Back on dry ground in Fog City, we went for lunch at a lovely place called Butterfly. Having already explored San Francisco's cable car system, we opted to see a few other sights, including Fisherman's Wharf and the Golden Gate Bridge. We decided to walk the five miles to the bridge in order to work off lunch; it was a decision that our legs would soon come to regret.

                                                                         

Fisherman's Wharf was pretty lively and offered some interesting street art as you'll see in the video below. On the way to the bridge, we witnessed a guy come out of a house in a wild rage. He picked up a wheelie bin (not a trash can, but a big plastic bin) and began to smash it against the window of a car that was parked outside. The glass didn't break, so he picked up adjacent bins and emptied those onto the street. The neighbours began to emerge from their houses, unimpressed. A minute or so later, he sped past on a motorbike, driving recklessly and weaving between cars. We amused ourselves on the long walk by coming up with exciting explanations for why he was so angry. It was even stranger to us because the area is so idyllic and so beautiful, it's hard to imagine anyone getting annoyed in this town.

Eventually we reached the Golden Gate Bridge, the famous suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. It is spectacular. We sat for a while, just looking at it and people watching. After a short while, it began to rain, so we headed to an Irish bar in Union Square for drinks. This time, we took a cab. The driver did not attack us with any form of garbage receptacle. Tomorrow morning we'll be back on the road, driving up the coast toward Portland, Oregon. We have adored San Francisco. There's something for everyone here.

Addendum: This morning, we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge when leaving San Francisco. We stopped briefly to take in the views.

                   

Now we're headed for Portland. It's a ten hour drive so we'll see how far we get before we fall in love with some small town.

Welcome to The Rock!

                                                                                                                       

Today we got up early and headed to Pier 33 on the Embarcadero in order to take the 10am ferry to Alcatraz Island. Alcatraz is best known as the federal prison that housed notorious criminals such as Al Capone and 'Machine Gun Kelly'. Often referred to as 'The Rock', the small island is located in the San Francisco Bay, one and a half miles off the coast of San Francisco. Over the years, Alcatraz has been a lighthouse, a military fort, a military prison, a federal prison and a movie set; Clint Eastwood's Escape from Alcatraz was shot there, as was The Rock, Point Blank, The Birdman of Alcatraz and several others. The prison closed in 1963 and it is now a national park.

Upon arrival at Alcatraz, we were greeted by Park Ranger John Cantwell who gave an entertaining and enthralling introduction for the first 45 minutes of our tour. Cantwell related many amusing stories about Alcatraz and its history of escape attempts by inmates. We got a real sense of the place from his total enthusiasm.

From the tiny cells to the Recreation Yard, every inch of the place is filled with an intoxicating history and a full spectrum of emotions. Aside from the bad Sean Connery impressions we were doing, the tour is easily worth the price of admission and we wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. In addition to the main audio tour, for which they provide headsets, there are several screenings and exhibitions about Alcatraz which make for a really detailed study of the prison.

We arrived in San Francisco in early afternoon and checked into a hotel in the Union Square area. It was raining. This was actually the first rain we have seen on the entire Crossing the States road trip, which isn't bad. After dropping off our bags, we immediately hit the street so that we could get a sense of the city. Naturally, our first stop was the Cheesecake Factory at the top of Macy's.

                                                                                                     

After a quick sugar boost, we headed for the Cable Car Museum, which taught us all about how the San Francisco public transport system was designed and how it is maintained today. The network of cables that run right through the heart of the museum and keep San Francisco moving were incredible to behold.

Walking around, we love the vibe on the streets. It's very hip. There's a huge Asian community here. There are lots of cool coffee shops with free wi-fi. San Francisco has a very European feel right around Union Square but as you move outwards toward the water, it has that unmistakable look which is all its own; stunning architecture and steep rolling hills. It's a one of a kind city. Plus, a few more days of climbing these hills, and we'll all have legs like Jón Páll Sigmarsson.

After a Chinese buffet lunch on Geary Street, we checked out Coit Tower in Pioneer Park and then walked the long stretch of Lombard Street until we came to the famous Crookedest Street. An awesome sight to behold with terrific views. From Coit Tower we were also able to see Alcatraz, the former prison, and the Golden Gate bridge.

As it was still raining, we stopped at 901 Columbus for beer before heading back to the hotel. On the way back, Dale drank some rain water from a large leaf overhanging the street. Sometimes, I swear he thinks he's Bear Grylls.

                                                           

We arrived in Santa Cruz at about 9pm. With it being a seaside resort, we were expecting to find the famous boardwalk in full swing. Unfortunately, it's only open 12pm-5pm. Not quite the party atmosphere depicted in The Lost Boys. You may have noticed, we understand the world through the media of film, television and music. We found a nearby motel and slept opposite the fairground which is an hour and a half outside of San Francisco. Come morning, with all of us dressed like Corey Haim in the heady 1987 horror classic, we checked out the Santa Cruz boardwalk aka: Santa Carla.

