the reality of what time it really is, with the illusion of sunrise just now creeping upon the landscape.

Drift wood on Cape Meares in Oregon

There’s a small community of folks living on Cape Meares, just four or five streets right up against the ocean. On the south side of “town” is the Cape Meares National Wildlife Refuge and on the north is the Bayocean Peninsula County Park. The beach here is one of the more remote on the coast, as we are a good distance from Tillamook and a short drive from the main road that most tourists seem not to consider going down. As such, there isn’t much parking here, just enough for about a dozen cars; there are three, including us, here today. A tip for you: keep your eye peeled for the Bayocean Dike Road on the bayside of Cape Meares; it takes you out to a more accommodating parking area with a trail that crosses from the Tillamook bayside to the ocean side where you can enjoy a few miles of beach nearly all to yourself.

Moss covered fallen tree next to Tillamook Bay near McCoys Cove in Oregon

We’re on our way into Tillamook, though the majority of the place is closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. Just north of town in Garibaldi are neighbors competing for the appetites of travelers offering bargain prices for their interpretation of the feast. We opted for the more expensive one, thinking it must be the homemade version, we weren’t disappointed. Kellie is the owner of Parkside Coffee House and had her family on hand to help serve up dinner, but it was her daughter Olivia who made our meal perfect. What she lacked in skill (she’s likely about 11 years old) she made up for with her cutey-pie attitude and a hint of shyness. Mom’s sister was there to look over shoulders just in case, and everything was delightful, from the turkey to the marionberry pie.

Walking out to Rockaway Beach in Oregon

Kelli directed us to a nice pullout up the road overlooking Garibaldi Bay; we were certain we’d need a nap after that stuffing; instead, the view invigorated us, and after a short pause, we were again traveling north. Our next stop was here at Rockaway Beach.

Twin Rocks offshore on the Oregon Coast

Time for a long walk, the first long walk on the beach of the trip, and what a beauty it is. We walked south down toward Twin Rocks on this flat, wide beach made more so due to it being low tide. The wet sand mirrors the sky above, pushing for the horizon to disappear. It’s mid-afternoon, and the majority of people must be eating their Thanksgiving feasts about now. I say this because we are mostly alone out here. Soon, maybe within the hour, it will get busy on the beach, as this has been our experience during other Oregon coast holiday trips. After food and football, the throngs head to the beach rather than risk coronary attack as the weight of indulgence grips their hearts. Throngs, in my view, will be ten people.

Sand dollar on Rockaway Beach in Oregon

There are riches to be found out here, not of monetary value, but of aesthetic value that holds immeasurable wealth. Sand dollars are nature’s way of telling you that you have been following her yellow brick road and that Oz is just around the corner. We keep walking that path.

Patterns in the sand on the Oregon Coast

No, this is not an interpretive piece of art depicting mountains in China or a bunch of hooded monks in procession; these are random patterns in the sand, and tomorrow they will be gone forever.

Caroline Wise "playing" kelp on the Oregon coast

Thinking she’d found a soggy didgeridoo, Caroline tries getting the thing to play. Sorry, wife, kelp is not the indigenous instrument you thought, nor is a flute or even a blade of grass that whistles. What she should have done instead of blowing was suck so she could have enjoyed a nice belt of saltwater from her sea straw. We are now at Hug Point State Park where we decide to linger instead of trying to make Ecola State Park for the night. We are close to Nehalem Bay, where they have a yurt for us, so we took it. By the way, Hug Point is not named for a romantic notion; it took its name from the old stagecoach that ran up the coast and was forced to wait for low tide so it could “hug” the rocks to stay out of the ocean.

Caroline Wise knitting gloves in a yurt at Nehalem Bay State Park in Oregon

Not even 5:30 and it’s dark out, well it’s winter and we certainly knew what we were in for. The heater is on to warm our luxury tent. No TV, no internet, no phone, no texting, no laptop to distract us. Caroline pulls out her knitting, me the writing gear – a Moleskine and a pen. While I write about the day, Caroline is turning some bison wool our friends Rob Lazarotto and Jerry Roberts picked up for her as a gift while on vacation in Pennsylvania this summer into gloves. The bottle in front of her is a hard cider from Carlton Cyderworks in McMinnville, Oregon, called Carry Nation, used to “Slake Your Thirst!” As for me, I write about vacation costs, DNA, and evolution, striking back at humanity for neglecting its responsibility or a bunch of nothing really.

