California
I’m sitting at the outside bar at the Long Beach Airport drinking a beer and waiting for my flight back home.
It has been a pretty quick but lovely trip.
The above photos are from a nice trip to Olvera Street that we took to eat some great Mexican food and walk around a bit. Frida Kahlo is everywhere!
Cris and I always try to go to Huntington Beach. This day was cool, grey, and rainy. Lovely.
I really like wandering on and under the pier.
It wasn’t very crowded due to the weather.
A Ruby’s chocolate shake always hits the spot.
I don’t remember Zoltar from previous years. He will tell your fortune though.
I am kind of attracted to photographing weird stuff.
I wonder how many times the Life Ring has been used.
The nearest In n Out is about a 30 minute walk from Lynne’s house. So much to see along the way!
My brother-in-law John knows so much about LA and it is amazing to spend a day with him cruising around. This is the Frank Lloyd Wright house in Brentwood. It is referred to as the Sturges House but is most famous for the fact that Jack Larson the actor who played Jimmy Olsen on the Superman TV show, lived here for many years. It was to be auctioned a few years ago, but didn’t sell. It is now abandoned and in rough shape. Shocking.
It is in a very quaint and beautiful neighborhood.
Check out this deck from below. It is nearly the size of the house which is only 1400 square feet. I am always saddened and amazed that such an important house can sit abandoned and empty. Especially in Brentwood!
John grew up in Palos Verdes, which is to me the most amazing community in the LA area. It was nice to go there for a coffee before driving back to Tustin. This fountain is in the center of the little commercial area.
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Disney / The Huntington
Cristine grew up going to Disneyland as a very young child. Her parents would drop off all three kids when the park opened and they would pick them up when it closed. Many of her popular culture references are Disney related. Once when we were snorkeling in the Caribbean, she popped up from a dive and said “It’s just like the submarine ride at Disneyland”! We would go to the park while visiting her family when Peter was little, and I really got to like it as well.
We had a wonderful day there on Wednesday which included a fine meal at the Blue Bayou. Our table overlooked the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and I was able to make this nice picture.
Yesterday we went to The Huntington near Pasadena, which in its own way is just as cool as Disneyland. We started off in the Botanical Center which was full of orchids.
Then moved on to the rose garden.
Made the obligatory stop to see Blue Boy.
Which is breathtaking. Gainsborough had it rockin’.
Asked about Turner, and they had this, “The Grand Canal. A Street Scene in Venice”. Here is a detail.
Yikes!
And then walked into this room and nearly fell over when I saw this.
When we were in the American Art building I was somehow reminded of a painting in my brother’s and my bedroom when we were children. All I could remember was a guy lashed to a small boat being circled by sharks. So I did a quick search on my phone (guy lashed to a small boat being circled by sharks painting) and saw this. I don’t know why we had it in our house, and as a child I remember being frightened by it. Bob, do you remember this?
Just got back from a last visit to In-n-Out. I guess it’s time to go home.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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