Day 2 of Little Miss Sunshine’s CA trip began at the Lafayette Hotel in North Park. We met Christy’s bed-jumping bestie (Marlene) there for breakfast. How they looked when they first met in 2014 at the Chateau Marmont:
12 years later and they’re ready for the next adventure, this time at Beginner’s Diner. Marlene is all about the boozy milkshakes!
The obligatory group selfie with the breakfast bounty:
Since Christy had never been to the Lafayette before, we gave her the grand tour.
I still have yet to swim in this pool.
The 1961 Showalter Fountain on the Indiana University campus was a frequent spot for us to pose, as in this circa 1994 photo:
One of our post-midnight visits to the Fountain included a Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction. Yes, it can happen!
32 years later, Christy still has the urge:
Christy and I bid Marlene “adieu” and then drove to Los Angeles for another big adventure. Literally.
I finally made the trek to the film location used in “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” (1985). While the house is a different color now, it still looked the same. Just without all the tchotchkes.
My outfit was an homage to Pee Wee.
I brought along my NECA action figure for a photo. The next best thing to Pee Wee himself.
Next up: The Buxton Mansion, where Pee Wee confronted Francis on the theft of his precious bike.
How it looks today. The commentary track says that they used a wide-angle lens to make it look bigger; even taking that into consideration, there have obviously been a lot of renovations to the property since 1985.
The next stop was the Chateau Marmont hotel on Sunset Boulevard. This time it was room 67, one I hadn’t stayed in before!
Always a warm welcome.
While I took my obligatory photos of the room, Christy hung out on the balcony and called her mom.
Once done, I joined Christy and took some shots of Monteel Road below from the balcony.
When I tried to get back in, I realized that the latch on the inside had fallen back into place, locking us out of the room. Oops! I tried everything I could to get back in but to no avail.
Christy got a good laugh out of this one. “Why don’t you just call the front desk?” she asked. “Because I don’t want to look stupid,” I replied. Still on the phone, her mom shot back, “Well, ya’ kinda’ are already!” Sad but true! I called the front desk and they were up in a jiffy and all was well. No, I won’t tell you what they said when I asked, “Has this ever happened before?”
Two Christys for the price of one!
We had a view of the pool below, so we headed down for a quick bite and beverage before our evening event began.
Nothing like a Garden Gimlet to take away the embarrassment of being locked out on the balcony. The Chateau’s burger and fries are second to none.
A quick change of clothes and then it was off to the Orpheum Theatre in downtown LA:
As President of the James Dean Museum in Fairmount, Christy had been invited out for the L.A. Conservancy’s Last Remaining Seats showing of “Rebel Without a Cause” (1955).
We’ll just leave you here at the entrance until the next installment!
See more of my photography at my main website.
1 comment:
Good grief, what an adventure indeed. I'm always glad when people can be introduced to the Lafauette and must thank you again for bringing my attention to it. Good luck on making it to the pool sometime. Chalk it up to another "I've lived here most of my life but never got around to..." things. The courtyard before The Gutter has changed and for the better. I'm impressed. It actually looks like a destination, not a pass-through. What a difference the sepia tone makes on a shot like the Buxton. One's inviting, one's forboding. that's a hell of a thing to happen when on the patio. I'll assume the unspoken response was akin to "It's not the first time." Hard to believe all that is just a "part one" but it looks like you all had a great time.
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