Oregon Coast – Day 4

November 20, 2012 JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

A yurt at Sunset Bay State Park in Oregon

We are inching ever closer to something akin to hibernation; what else should we call over 10 hours of sleep? I’d like to call it luxury living in yurts! Out of the cocoon, we slink off to the toilet hut; a hint of blue sky sits behind the cloud cover. Got breakfast made just in time for a light rain to start falling. Oops, spoke to soon. Big drops are starting to hit the yurt, and in moments, we are being pummeled. Caroline knits while I write. We sip our coffee and stay snug and cozy here at Sunset Bay on the Oregon coast.

hing on the rocks at Shore Acres State Park in Oregon

With a break in the rain, we use the opportunity to fill the car with our gear and hit the road. Just when we think we’ve seen the entirety of the coast, a turn in the road proves that we, in fact, have missed something. This time, it is Shore Acres; once home to a wealthy industrialist, it is now a state park. Great location this man chose for his oceanfront home, too. Tilted sandstone with fossilized blobs juts out of the ocean below the cliffside. We head for the observation deck that marks the spot where Mr. Louis J. Simpson’s mansion once stood; it burned down twice. Following the Great Depression and Mr. Simpson’s fortune dwindling, he donated the property to the state – lucky us.

Caroline Wise and John Wise at Shore Acres State Park in Oregon

Inside the enclosed observation deck are displays that show what sunny weather visitors might see out on Simpson Reef and the ocean that was once his front yard. Those fossilized blobs are concretions; rocks that formed within the sediment that likely had been collecting around the organic matter. Seals, sea lions, ospreys, cormorants, pelicans, and black oystercatchers are just a few of the species of wildlife living down on the reef, which is a part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge. The big visitors are the gray whales that pass by, though they don’t usually arrive until December on their southerly travels and then again between March and April as they head north with calves in tow.

Unger's Bay Fish-N-Chips at Winchester Bay, Oregon

Up the road a bit, we round the corner overlooking Cape Arago. We don’t linger very long as the wind is whipping against us hard. Another road leads us to South Jetty and Bastendorf Beach, while the next turn takes us to Eel Lake and Tugman State Park, another park with a great selection of yurts. A few more miles and we are in Winchester Bay with a sun that is trying to poke through the gloom. We spot the roof for Unger’s Bay Fish-N-Chips and set our taste buds on drool, wouldn’t you know it, they were closed. I have a vague memory that this is a deja vu from another trip. Remember that Unger’s is closed Monday through Wednesday. Across the way is a cluster of restaurants; we see a sign for Griffs. Turns out that this was the original. No longer owned by the same people, their red snapper is undeniably super yum. Caroline toasts her beer made in Deschutes called Mirror Pond Pale Ale to the Sun, which is making more frequent appearances.

The Oregon coast as the sky clears from a heavy fall storm

Our intention was to drive through Florence, but it is one of those coastal towns big enough to feature a Dutch Brothers, which sounds great after a lethargy-inducing lunch. Not quite out of Florence, we are forced to pull over at another of those “stop sign” shops where a dealer of yarn beckons us. This one is called Happy Kamper Yarn Barn and is on the north side of town. One of the big motivators for stopping at these shops is that the yarns become projects that become souvenirs from the locations where they were picked up. Those objects then take us back on our journeys when, at other times (most likely traveling), we reminisce about how this scarf, hat, or pair of gloves came from the yarn we picked up in town so and so back when we were in Maine, Oregon, Hawaii, or Florida. This way, our souvenirs no longer take up shelf space and grow dusty; they are worn as reminders of how lucky we are to be able to visit so many places. With the sun still pouring down on us we ponder visiting Heceta Head Lighthouse but opt instead for a walk on the beach, our first in the three days we’ve been up here.

