I’m just back from checking another item off my "bucket list." Last week I flew out to California to spend a week with my dear friend, Marj, who has been living and working in costuming for 20 years in the movie and television industry. Marj has worked on many of your favorite films and she hired me for my first two jobs as a theatrical milliner - for City Opera and for Theatre Virginia - which led to my two year gig at Alabama Shakespeare Festival. We go waaaaaaaaaay back and have seen too little of each other tho’ we have always managed to stay in touch (and NOT on Facebook!).
My first full day in LA Marj took me to Huntington Library, Art Collection and Botanical Gardens to view the gardens and art collection. The Santa Anna winds had hit S. California at 100 mph a few days before my arrival so the gardens were in a bit of disarray still there was much to see. We were particularly intrigued by the Green and Green "arts and crafts period" furniture. Unfortunately, no pictures allowed in the museum. I also managed to do a bit of Christmas shopping in their marvelous Gift Shop.
Monday Marj treated me to a trip to Western Costumes in North Hollywood where she introduced me to many of her colleagues and we pawed for hours through gorgeous clothing of all eras. This is a rental house, not a museum, so we were allowed to touch and take pictures.
Loved this 40s era felt hat tho’ my picture doesn’t do it justice.
Here is a nifty ribbon treatment for a brim edge.
I loved this little straw and silk taffeta number. Marj introdumed meto meet Harry Rotz, their wonderful in-house milliner.
This is an antique bonnet he restored. We also poked around in the library and "star collection" where I spotted this jacket
worn by Marilyn Monroe in Niagra, (I REALLY wanted to try this on!) this dress
from Gone With the Wind, Robert Redford’s
long johns and this costume
worn by Rudolf Valentino in one of his "sheik" films. He was really tiny!
What fun seeing all these beautiful details!
After our costume outing we strolled around Pasadena checking out the shops. I couldn’t resist these fabulous
crazy pumps on sale at a store called Koi. I was the envy of the young ladies at work when I wore them in this week. We also found a great children’s toy store and a used book shop where I found more holiday bargains. So I wasn’t totally ignoring the Christmas shopping scene.
Tuesday we hit the road for my "bucket list" desire to drive up the coast on CA Rt. 1. We took the 101 as far as Pismo Beach where we stopped for a late lunch at Ventana Grill. Since we’d missed the lunch rush (and it is December) we were seated right next to the window overlooking
the Pacific. Gorgeous! We watched the cormorants and pelicans as we ate delicious Mahi Mahi sandwiches served with a grilled leek and potato wedges. Delicious!
After a little trouble finding our way we connected with our route north on CA 1 and enjoyed the view ending our drive that day at Cambria. After our late lunch we weren’t very hungry for dinner and it was already dark so we opted to check out a few of the shops where I snagged a few more Christmas gifts before heading back to our very nice Sandpiper Inn on the beach. We even had a fireplace in our room. In the morning I woke up early (on east coast time) so went for a walk to take some pictures. I love these
California cypress trees
and red hot poker. So peaceful!
Our highlight for this day in Cambria was a tour of the Hearst Castle. We started with an interesting iMax film about the building of the castle then took a guided tour and poked around the gardens on our own.
What a magnificent sight on a magnificent site overlooking the Pacific. We also enjoyed seeing zebras grazing in the fields, left over from the private zoo days of the 30s and 40s.
I think my favorite part was this Neptune Pool.
Or perhaps the indoor (under the tennis courts) Roman Pool lit from above with sunlight through glass bricks above. This amazing place was designed by a woman architect, Julia Morgan, in close collaboration with William Randolph Hearst who changed his mind many, many times about what he wanted. Ms. Morgan designed over 700 projects in her long career and I think Hearst’s project was in the early 500s.
We hit the road again and headed up through Big Sur toward Carmel and Monterey. We skipped the first restaurant we saw along Rt. 1 thinking we’d see many more along the way, a mistake. Instead we saw gorgeous scenery, the blue Pacific on our left and the desert hillsides on the right with ever changing colors around every curve. One vista would be shades of silver, grey and white stone then around the curve a hillside full of succulent ice plants in shades of orange, wine, green and red. Beautiful! Of course, this time of year we had to deal with a fair amount of road repair work and landslide prevention. It was worth it. We had no deadlines pressing and the traffic was light.
Finally, just south of Carmel we spotted this Gallery and coffee bar where we stopped for another after 2 pm lunch on the deck while we watched the Monarch butterflies migrating through the area. I’ve ever seen so many butterflies in one place!
Once on the road again we realized we were almost to our destination. We took a detour off 1 to drive through Carmel (quaint and rich!) down to the beach where we took a brief walk in the sand and Marj shot this picture
with the famous Pebble Beach Golf Course (owned by Clint Eastwood) in the background. Then we headed into Monterey for a relaxing evening with what was left of the Sancerre we’d bought in Cambria.
In the morning we celebrated two days without dinner with an extravagant breakfast by the window overlooking Monterey Bay, seals and cormorants. We ate
Huevos Rancheros made with peppers, avocado, Dungeness crab and the tenderest tiny shrimp I think I’ve ever eaten on a crispy tortilla. Delicious!
