movies – Page 34 – IAMNOTASTALKER

November 21, 2008February 13, 2009

The Langham Huntington Hotel and Spa

While stalking in Pasadena a few weeks ago I stopped into the Langham Huntington Hotel & Spa to snap some pics. The Langham has long been a Pasadena institution and it is an absolutely gorgeous place to spend an afternoon or grab an evening cocktail. It is also an oft-used Pasadena filming location and celeb hang out. 🙂

The Langham Hotel was originally built in 1907 and was known as the Wentworth. Never gaining much popularity under its original ownership, the property was sold to Henry E. Huntington in 1911, who hired renowned L.A. area architect Myron Hunt to renovate, expand, and improve the hotel. Three years later, in 1914, the Wentworth was reopened under its new name – the Huntington Hotel. Architect Myron Hunt is also known for designing the Rose Bowl, Occidental College, the California Institute of Technology, and Henry Huntington’s private home, which later became the museum known as the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens. After Myron’s renovations, the Huntington Hotel became an overnight success and it remained that way for more than seven decades. But in 1985, while under the ownership of the Sheraton Corporation, the Huntington had to be closed due to earthquake code violations. In 1987, the Ritz-Carlton Corporation purchased the property and, with a $100 million upgrade, brought it up to code. In 1990, the new Huntington Ritz-Carlton Hotel & Spa opened its doors to the public. Just this year, the hotel was sold yet again – this time to Great Eagle Holdings who renamed it the Langham Huntington Hotel & Spa. Even with all of the ownership changes, the Huntington remains the finest hotel in the Pasadena area. It also remains a favorite of both celebrities and location scouts alike.

The interior of the Langham stood in for the Stratford Hotel in the 1998 Lindsay Lohan remake of The Parent Trap. The exterior of the Stratford, however, was a different location altogether. For that producers used the Administration Building on Treasure Island in Northern California, located a few hundred miles away from the Langham. The Langham also appeared in Beverly Hills Ninja where it stood in for the Beverly Hills Hotel. The hotel was also featured in Seabsicut , America’s Next Top Model, Charlie Wilson’s War, and Brothers and Sisters. And just a brief list of the hotel’s past celebrity guests: Teddy Roosevelt, Bill Clinton (shortly after winning the ’92 election), Albert Einstein, the Dalai Lama, Prince Philip of England, musician Pete Townsend, Salyma Hayek, Bachelorette Trista Rehn, and Judd Hirsch. Marcia Cross’ wedding reception was held there, as was the wedding for Taboo from The Black-Eyed Peas. Shannen Doherty is a reported frequent guest of the hotel, and especially loves their premiere restaurant, The Grill, and their piano bar. I actually saw Shannen once during one of my many visits the to the Langham. She was doing some press for her former reality show Breaking-Up With Shannen Doherty. Shannen was super tiny in person and seemed very sweet, although I did not go up to her.

The Langham is an absolutely beautiful resort, with sprawling lawns, meandering pathways, koi ponds, a dark wood paneled bar, and excellent food. I had the pleasure of staying at the hotel a while back, when it was still owned by the Ritz-Carlton. The service at the time was impeccable. One night at the bar I ordered my fave soda, Dr. Pepper. The bartender told me that while Dr. Pepper isn’t served at the hotel, he thought there might be a vending machine in the employee break room that had some. Despite my protests, he ran downstairs to the breakroom and returned a few minutes later – Dr. Pepper in hand! I also attended the Ritz-Carlton employee Christmas party a few years ago with a friend who used to work for the hotel and it was one of the best parties I’ve ever been to!

I highly recommend stalking the Ritz and grabbing a nightcap in their piano bar. Time and time again it is mentioned as one of the most romantic places in Pasadena.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Langham is located at 1401 South Oak Knoll Avenue in Pasadena. You can visit their website here. Rooms start at $269 per night.

November 14, 2008February 13, 2009

The Ambassador Hotel

Katharine Hepburn once said, “I have many regrets and I’m sure everyone does. The stupid things you do, you regret . . . if you have any sense.” Katharine was right. One of my biggest regrets in life is that I never got to see the Ambassador Hotel in person before it was torn down in 2005. I lived in L.A. for a good five years before demolition began on the legendary hotel and am literally kicking myself now for never taking the opportunity to see the hotel with my own two eyes. And now it is too late. Today the hotel is completely gone. It absolutely sickens me that this rare piece of Los Angeles history has vanished from our skyline. 🙁 I asked Mike, from MovieShotsLA, if he had ever visited the Ambassador while it was still standing, which of course, he had, and he sent me the above photos.