The boardwalk was quiet first thing in the morning and much more pleasant than other beaches we've been to. I expected something much more akin to Venice Beach, but there are no marijuana shops in sight. There's a live music stage and plenty of roller coasters and other attractions. We found the carousel and it was closed. Luckily, one of the engineers heard our English accents and let us in for a look. After a good walk along the sea front, it was time to check the tyres and fill up with fuel for the short trip to San Francisco.

En route to Santa Cruz, we decided to stop in Santa Barbara and do a little wine tasting. I had driven from LA to Santa Barbara and so Loll became the designated driver for the next leg of the trip, giving me the freedom to soak up a little grape juice with Dale.

Heading north to Santa Barbara on the 101 is a truly beautiful scenic drive. We passed through the city of Camarillo headed for Los Olivos. Los Olivos is one of the five communities that make up the Santa Ynez Valley. It was popularised by the wonderful film Sideways starring Paul Giamatti. The area looked completely deserted until we turned left at a junction and were suddenly ensconced in this beautiful town filled with smart restaurants and wine tasting venues. 

                                 

Before drowning ourselves in Merlot, we had lunch at the Los Olivos café. Excellent pizzas all round. During the meal, I noticed a universal truth. The odds that the waitress will approach you to ask if the meal is okay are directly proportional to size of the food you just shovelled in to your mouth.

The tasting cost just $10 and for that Dale and I were able to try a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Riesling, a Merlot, a Pinot Noir, a Sangiovese, a Port and a few others. We were even able keep the custom wine glass that we used, compliments of the winery. Suitably merry (and no longer at the wheel!) we rejoined the Interstate in the direction of Santa Cruz.

On our last morning in LA, we walked the short distance over to the Farmer's Market for brunch with Dan Kimpel, a long time friend of mine. Dan is an authority on popular music and songwriters. He's an author, speaker and lecturer; he produces content for airlines; he does on camera interviews with celebrities for ASCAP; he writes for Music Connection magazine in LA and lots of other exciting entertainment biz stuff.

           

Dan is a very charming and animated character, so he kept us all entertained for the few hours we were together with his hilarious stories and observations about LA, travel and life in Hollywood. 

As we were leaving, we stood up in front of the Korean Barbecue to take a picture. Suddenly, there was a huge influx of elderly tourists. Dan, being the first to reach the Korean BBQ, was essentially trapped by the flow of people, so he began to greet the visitors, welcoming each of them to LA. Just seeing him use that moment to say 'hey, thanks for coming, great to have you here' to each of them, and seeing them respond to him as if he were an official Farmer's Market greeter was truly hilarious. Eventually, Loll snapped this photo of us with Dan and we parted ways.

Special thank to Dan, a regular reader of this blog, for taking the time to drive over to meet us on a Sunday morning and for giving us such a good time. Soon after this meeting, we checked out of our LA hotel and hit the road headed north to Santa Cruz.

On our last full day in Los Angeles, we climbed into the car in order to visit as many sights as possible. Traffic is almost always bumper to bumper out here, so we barely scratched the surface of the rows of boutique shops and other cool districts in which to eat, shop and hang out. Nevertheless, we had fun checking out as many interesting spots as we could reach and we reached them all safely thanks to Sooze, who negotiated the manic LA traffic with aplomb.

                                   

As we were out east, we hit the Puente Hills Mall (aka 'Twin Pines Mall') for a spot of breakfast and shopping (and so that Dale and I could reminisce about the fact that 25 years ago, the DeLorean travelled back in time from this very car park!) Once back downtown, we headed to Rocket Video, a VHS emporium not far from where we are staying. With a huge selection of tapes, this place had Dale clicking his heels in the aisles. Likewise, Amoeba Music on Sunset Blvd was a truly magnificent experience for the pop culture shopper! 

In the afternoon, we hit Venice Beach, which was interesting to say the least. Despite its cultural contribution, it's mainly a breeding ground for tranks, lobos, zipheads, sports, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies and dickheads. There are some very creative ways that people beg for money in Venice. One guy was holding a cardboard sign that simply read: 'Fuck you, pay me'. I hear from my friend Dan that the semi-naked rollerskating guitarist we saw working his way up and down the seafront has an agent and is doing quite well. Only in LA.

After checking out Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive, we took a look at the Sunset Strip. Our only celebrity sightings in LA were footballer-turned-actor Vinnie Jones, driving around Beverly Hills in his 4x4 and some guy from Fringe. There were a couple of other film and TV locations spotted in mid afternoon as we whirled around town; the girls spotted the house from Charmed and Dale and I made a bee-line for the building in Fox Plaza, Century City that doubles as Nakatomi tower in Die Hard.