The sun getting low in the sky as it competes with the clouds over a beach on the Oregon coast

The sun pushes us to drive on and skip our intended campground at Carl Washburne State Park. We’ll go where the road takes us. Beachside State Park is closed for the season, maybe the next park. First, though, we’ll have to walk along another beach.

Sunset at South Beach State Park near Newport, Oregon

Just outside of Newport, South Beach State Park has space available; they even have yurts for rent. Lazy, here we come. To heck with pitching the tent, we’ll take another night of indulgence. The clouds are starting to move in, but not before the sun attempts an encore performance and tries to stay ahead of the clouds that threaten to blot it out. We couldn’t have asked for a better day, and all we had to do to earn it was endure a few days of weather that added its own character to our week-long stay on the coast.

The Ultimate Monster Burger from the Newport Cafe in Newport, Oregon

Dinner, if you can call this exorbitance, is served at the Newport Cafe in Newport, Oregon. Yelp said that lots of people like the place, we’ll go with that. Famous for their large portions, the burgers come highly recommended. No wonder. We compromised and ordered the Ultimate Monster Burger for only $13.95 as opposed to the heftier 8-pound version called the Super Ultimate Monster Burger for $26.95; ours was only 4 pounds of burger. When the beast arrives, our eyes grow as large as what’s on the plate – this is crazy big. The table next to us lets out a gasp, muffling our own. As it hits the table, we are all smiles until the thud has us utter an “Oh my god!” This burger is amazing, not just its novelty, it is truly a great burger. This thing is piled high with grilled onions, ham, fried eggs, cheddar cheese, pickles, lettuce, and maybe a few other things. Amazingly, we finished it, not that this was anything special. That honor goes to the youngest person to finish their very own, a 12-year-old girl who finished one of these by herself! We are told that no one individual has ever finished the 8-pounder, so the challenge is on. This thing was so good we talked about coming back in the morning for another, and we would have if we weren’t worried about death making an appearance if we had. One more important note, the Newport Cafe is open 24 hours a day.

Settled into our yurt. Dinner, though, was playing the fiddle of guilt; time to walk some of this off. With half a moon out and the first stars we’ve seen since leaving Arizona, we walked out into the dark for a stroll on the beach. Through the coastal forest and sand dunes to the beach, we lay our eyes upon the ocean glimmering in the moonlight. Thin low clouds are darting north, occasionally blotting out the moon, but only for moments. I wonder out loud about how early humans might have seen this world back when few people inhabited these lands and the earth was infinite. The pressure put on our species by self-awareness has had impacts that few can comprehend. Maybe the abandonment of our awareness of the infinite is what keeps us from enlightenment that would be difficult or impossible to attain by the superstitious. At what point in our evolution will the masses be ready to perceive what we know about the complexity of life? Gods are easy, atoms from here to infinity that self-organize to create matter and intelligence; now that’s hard. Will there be a moment when destiny dictates that we come to terms with that? What if we fail? What other species might arise that would be better suited to pick up the ashes of learning to deal with our place in the infinite?

We then walk back to camp. There is hope that tomorrow brings more clearing skies, but how do we tackle clearing minds of fear and hostility when cadres of people specialize in mongering the halting of our march forward? Where are humanity’s lighthouses on this dark shore as our intelligence extends beyond the night it has lived in for millennia?

California Coast

September 2, 2012 JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Beach near Santa Barbara, California

Disclaimer of sorts, as with the first post from this Labor Day weekend in Los Angeles, this post wasn’t penned and pushed into the sunlight until the summer of 2023, 11 years after the events depicted took place. And so, without further ado, let’s jump into the sea. Once again, we awoke at the Wilshire Motel, except this time, we bolted north on Highway 101 because we had a date with a yarn store in Santa Barbara.

Caroline Wise on beach near Santa Barbara, California

Being who we are (meaning: John and Caroline, just to be clear), we were not going to drive by the ocean without stopping to admire where the sea meets the shore, gaze at how the sun is illuminating all of this, and hold out until we spot a bit of wildlife.