Today, the 23.7 acre property that once held one of L.A.’s finest hotels is nothing more than a construction site – the future location of three new public schools for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The only pieces of the hotel that remain are the circular entrance,

and one wall of the legendary Cocoanut Grove nightclub – both of which are said to be incorporated into the building of the new schools.

The Ambassador opened it doors on New Year’s Day 1921. From opening day up until the late 1960s, the 500 room hotel was a home away from home for movie stars, world leaders, U.S. Presidents, and other V.I.P.’s. Such famous names as Howard Hughes, Lana Turner, Clark Gable, Carey Grant, Katharine Hepburn, President Kennedy, President Hoover, and Bob Hope all frequented the hotel at one time or another. The hotel’s Cocoanut Grove nightclub was the place to see and be seen once upon a time. Such legendary performers as Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Liza Minelli, Bing Crosby and Richard Pryor all performed on the Grove’s hallowed stage and the Academy Awards were held there six times. One of the Ambassador’s main claims to fame (or at least my favorite) is that it is the place where Marilyn Monroe first got her start. In 1944, the then unknown Norma Jean Baker signed with Miss Emmaline Snively’s Blue Book Modeling Agency, which was located inside the hotel. Perhap’s the Ambassador’s more well known, and much more tragic, claim to fame is that it was the location where Robert Kennedy was shot and killed in the early morning hours of June 5, 1968. Kennedy had just won California’s primary nomination for the presidency and was giving his victory speech in the hotel’s Embassy Ballroom. After the speech, he was wisked through the hotel’s kitchen on his way to the press area. Sadly, he never made it. He was instead shot to death near the kitchen’s pantry by Palestinian radical Sirhan Sirhan.

At the time of RFK’s assasination, the area surrounding the Ambassador had become infested with gangs, drugs, and crime, causing the once grand hotel to fall into a steady economic decline. Sadly, once the hotel began its slump, it was never revived. 🙁 The Ambassador’s doors were closed to the public in 1989 and the hotel was sold to Donald Trump for $64 million. The Donald, and many others, had plans to completely rennovate the hotel and restore it to its former grandeur, but sadly, that was not to be. The Ambassador sat empty for the next 16 years while its fate was decided. The Los Angeles Unified School District, in need of property to build new schools, obtained rights to the land based on imminent domain. This plan tied up the property for years, while L.A.U.S.D. fought developers, conservationists, and even lawyers for Sirhan Sirhan, who argued that the hotel’s kitchen must be kept intact so further evidence could be gathered to exonerate their client. Sadly, the developers and the conservationists lost the battle and in September of 2005, L.A.U.S.D. began its demolition of the Ambassador. The last remaining piece of the Ambassador was knocked down on January 16, 2006 – almost 85 years to the day of the hotel’s grand opening. It sickens me that this was allowed to happen.

During the years when the Ambassador was closed and a battle was being fought over her future, Hollywood moved in and started filming! The 500 room hotel provided producers with the perfect locale to shoot movies – a vacant, already-built hotel set with plenty of parking for film trucks. The Ambassador has been featured in so many movies that it is virtually impossible to even try to mention them all. A short list of examples: That Thing You Do (where it played itself), Crossroads (where it stood in for all of the hotel room scenes), The Graduate (it was the hotel where Dustin Hoffman carried on his illicit affair with Anne Bancroft), Catch Me If You Can, The Mask (where it stood in for the Coco Bongo Nightclub), Bobby, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Pretty Woman (the main ballroom was used for the scene where Hector Alizondo teaches Julia Roberts about table manners and the scene where Richard Gere plays the piano), Forest Gump (it was featured as the bar where Jenny plays the guitar naked onstage), Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion (it was the reunion locale), Apollo 13 (two hotel rooms stood in for Gary Sinese and Kevin Bacon’s apartments), L.A. Story (it stood in for the fictional L’Idiot restaurant), and The Wedding Singer – among literally countless others! So even though the Ambassador is now gone, she will be forever preserved on the silver screen thanks to the magic of the movies.

Here is a great website devoted to the hotel. Here is a great article written by one of the last men to ever photograph the hotel, Whit Wagner. I absolutely love the title. 🙂 And here is a link to some of the photographs he took that day. Here are some more great photos of the interior. And finally, here is a great blog about the hotel’s demolition.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The site where the Ambassador Hotel once stood is located at 3400 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles.

