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.