We were pretty exhausted by late evening, so we had dinner and some of the incredible cupcakes available at Swingers diner, then packed for the long trip north to Santa Cruz.

Since the late 1980s, I have been a fan of the horror comedy House (1986) which starred William Katt and was written by my friend Ethan Wiley (see this post for more on our evening with Ethan). The film was released by New World Pictures in 1986 and became one of the highest grossing independent films of that era. Given that we were near the location of the actual house from the movie, I couldn't resist contacting the owner about making a visit.

                                                                                   

The real name of the house is Mill's View and it is situated in Monrovia, California. Monrovia is a city located in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County. Mill's View is a stately Victorian home, built for William Monroe, the founder of Monrovia, as an 1887 wedding gift to his eldest son, Milton Monroe.

The producers of the movie chose Mill's View as the ideal location for the tale of Roger Cobb (William Katt), a Vietnam veteran and horror novelist whose son Jimmy disappears somewhere inside the house. The house forces the author to face his darkest demons in order to recover his missing son.

The current owners of the house are Sabin Gray and Bryan Gerber, who were generous enough to open their home to a bunch of state-hopping Brits. The tour of Mill's View, led by Sabin, was spectacular, and demonstrated not only the locations of key scenes in the film and tricks used by the filmmakers, but also the real history of the house - how it was moved to face in a different direction; how it derived its name from the original owner's favourite top floor window; and how original features such as the 'Widow's Walk' will eventually be restored.

Although the interiors of Mill's View were not used in the film (it was mostly shot on a soundstage), Sabin told us that on special occasions, they screen the movie on the side of the house and hundreds of people turn up to watch it. I'm such a geek, I actually wondered whether I could return to attend a screening. I needn't have worried; we were soon upstairs in Sabin and Bryan's home theater screening key sections of the movie and comparing them to the route we had just taken around the house. I have now officially watched House in the house from House!

Standing on the porch of the house in the bright Californian sun, we had refreshments provided by Bryan and Sabin and enjoyed a lovely conversation about our trip, and movie fandom in general. We would like to thank them both for giving us some very special memories to add to our experience of crossing the states.

This evening, we headed to the Dresden restaurant, the hip LA nightspot popularised by the movie Swingers starring Vince Vaughn. We were there to meet with our friends, screenwriter and director Ethan Wiley and his partner, artist and writer, Ellary Eddy. Our friend Fred Dekker (director of such classics as The Monster Squad and Night of the Creeps) was unfortunately unable to make it, so we look forward to meeting Fred next time.

Ethan started his career as an effects technician working on movies like Gremlins and Return of the Jedi. In the mid 80s, Ethan wrote House (1986), a hugely popular horror comedy starring William Katt, and wrote and directed its sequel House 2: The Second Story. House is a particular favourite movie of mine. Ethan and I have been in contact for probably 8-10 years, but hadn't met until this evening. It was wonderful to finally lay eyes on the old bastard! 

Both Ethan and Ellary were terrific company, giving us an evening of entertaining conversation. Ethan was also incredibly tactful in letting me know that in LA, when you order food, the standard tip jumps to 18%. The waitress at the Dresden let me know about the increase by bringing my payment back to the table and suggesting we check the sums. I was mortified and corrected it immediately, but then again, I still think the waitress was being pretty fucking cheeky. Later, we moved on to the Figaro café for dessert courtesy of our Hollywood pals.

Thanks to Ethan and Ellary for a wonderful evening and for their advice in terms of travelling up the coast towards Seattle.

Today we visited Universal Studios in Hollywood. We had a fun day out looking at movie locations, movie props and riding the major attractions. First, we checked out the Universal House of Horrors, a walk-through haunted house covered in cobwebs and ghoulish sights. Best of all is that they employ actors dressed up as classic movie monsters to scare you and leer at you from dark corners. Loll got a few good scares. 

                                                                                                               

Next we took the Studio Tour, a tram tour of the stages at Universal including sets from Universal movies and television shows. We saw the DeLorean from Back to the Future; the 'Lyon Estates' signs from the same film; sets from Jaws; the police cruiser from The Blues Brothers; the street set used in Desperate Housewives; a spectacular plane crash set from War of the Worlds; a live action subway explosion; a live action scene from Psycho, the cabin from The Great Outdoors and even a flash flood that headed straight for the tram.

In terms of the major rides, we found Terminator 2: 3D pretty disappointing. It's a little out of date now and the technology has moved on. Jurassic Park was awesome and featured an 84 foot drop through a waterfall. We got soaked. Revenge of The Mummy: The Ride was easily the winner though. It is a very fast roller coaster that accelerates through the dark with sudden tilts and drops. Plus, once you think it's all over, it covers you in smoke and does the whole thing again backwards! It was so good, we went on it twice.