November 11, 2008April 27, 2010

The Governor’s Mansion from “Benson”

A few weeks ago while out stalking in Pasadena I stopped to take some pics of the mansion that was used as the home of Governor Gatling in the 1979 television series Benson. I had actually stalked this mansion eight years before when I first moved to Southern California, but had yet to blog about it. So here goes. 🙂 Growing up, Benson was one of my very favorite shows, but to tell you the truth it’s been so long, I barely even remember what it was about now! But I sure do remember loving it as a kid. 🙂 The series, which ran from 1979 to 1986, was a spin-off of the show Soap. Jerry Seinfeld’s very first acting gig was actually on Benson, where he played a character named Frankie. According to IMDB, Jerry was unknowingly fired from the show after three episodes. He apparently showed up to work one morning only to find out that he no longer had a job and that producers had forgotten to let him know! LOL Sounds like a plotline straight out of Seinfeld. 🙂

In reality, the Benson mansion is known as the Bundy House, named for its original owner, Harlow E. Bundy, inventor of the time clock. Harlow, a resident of Endicott, New York built the mansion in 1914 after deciding he wanted to retire to Pasadena. After retiring to the West Coast in 1915, he became involved (surprise, surprise) in the motion picture industry. Sadly, though, he passed away in 1916, a brief year after moving into his Pasadena mansion. The Bundy House is absolutely HUGE – almost unbelievably so! According to Zillow, the ten bedroom, ten bathroom home is a whopping 15,878 square feet and sits on an 87, 070 square foot lot. I highly recommend stalking the place as pictures just simply don’t do it justice.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Benson house is located at 1365 S. Oakland Avenue in Pasadena.

November 10, 2008February 11, 2009

The Liar Liar House

One of the movie houses I have long been obsessed with finding is the home from the Jim Carrey movie Liar Liar. The house in the movie is absolutely adorable, very picturesque and I so badly wanted to see it in person. I happened to mention the Liar Liar house to Mike, from MovieShotsLA,a few weeks ago and of course, he already knew exactly where it was. Duh! I should have asked him for the location right from the beginning. 🙂 LOL! Anyway, once I had the address, I dragged my dad right out to stalk it.

When I first saw Liar Liar, over ten years ago, I actually turned to my mom in the theatre and said “That house has to be in Pasadena.” The home just looked like a Pasadena house to me. And it turns out I was right! 🙂 In person, though, the house actually looks very different than it appeared in the movie. The entire color scheme of the house has been changed and the front door is now painted a bright red. But even though much of the house has been modified in the 11 years since filming took place, it is still very recognizable from the movie. And while the house is absolutely adorable in person, I actually much prefer how it appeared in the movie, with its soft green and taupe coloring. Ugh, why do people keep changing the exteriors of movie houses?? LOL!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Liar Liar house is located at 1004 Highland Avenue in South Pasadena, just around the corner from Lady Heather’s house from CSI .

November 5, 2008January 3, 2011

Ashton Kutcher’s House from “A Lot Like Love”

My stalking hero Mike, from MovieShotsLA, has done it yet again! 🙂 The two of us have been looking for Ashton Kutcher’s parents’ house from my fave romantic comedy A Lot Like Love for a while now. I really had no hope of ever finding the home, as I had no idea what city it was located in and I couldn’t find any nearby landmarks, such as street signs or addresses, while watching the movie. But then last week, while doing some cyber-stalking, Mike found this article which featured a brief interview with Encino homeowner Ramona Hennesy, who mentioned that her home was featured in A Lot Like Love. Eureka! Once we knew the home was located in Encino, it was simply a matter of searching public records to find the address. And, voila – just a few hours later I was in my car headed to Encino to stalk the property. 🙂 YAY!

Unfortunately there isn’t a whole lot of the house to see from the street and it looks a lot different in person than it appeared in A Lot Like Love. In the article mentioned above, Ramona says that producers turned her carport into Ashton Kutcher’s bedroom during filming, so the home was definitely altered for the production. And to be honest, when I first arrived there, I actually wasn’t entirely convinced it was the same house from the movie. There is currently a wall of tall hedges surrounding the property that didn’t appear in the movie. But when I got home, I looked at some old Google maps images of the house and the hedges didn’t appear in those photos either, so it seems that they are new additions. Why, oh why, do these homeowners have to go and change things????

The Encino home was featured several times in the movie, most prominently in the scene when Amanda Peet’s character shows up at Ashton’s parents house to finally confess her love for him. When he asks her how she found his address she says “I had your number and I just called information and got your address.” LOVE IT! That’s so something I would do! 🙂 LOL!

