To the right stands the tall sign reading "Motel Inn" and to the right is the one remaining, Spanish Revival style building, with the lone wall from the restaurant in the middle in the distance.

Remnants of the Motel Inn, the World’s First Motel

July 14, 2022, 3 Comments

Just off Highway 101 in San Luis Obispo sits a tall sign reading “Motel Inn Restaurant & Lounge First Motel in the World” but pull over and you’ll be welcomed not by a jolly proprietor, but instead by a chain link fence and only one building and a lilting facade just beyond it. This is…

The roadside sign for "El Trovatore" a brick structure stands on a hill above the motel, with a red and white sign jutting from the brick reading "El Trovatore Motel" An old rusted car sits out front.

The Star-Studded El Trovatore Motel

September 10, 2019, 1 Comment

Patrick and I just returned from a mini road trip to Arizona, and boy are y’all in for a slew of posts! But let’s start off with the first place we stopped for the night, the El Trovatore. El Trovatore is not only right along Route 66, but it is perched right on the edge…

Myself seated at a table inside Barney's, the booth is upholstered in different color vinyl, and the table features a collage made of magazine cut outs. Behind me sits a chopper motorcycle.

From Clark Gable to Jim Morrison, Route 66’s Barney’s Beanery Has Seen it All

August 21, 2019, 4 Comments

Hollywood has seen a great deal of changes over its lifetime, and one place that has witnessed it all is Barney’s Beanery. Once a humble California Craftsman home surrounded by poinsettia fields it has morphed to become one of the icons of Hollywood history, both of the film and music variety. Oh, and did I…

Exterior of the Catalina Island Museum, a small, cream stucco colored building.

Catalina Island: A Tale of Chewing Gum, Grave Robbing, and Movie Stars

June 3, 2019, 4 Comments

On Sunday, Patrick and I finally made it over to the little island of Catalina. If you aren’t familiar with California geography, Catalina is a small island, roughly 30 miles off the coast of Long Beach, accesible by ferry from a handful of ports on the mainland. At just under 75 square miles, about 4,000…

Decapitated palm trees jut from concrete in front of a boarded up building.

The Charred Remains of the Palm Springs’ Playground where Marilyn Monroe was Discovered

March 13, 2019, 4 Comments

Tucked away behind a tarp covered chainlink fence sits the remains of what was once one of the most glamorous spots in all of Palm Springs, The Racquet Club. The motion picture industry changed Palm Springs from a sleepy health resort town to a getaway for Hollywood’s elite by the 1920s. In 1934 actors Charles…

Death & Hollywood

March 19, 2014, 10 Comments

So if you don’t know by now, I can be kind of morbid, and after visiting The Autry (I didn’t take any photos, as the lighting and display cases proved to be difficult, and I chose instead to focus on the experience, but I highly recommend visiting as it is nothing short of spectacular!) the…