Then we were off to the aquarium
where we spent several hours watching the
sea otters feed and the octopus explore the window where I swear he was as busy watching us as we were watching him. He was a gorgeous orange but we were told he changes colors according to his mood. My favorite exhibit was the seahorses and in particular this amazing
Sea Dragon which blends exquisitely into the kelp it lives in. How can they be real?!?
We must do more to preserve our oceans for these amazing creatures.
After several hours of sea gazing we headed down 101 through the Central Valley farm and wine country. This is Steinbeck territory. We talked about rereading his novels as we drove past vineyard after vineyard decked out in gorgeous fall colors.
Our goal was Solvang, a little Danish town in Central California. We arrived in town after dark, checked into our hotel and went looking for a Danish dinner. We struck out the first place we looked into. It was Chinese! Sorry, not what we were looking for. Scouting around in the dark the next restaurant looked promising, natural home-cooked foods. We were hungry so we decided to try it. We ate lamb shanks with okra and tomatoes with rice and a terrible chardonnay. I think the guy who ran the place was Middle Eastern and probably doesn’t drink. Oh well, the dinner was good and we did have aebelskivers for dessert which I know are Danish (tho’ I don’t think the Danish eat them for dessert). After dinner we wandered over to Taste of the Valley, a little wine bar, where we were served by a young lady named Mayapple (a favorite plant of my childhood). When we asked for a glass of "something local" she recommended a William James Santa Barbara Chardonnay made by a friend of hers, a self taught woman vintner. It was very good!
We had a couple of glasses and bought a bottle to carry home with us as well.
The next morning we opted out of the hotel’s "continental breakfast" and crossed the street to Mortensen’s Bakery where we sampled apple,
raspberry and blueberry Danish pastries with coffee. They were all delicious but Marj and I agreed that the raspberry "won." I bought butter cookies to take back to my office. After breakfast it was still early so we drove a mile or so to see
Santa Inez (Saint Agnes) Mission which has remained in constant use since its founding in the 19th century along the Camino Real.
We did the self-guided tour and
enjoyed the garden
then headed back to Solvang where the shops were opening.
Walking around we noticed there were a number of empty restaurants and shops. The recession has hit this little tourist town hard. There were many open shops where everything was 50% off. As one of the shopkeepers told us, "The party is over!" She’s probably right. I did my best to keep their economy going.
We finally found our Danish meal for lunch at the Red Viking where I ordered a Danish beer and we each had a Danish meatball sandwich, a huge pork meatball sliced and served on a piece of dense, thin pumpernickel bread, topped with a mound of pickled red cabbage and thin sliced sweet pickles with a slice of beet thrown in for good measure.
It was served with a delicious mound of potato salad with just a touch of mustard. Yes, I’m still taking pictures of food! It was delicious and filling - no dinner again tonight! While lunching we spotted a Royal Copenhagen shop across the street so we checked it out. My mother used to collect their Christmas plates as did Marj’s aunt. We browsed and tried to decide what to buy when Connie, the shop owner, told us hers was the oldest shop in Solvang but was closing at the end of the year. She will remain open on-line but can no loner afford to keep the shop open.
We each bought a couple of plates out of nostalgia and love for
these lovely blue plates.
After Solvang we headed back to L.A. and back to Marj’s lovely home and garden, a haven for cats and hummingbirds and even a bold opossum.
She did all the xeriscaping herself
and it is a tribute to her design talent. Of all the places we stayed this was the best!
On Friday Marj took me on an excursion to
Watts to see these crazy towers built by an Italian immigrant, Sabato Rodia, who ditched his wife and kids to "build his dream."
They reminded me just a bit of a rustic version of Gaudi’s towers in Barcelona. Weird and kind of wonderful in this sketchy area of town.
Saturday, the last day of my visit, we drove over to
Olvera Street to buy a few Mexican Christmas ornaments. I also wanted another taste of that wonderful tortilla soup I remembered having the last time I visited Marj.
The soup was not so good as I remembered - no mango this time and the stock was not as rich. Perhaps my memory was embellished or the restaurant is under new management.
The street was still entertaining with lots of kitschy ornaments and
I was charmed by the little girl dancers in the park.
What a GREAT vacation! Thank you, Marj, for your delightful company and for putting together the perfect itinerary. By now I was missing my Poco Loco and it was time to go home and get real about Christmas preparations. We will travel again together, I hope.
Happy Holidays to All!
K
I love hearing about your adventures! And am so happy that you are able to take such fabulous trips.
Happy Christmas travels, too.
Where are you going?
Posted by: Marie | December 19, 2011 at 03:01 PM
And those shoes!! Oh my goodness gracious!
Posted by: Marie | December 19, 2011 at 03:01 PM
Great shoes, and loved reading of your visit to the sunny west. I have a memory of clam digging on Pismo Beach when visiting my older sister back in 1970. Oops, guess that puts an age on me now.
Merry Holidays to you!
Posted by: judith | December 20, 2011 at 12:40 PM
Oh man Kate, you hit all my favorite spots in the area. What a magnificent treat to explore them afresh thru your eyes.
Houston's Beer Can House and Orange Show surely must have be created via muses similar to the one inspiring the Watts Towers. Glad I had my Texas exploring done to see the similarities!
Posted by: jill | December 21, 2011 at 08:44 PM