A massive sign of Fred Flintstone and and sign reading "Yabba Dabba Doo Means Welcome to You!"

A Visit to the Stone Age at Arizona’s Bedrock City Before it Becomes History

September 12, 2019, 6 Comments

July 2022 Update: The new owners have decided to keep Bedrock City open indefinitely! Visit their website for up-to-date information. Just a few miles south of the Grand Canyon is a place where you can, at least for a few more weeks, step into the fanciful past of the Flintstones, the modern stone age family.…

Myself standing in front of a wall in the forecourt that is painted with images of Egyptian gods, kings and hieroglyphs, wearing a sleeveless cream lace dress, a blue scarf with white hieroglyphs, and a blue scarab necklace.

Discovering the Hidden Treasures of Sid Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre

August 6, 2019, 5 Comments

Think you’re looking at an ancient Egyptian temple? Well, not quite. This isn’t Egypt, and this wasn’t built thousands of years ago. Try Hollywood, and 1922. This is Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre. Patrick and I have been meaning to take one of the tours offered at the Egyptian for years now, and with the theatre’s future…

Myself walking through the pathways of the Zoro Garden, which features short rock walls, and lush plants around.

Remembering Balboa Park’s Nudist Colony at the Zoro Garden

July 22, 2019, 4 Comments

One of my favorite places in San Diego is Balboa Park. The sprawling park features fanciful architecture housing a plethora of museums, plus multiple gardens. One such garden is the Zoro Garden, which is tucked away behind a leaf covered wall, and shaded beneath massive trees. When I first gazed upon it I wouldn’t have…

Catherine ducks under the cover of her camera to take my portrait. .

Meet Catherine Segura, the Young Woman Who is Keeping Tintype Photography Alive

July 17, 2019, 3 Comments

When you walk into Old Town San Diego, you instantly feel like you’re transported to the past. And if you’re lucky enough to be there on a weekend, then you can have a truly unique and transporting experience by visiting Catherine and her father, Clement, who do tintype portraits on the porch of the Cosmopolitan.…

Myself standing with the Cyclone Racer Bridge in the background, wearing a t-shirt with a female sunbather and the Cyclone Racer in the background, and red shorts.

The Rise and Fall of the Long Beach Pike

June 20, 2019, 28 Comments

Towering above shops like H&M, Forever 21, and The Gap is what appears to be a rollercoaster, yet no cars race by, and no screams of riders can be heard. Upon closer inspection, it is no rollercoaster, just bridge built to look like one. But, why? Let’s take a trip back in time, all the…

A bronze state of Old Ben with his nose turned up toward the sky, sitting on a rock.

Oh, Just a Park Dedicated to a Famous Sea Lion

June 7, 2019, 1 Comment

As mentioned earlier, Catalina is full of unique stories, but perhaps one of the most unique is the fact there is a park dedicated to a sea lion. Yes, a sea lion. Just after you disembark from the Catalina Express, you walk along the edge of the harbor past a bronze statue of a sea…

Myself standing in front of the old west medicine wagon sits in the middle of the parking lot. It is red and reads "Gower Gulch Medicinal Ointment" and has an image of an Indian wearing a headdress, wearing a black peasant top, and a green skirt with western images on it.

The Forgotten History of Gower Gulch, Hollywood’s Western Strip Mall

May 1, 2019, 7 Comments

Gower Gulch. Sounds like a small town in the deserts of Arizona, right? But you’d be wrong. It’s in fact a western themed small strip mall that sits at the corner of Gower and Sunset in the middle of Hollywood. But why a western theme? And just how did this corner get its name? The…

A rounded front building faces the street, atop it a tall spire stretches toward a bright blue sky. Near the bottom red letters spell out "Crossroads of the World." Atop the spire a globe.

The Violent History of LA’s Iconic Crossroads of the World

April 18, 2019, 4 Comments

Sunset Boulevard is synonymous with Hollywood. It’s home to a plethora of iconic buildings and linked to many legendary people. One such building is Crossroads of the World, a bizarre little 1930s shopping center turned office complex that looks like something out of a Disney theme park, with a steamship style building “sailing” past storefronts…

The outside of the Beauty Bubble, a cream building with orange sherbet trim, a large half circle painted turquoise reads "The Beauty Bubble Salon and Museum" with small bubble like circles rising from it. A cartoon of a woman is painted next to it, who does her hair with hair spray while looking in a mirror. Outside sit a blue and a pink chair, and on the left a sauna hair dryer.

Step into the Beauty Bubble, Joshua Tree’s Kitschiest Salon & Museum

March 20, 2019, 1 Comment

Just past the turn to head into Joshua Tree National Park is another national treasure, the candy colored The Beauty Bubble Salon and Museum. Step inside and you’ll instantly want to do something wild and crazy with your hair. Because, how can you not with a plethora of vintage hair goodies across every surface, and…

Myself standing outside the main doors, wearing a straw hat, a white peasant top, and maroon skirt that features gathering in an asymmetrical design.

The Outlet Mall Masquerading as an Assyrian Palace

February 5, 2019, 6 Comments

If you’ve ever driven along Interstate 5 through Commerce, just outside Los Angeles, you’ve likely spied a grand ancient looking palace and perhaps wondered “What on earth is that!?” Well, it’s an outlet mall actually. Yes, an outlet mall, known simply as The Citadel. But it wasn’t always that way. The building was actually built…

Atomic Redhead

Bizarre & Unique

A Visit to the Stone Age at Arizona’s Bedrock City Before it Becomes History

Discovering the Hidden Treasures of Sid Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre

Remembering Balboa Park’s Nudist Colony at the Zoro Garden

Meet Catherine Segura, the Young Woman Who is Keeping Tintype Photography Alive

The Rise and Fall of the Long Beach Pike

Oh, Just a Park Dedicated to a Famous Sea Lion

The Forgotten History of Gower Gulch, Hollywood’s Western Strip Mall

The Violent History of LA’s Iconic Crossroads of the World

Step into the Beauty Bubble, Joshua Tree’s Kitschiest Salon & Museum

The Outlet Mall Masquerading as an Assyrian Palace