As always, a big THANK YOU goes out to Mike!!! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The A Lot Like Love house is located at 17050 Magnolia Boulevard in Encino.

October 29, 2008September 29, 2017

They’re Here!

A few weeks ago I sent Mike from MovieShotsLA out to do a little Haunted Hollywood stalking for me. I had read online that the house from the original Poltergeist movie (another horror flick I have yet to see!) is located in Simi Valley, and since Mike was in the area, I asked him to run by and snap some pics for me. As you can see from the above screen capture, the home looks exactly the same today as it did 26 years ago when the movie was filmed. The house actually looks like an average, everyday home that could be located on any street in America, and I think that is exactly why producers chose to use it. In fact, the voiceover in the trailer for the movie says this: “The house looks just like the one next to it, and the one next to that, and the one next to that. A couple lives in it with their three children . . . and something more.” The normalcy of the house makes the movie all the more scary.

Even though I have never actually seen Poltergeist, the movie has always intrigued me due to the rumored curse that has long been attached to it. Four actors from the Poltergeist trilogy passed away at fairly young ages causing many to believe the movies are cursed. The most tragic of the Poltergeist deaths were, of course, the deaths of the two young girls who played the Freeling family daughters. Dominique Dunne, who played Dana Freeling in the movie and who was the real life daughter of author Dominick Dunne, was strangled to death by her former boyfriend in the driveway of her West Hollywood home on November 4, 1982, just a few months after Poltergeist premiered. She was 22. Child star Heather O’Rourke, who played younger daughter Carol Anne, passed away on February 1, 1988 due to complications from cardiopulmonary arrest and intestinal stenosis. She was 12. Ironically both girls are buried at the Pierce Brothers Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood. The other two Poltergeist actors who passed away at fairly young ages both starred in the second movie in the trilogy. Julian Beck, who played Kane, passed away from cancer at the age of 60, and Will Sampson, who played Taylor, passed away at 53 due to complications from surgery. Curse or no curse the untimely passing of so many of the trilogy’s stars definitely adds an amount of grim allure to the movie.

Big THANK YOU to Mike for taking the pics and stalking this location for me! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Poltergeist house is located at 4267 Roxbury Street in Simi Valley.

October 28, 2008September 29, 2017

Haunted Hollywood Tour Takes a Detour to SF!

When I was in high school my good friend Dana and I were absolutely obsessed with a real life haunted house located close to where we lived. Every Friday afternoon like clockwork the two of us would make an after-school pilgrimage to the abandoned house known as the Carolands Mansion before stopping by a local cafe for our ubiquitous weekly frozen lattes. I have no idea why the two of us were so obsessed with this particular mansion and, in fact, I asked Dana today what it was that started our obsession and she couldn’t remember, either. LOL Whatever the reason, ever Friday afternoon without fail Dana and I would make our weekly visit to the abandoned property and drive around the perimeter once or twice for a little looksie. So this weekend when I went up north to attend my friend Nat’s annual weekend-before-Halloween murder mystery party I asked her to drive me by the house so I could do some stalking.

I hadn’t driven by the Carolands in over a decade and I was absolutely shocked to see how much the mansion had changed. The once abandoned house had been purchased and refurbished in my absence and it is no longer the haunted house of my high school memories. It was so strange to see the once dilapidated and spooky property post-facelift and I almost didn’t recognize the place. Gone are the broken, boarded-up windows, the yellowing, dead lawn and the decaying, overgrown foliage. But even after a complete remodel, the house has definitely retained some of its spookiness. I am not sure if it is the sheer size of the mansion (68,000 square feet makes it the largest enclosed space in a private house in the entire United States – it’s even bigger than the Spelling Chateau!) or its tragic history that evokes a creepy feeling. But either way, the house has a haunted feel to it, so it fits in perfectly with my Haunted Hollywood theme.

The Carolands Mansion was built from 1914 to 1916 for Harriet Pullman Carolan, heir to a vast railroad fortune. Harriet, a true diva of her day, had the chateau built on a 544 acre parcel of land at the highest elevation point possible so that she could literally “look down on the Hearsts”. LOL The home was designed in the Beaux-Arts style by French architect Ernest Sanson for a cost of $3,000,000 (and we’re talking 1914 money!). The mansion stands at over eighty feet tall and boasts almost one hundred rooms, including 25 servants quarters, a flower arranging room, and even a secret floor hidden in between the second and third levels. In 1950 a Countess named Lillian Remillard Dandini purchased the home from Harriet and lived in it for the next 23 years. Upon her death she bequeathed the home to the City of Hillsborough, hoping it would become a cultural center. The city, however, could not afford the upkeep on the massive property, and after several subsequent owners, the home fell into serious disrepair and was left vacant and abandoned. During the Roosevelt Administration and again during the Kennedy Administration the US government considered purchasing the home and making it the “White House of the West”, but both times plans fell through. After decades of abandonment and neglect, Franklin Templeton heir Charles Johnson purchased the home in 1998 and spent the next few years and many millions of dollars restoring it to its former grandeur. But no face lift can fully erase the mansion’s tragic history.

