Category

Historic Locations

I’m a history geek! So if it has a plaque, I’m there. With my camera. And probably in an appropriately themed outfit.

A waist up shot of me standing in front of Heinold's wearing a tan cowboy hat, floral cowboy shirt, and yellow tie with a horse on it.

Grab a Drink at Oakland’s Oldest Bar, Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon

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Resting on the banks of the Oakland Estuary sit a pair of buildings that look like they have been plucked from a wild west set; a small wooden saloon and an even smaller log cabin, making for an odd vignette among the taller glass and steel structures, railroad tracks, and sailboats. The saloon, dubbed Heinold’s…

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The dock of the island, with the large former barracks turned apartments looming above.

More than a Prison: The Gardens, Native American Heritage, and Birds of Alcatraz

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Alcatraz. The Rock. The most formidable prison in the United States. From its early years as a fort, later turned prison, and then the location of the protest that sparked the 1970s Native American Rights Movement, Alcatraz Island is now a National Park that seeks to preserve the history of the island, while also accepting…

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Myself, standing in front of the Canyon Country Store, wearing a cream cowboy hat, pink and yellow floral shirt, caramel colored fringe leather vest, and tan corduroys.

The Canyon Country Store, where 60s Music Legends Shopped and Rocked

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Separating the greater Los Angeles area from the San Fernando Valley are the Hollywood Hills, and running through them are various canyons, steep with homes built precariously into them. The most famous of these canyons is Laurel Canyon. Here the likes of Joni Mitchell, David Crosby, Jim Morrison, Chris Hillman, Gram Parsons, Frank Zappa, David…

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Myself, wearing a purple psychedelic print long sleeve dress with a gold scarf at the neck, and a purple scarf in my hair, standing in front of the lake that sits in the middle of Hollywood Forever.

Touring the Hauntingly Beautiful Hollywood Forever Cemetery

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Hollywood. The home to the stars – both living and dead. While Hollywood and the surrounding areas have multiple cemeteries where Hollywood’s elite have been laid to rest, none is perhaps more notable than Hollywood Forever. Smack in the middle of Tinsel Town, and butting right up against Paramount Studios, this is the final resting…

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