Beach near Santa Barbara, California

Well, these seagulls will do just fine for our wildlife encounter. Time to continue the trek north.

Backyard Bowls in Santa Barbara, California

This was not our first time to Backyard Bowls for breakfast here in Santa Barbara, not even our second or third. Looking for a fresh treat to start the day with a bunch of fruit atop acai or porridge? Then this place is for you. Note to Caroline, who will edit this before it’s published: Backyard Bowls now has locations in the Los Angeles area; just saying.

Santa Barbara, California

The beautiful hibiscus flower is also a tasty treat, especially when used in tea.

The Casa Covarrubias in Santa Barbara, California

We are visiting the Casa Covarrubias Adobe, built in 1817, which is now a historical landmark here in Santa Barbara, California. It’s also one of the oldest buildings from the earliest days when the city was just taking shape.

Loom at the Casa Covarrubias in Santa Barbara, California

If there are tools of the fiber trade, then you just know that Caroline would be looking for a photo, and this loom featuring some ancient parts fits that bill.

Casa Covarrubias in Santa Barbara, California

I can’t remember if we sampled the grapes growing here. I’d like to think I did, but I’m also fairly certain that Caroline would have reminded me that if everyone helped themselves, there’d be nothing left for photos of yummy grapes still on the vine glowing in the morning sun.

Casa Covarrubias in Santa Barbara, California

Just where the adobe gives way to the El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park is lost on me in long-forgotten memories, and I’m too lazy at the moment to tease them apart. I’m astonished at our good luck in visiting the Santa Barbara area mostly when the weather is stunningly perfect.

Courthouse in Santa Barbara, California

It’s a short walk over to the County Courthouse of Santa Barbara, another historic site.

Courthouse in Santa Barbara, California

This is the Mural Room; it was once the County Supervisors’ Assembly Room.

Courthouse in Santa Barbara, California

The courthouse opened in 1929 following a devastating earthquake; it would come to define the architectural style that Santa Barbara is known for.

Courthouse in Santa Barbara, California

View from the courthouse clock tower. Is there any wonder why Santa Barbara has become one of the greatest places to live in the United States?

Caroline Wise and John Wise visiting the Courthouse in Santa Barbara, California

If we were millionaires or willing to not have a life beyond a mortgage, we’d live here. Instead, we’ll have to satisfy ourselves that we can afford the luxury of frequent visits.

Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara, California

The Arlington Theater was built in 1931 and can seat 2,000 visitors, no wonder they host concerts here in addition to showing films.

Caroline Wise at Loop & Leaf in Santa Barbara, California

NO! Did someone assume because it’s the weekend that, the very reason for visiting Santa Barbara, the Loop & Leaf yarn and tea shop would be open? Sadly for my morose-faced wife, her opportunity to splurge on the only real luxury she shops for has been squashed.

La Super-Rica Taqueria in Santa Barbara, California

Nothing left to do but eat the blues away under a pretty blue sky. Based on a tip, we’ll endure the lengthy line here at La Super-Rica Taqueria because the food is that highly recommended. Was it worth it? With a super enthusiastic exclamation of Muy Rico! Yes, it was worth the wait.

Caroline Wise on beach near Santa Barbara, California

One more stop at the oceanside for a walk in the sand before continuing south as we’re staying one more night at the Wilshire Motel.

Mashti Malone's Ice Cream in Hollywood, California

Based on this image, we can be certain we had ice cream at Mashti Malone’s, but nothing else is known about the evening. Where’d we have dinner? Did we catch a movie, walk around Hollywood or Santa Monica? Nada is known, no photos, no notes, no nothing.

L.A. Conservancy Tour

September 1, 2012 JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Wilshire Motel in Los Angeles, California

In the march forward through the long-neglected blog landscape, alas, yet another few days discovered gathering digital dust on the hard drive of a forgotten time. Here I am now in the future, the year 2023, when, with forensic tools, I uncover these images with great clarity, but the exact details of what we are doing these days, aside from the obvious, will remain buried in brains, not prone to giving up secrets. To state the easily apparent, we stayed at the good ole Wilshire Motel which was often our go-to place for a weekend in L.A.

