Myself seated on a bench just outside the roller rink above you can see the pipe organ that hangs above the rink.

Oaks Park: One of the Last Trolley Parks is Home to America’s Oldest Roller Rink

October 7, 2026, Leave a Comment on Oaks Park: One of the Last Trolley Parks is Home to America’s Oldest Roller Rink

Located on the banks of the Willamette River is a true treasure of Portland, Oaks Amusement Park. Not only is it one of America’s oldest amusement parks, it is home to the oldest roller rink in the United States. In 1905 the Portland area was gearing up for the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition. Meanwhile…

Exterior of Grand Lodge, a Greek revival style portico with columns, with the building itself made of brick.

McMenamins Grand Lodge: 100 Year Old Freemason Retirement Home Turned Whimsigoth Hotel

October 1, 2026, 1 Comment

As mentioned earlier, we returned to Oregon for Patrick’s sister’s wedding. She chose to get married at a local campground with a beautiful lake. As her and her friends adore camping, many opted to pitch tents right on site. As for me I chose for Patrick and I to stay at McMenamins Grand Lodge, a…

Night time of the Orpheum marquee, a multi-colored neon sign with a LED screen advertising the LA Conservancy event. Above is a long blade style sign also reading Orpheum.

Behind the Curtain of LA’s Century Old Orpheum Theatre

June 10, 2026, Leave a Comment on Behind the Curtain of LA’s Century Old Orpheum Theatre

Downtown Los Angeles was once home to dozens of theatres, often grand movie palaces that look like they are right out of a fairy tale. As the decades went on, these once glittering monuments to the silver screen fell by the wayside, abandoned, bulldozed, or converted into stores. Today a handful cling to life, typically…

Portion of the exterior, featuring a pyramid tower and statues over the doorway.

Exploring LA’s 100 Year Old Central Library

June 3, 2026, 4 Comments

Located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles is a true beacon for Angelenos, the Los Angeles Central Library. This year, the iconic Art Deco buildings turns 100. Filled with not just books, but galleries, murals, and unique artifacts, one can learn about its history through free docent led tours, which Patrick and I did…

Full exterior view of Idle Hour, in the center is a large barrel with smaller buildings attached at either side.

Idle Hour: Eat Inside a Giant Hidden Dog at California’s Last Barrel Restaurant

April 15, 2026, Leave a Comment on Idle Hour: Eat Inside a Giant Hidden Dog at California’s Last Barrel Restaurant

As many of you know I’m an architecture junkie, and one of my favorite forms of architecture is programmatic, or fondly known as “California Crazy” that is to say, buildings that are constructed to look like something, which California was wildly known for. Sadly, there are very few examples left, but at Idle Hour you…

Straight on view as seen from a grassy hill next to the pool, a two story Spanish Revival style building with red tile roof sits in the middle, and is flanked by arched arcades on either side with the long empty pool in front.

Griffith Park’s Abandoned 1920s Pool Waits in the Wings for a Second Act

April 8, 2026, 1 Comment

Spanning five square miles, there is something for everyone at Griffith Park. Visitors can hike the miles of trails, visit multiple museums, learn about the stars at the observatory, get up close and personal with animals at the zoo, and enjoy the variety of recreation facilities. But in 2020 it lost something, the Griffith Park…

Inside Greystone Mansion: Money, Murder, and the Movies

March 25, 2026, 2 Comments

Looming over the luxurious city of Beverly Hills sits Greystone Mansion, a sprawling estate built by Los Angeles’ first oil tycoon family, the Dohenys. It is also home to one of Beverly Hills’ earliest scandals. Typically Greystone keeps its doors closed, with only a handful of exceptions. Thankfully my friend, Kristen, was able to secure…

Exterior of the Mob Museum, the former federal courthouse.

Returning to the Scene of the Crime: Visiting the Mob Museum Again

February 18, 2026, Leave a Comment on Returning to the Scene of the Crime: Visiting the Mob Museum Again

While in Vegas, my friend Cristal and I went to a few other museums, including the Mob Museum, which I had been to previously, but it had been awhile, so I was happy to go back. Las Vegas and the mob basically go hand-in-hand. Housed perfectly in the city’s first federal courthouse, built in 1933,…

Myself, wearing a blue western wear shirt, cream cowboy hat with blue stars, leaning against a barrel bar.

A Return to the Kern County Museum: Home to Country Legends and More

January 21, 2026, Leave a Comment on A Return to the Kern County Museum: Home to Country Legends and More

Back in 2021 Patrick and I made our first visit to the Kern County Museum, an outstanding museum with over 50 buildings across 16 acres in Bakersfield. Our visit was amid COVID restrictions, and meant that few of the buildings were open, and between then and now, it has opened a Bakersfield Sound exhibit and…

The Haunting of Stone Oak Manor

October 8, 2025, Leave a Comment on The Haunting of Stone Oak Manor

WARNING: This blog post contains a grizzly image of a very realistic prop of a dismembered body, that some readers may find disturbing. Tucked away in the hills of Oak Glen rests Stone Oak Manor. Designed by Reginald Inwood for Murle and Samuel Baumann, the manor was built in 1926 using stones found on the…