Grand Central Market in Los Angeles, California

Taking ourselves to the Grand Central Market in Downtown L.A. was out of the ordinary but made sense, considering we are right next door to a meeting point that has everything to do with the primary reason for this visit to Southern California.

Los Angeles, California

There’s something in common with more than a few of these old posts; it typically takes me some time to remember that I might have the itinerary and that it could have details that would help add to the story. Sure enough, I discovered something we’ll do here at the end of the day that I had no photos for and would have consequently missed; I’ll share it after the last photo.

Million Dollar Theater in Los Angeles, California

This is the Million Dollar Theater on Broadway, where we are meeting our tour guide from the L.A. Conservancy for the Broadway Historic Theatre and Commercial District Walking Tour. After learning about some of the history of Sid Grauman’s Million Dollar Theater and the current state of the theater that we couldn’t visit, we moved on to the next location.

Bradbury Building in Los Angeles, California

The famous Bradbury Building that I’ve likely written about on more than one occasion.

Bradbury Building in Los Angeles, California

Does Blade Runner come to mind?

Caroline Wise at the Bradbury Building in Los Angeles, California

Hello Caroline…

Bradbury Building in Los Angeles, California

As I considered what to write here and started using image search to identify a few facades I couldn’t figure out, I thought about going into some history, but this might not be the best use of my time. Though I’d learn a lot, and Caroline too would capture some history we didn’t retain from our original tour, this post will likely remain unseen by anyone as it’s inserted into its holding place carrying a date nearly a dozen years old. Who, after all, looks at such dated posts?

Los Angeles, California

What I can offer is that we’ve enjoyed the various tours we’ve taken from the L.A. Conservancy and can only hope they remain well-funded and able to continue offering their events and tours for years to come.

Roxie Theater in Downtown Los Angeles, California

Permanence is not part of the American vocabulary if financial utility can move to a newer, shinier location. Once the exodus begins to cheaper digs, decay sets in, and the value of what was once grand is allowed to fall into nothing.

Inside the old Roxie Theater in Downtown Los Angeles, California

Lucky us, the current tenant of the space formerly known as Roxie Theater allowed us inside to see for ourselves that it now serves as a warehouse but still has the décor and movie screen present.

Paramount Sign in Los Angeles, California

Prior to the move to Hollywood, many of the studios were located right here in the Downtown Los Angeles core. Fading for decades is the old logo of Paramount Pictures on the side of this building.

Sidewalk at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles, California

This terrazzo sidewalk used to be part of the Pantages Theater.

Los Angeles, California

Detail of the Beaux Arts and Spanish Baroque style Broadway-Spring Arcade Building.

Los Angeles Theater in Los Angeles, California

The Los Angeles Theater, built in 1931, was considered to be the most lavish of Broadway’s great movie palaces. Reading about all these old theaters, I got curious about the oldest operating theater in the U.S., it turns out to be in Washington, Iowa. The State Theater has been open since 1897 and is still showing movies as of 2023.

Palace Theater in Los Angeles, California

Growing up in the Los Angeles area and a frequent visitor of the downtown area, I wasn’t able to really consider the history of what I was seeing as I was simply overwhelmed by the sense of scale and decay of the city I was walking through. Learning that the Palace Theater was originally the Orpheum and was built in 1911 for vaudeville acts, not the movies, comes as a surprise, as is the fact that the building was loosely based upon a Renaissance-age Florentine palazzo. On its stage, the likes of Harry Houdini, Will Rogers, Fred Astaire, and Rita Hayworth have performed.

Los Angeles, California

Pardon the wonky bending in my photo of the State Theater building, but it was created from three different images stacked one upon the other in a panorama, as I couldn’t capture it correctly with the lens I was using.

From a terrific website by Mike Hume / Historic Theatre Photos with the copyright held by him, he wrote of the State Theater:

In 1929, a Bakersfield act called The Gumm Sisters played at the State, featuring a lead singer who earned the nickname “Leather Lungs” for her ability to be heard clearly at the rear of the 125-deep auditorium. As the Great Depression took hold and vaudeville declined (vaudeville ceased at the State in the mid-1930s), the Gumm Sisters moved to Culver City to appear in experimental Technicolor musicals, and “Leather Lungs” changed her name to Judy Garland.

Old Warner Bros. Building in Los Angeles, California

Behind the diamond is an old Warner Bros. logo, and while this was originally a Pantages Theater in 1920, by 1929, it became the home of Warner Bros.

Tower Theater in Los Angeles, California

Tower Theater was once one of the narrowest theaters built; today, the ground floor is an Apple Store.

Rialto Theater in Los Angeles, California

To the casual visitor, I wonder how many of them miss these old marquees?

Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles, California

A bit more background on the Orpheum. These theaters were part of something called the Orpheum Circuit, a chain of vaudeville and movie theaters. As vaudeville was winding down, Orpheum merged into another company, becoming Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) Pictures. RKO gave us such films as King Kong, Citizen Kane, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Notorious. Howard Hughes took over operations in 1948 before selling shortly ahead of its collapse.

Grand Central Market in Los Angeles, California

Prior to this day, Caroline nor I had ever eaten Salvadoran food so the idea of having a lunch of pupusas at a Pupuseria sounded great to us. As of this writing in 2023, Sarita’s here at the Grand Central Market is still open.

Los Angeles, California

Seeing we’re already parked here downtown, why not spend a little more time and visit the Central Library? During the late 1970s, the Los Angeles Central Library was one of my favorite places to hang out and browse its amazing collection of old books. Little did I know back then that the city had ideas of demolishing this building, and it was that idea that gave rise to the L.A. Conservancy in 1978.

Los Angeles, California

This Globe Chandelier featuring the 48 states that existed when it was built in 1926 for the rotunda of the central library survived the fire that devastated the library in 1986 and is just beautiful.

Los Angeles, California

While the high rises of Los Angeles are imposing from below and make for a great skyline from a distance, they are ultimately impersonal and disposable, in my opinion.

Los Angeles, California

While the old architecture is reflected in the new, the new hardly carries much of its own character that would make it interesting to look at.

Los Angeles, California

This 12-story building, built in 1912, is 100 years old here in 2012 and has found new life as luxury lofts for those fortunate enough to be able to live in such splendor in the heart of L.A. This here should have been the end of the post, as I have no more photos of what we were doing on this day, but as I referenced above regarding itineraries, I had a note in that directory.

It turns out that we saw one of the earliest screenings of the documentary film Samsara, not only that, we had the opportunity to meet and talk for a moment with the director Ron Fricke, who made Baraka too, one of our all-time favorites.

Last Day in Alaska

June 30, 2012 JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Caroline Wise at Oomingmak Shop in Anchorage, Alaska

It’s not always easy to know what’s important when it is so, and so it happened back in 2012 following a monumental experience that took us down the Alsek River out of the Yukon into British Columbia, and finally delivered us to Dry Bay, Alaska that all the important stuff was duly noted and extensively blogged about using near 30,000 words and just under 200 or so photos. Well, that was 11 years ago, and in looking back I realized that I neglected writing of our last, equally important day, of our first visit to this corner of the earth. Now in 2023, I’m going to try and repair that by including what I can about this day in the Anchorage, Alaska, area.

Had we done nothing else, Caroline required that we make a pilgrimage to the Oomingmak Co-Operative. This is possibly the only place on our entire planet where one can walk in and buy a handknit object created from a fiber known as qiviut, which comes from a rare northern creature called musk ox. The “Pack Ice” headband design Caroline is wearing will likely forever remain the most expensive small article of clothing she will ever buy at $130. And, as she reminds me, she chose the “discount option” because the yarn of this headband is 80% qiviut and 20% silk. No matter the expense, I’m certain Caroline will forever cherish this rarest of luxuries and how it will remain a part of her first experience in the wilds of Alaska.