When I was a little girl, my uncle used to tell me stories about visiting the Carolands with his high school buddies late at night and getting tours from the security guards hired to guard the home. Back then it was commonplace for area high schoolers to grab a six pack, hop the chain link fence surrounding the property, and slip a security guard a $20 for an interior tour of the mansion. Everyone did it. But that all changed one tragic night in 1985 when two teen-aged girls getting a tour of the mansion were raped and stabbed by a security guard named David Allen Raley. After torturing them for hours in the mansion, he put them in the trunk of his car and drove to his parents house where he ate a meal and played a game of monopoly with his family. He then dumped the two girls in a ravine and left them for dead. But one of the girls managed to crawl out of the ravine on her hands and knees and flagged down a passerby who rescued her and her friend. Sadly, though, while the girl survived, her friend later passed away on an operating room table. The case became very famous in the sleepy town of San Mateo where I grew up. I am not sure why the case garnered so much attention – perhaps because the crime was so heinous, or maybe because there was a survivor, or because the house had long carried the reputation of being haunted or perhaps most likely because up until that point it had been so common for teenagers to use the Carolands grounds as their high school hang out. It literally could have happened to anyone. Whatever the reason, the murders remain a stain on the memory of the once beautiful mansion.

Although not a true filming location, the house did appear in the 1992 pornographic film entitled All American Girls. The mansion was also the subject of the 2006 award winning documentary film entitled Three Woman and a Chateau. A book named Carolands was also written about the property. Although currently a private residence, the Carolands is sometimes opened up for events and fund raisers. The Republican National Commitee hosted an event there in January of this year and George W. Bush was in attendance. The Carolands is truly a marvel of a home and I highly recommend stalking this real life haunted house. Seeing it in person, it’s almost unbelievable how big it is.

Side note – while flying home from SF, who should be on our plane but actress/model Mariel Heminway. I snapped a quick pic of her in baggage claim, but it did not come out very well! I would so make a terrible paparazzi! LOL 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Carolands Mansion is located at 565 Remilard Drive in Hillsborough. After seeing the front of the mansion, follow Remillard to Ralston Avenue and make a right. Make another right on Craig’s Road and follow it past the bend for a nice view of the back of the house.

October 24, 2008September 29, 2017

More Halloween!

Last year, during our annual Haunted Halloween tour, I dragged my boyfriend to the two houses where Jamie Lee Curtis and her friend babysit in the movie Halloween. The final action sequence in the movie takes place at these two houses, which are located across the street from each other. Even though I had never seen the movie Halloween, being that it was the season, I just had to stalk it. 🙂 I seriously need to rent this movie!

The first house I dragged my boyfriend to was the Doyle Family home where Jamie Lee Curtis babysits Tommy and Lindsay Doyle at the end of the movie. The Doyle home is a very cute house and it actually looks like it should be located in the Pasadena area. Being that the majority of the filming of Halloween actually took place in Pasadena, I am very surprised that the producers didn’t just find a home there to use. These location decisions always fascinate me and I would love to find out the reasoning behind them! Someday I really need to sit down with a location scout to pick their brain!

Anyway, the next house we stalked is located directly across the street from the Doyle house. It is the house where Jamie Lee’s best friend Annie babysits and also where she meets her untimely end. From what I can tell from the screen captures, this house looks very different from how it appeared in Halloween. While the front porch area is still recognizable from the movie, it appears that the home was somewhat modernized in recent years and a side garage was added. I so hate it when movie homes are remodeled! Filming locations should really be designated historical landmarks so that the exteriors are protected and forced to remain the same for eternity. 🙂 I mean I think I would seriously cry if anyone ever remodeled the 90210 house! LOL

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The home where Jamie Lee Curtis babysits is located at 1530 North Orange Grove Avenue in Hollywood. The house where her friend Annie babysits is located directly across the street at 1537 North Orange Grove.

October 23, 2008October 29, 2019

Scream – One More Time

Many, many years ago – back when I first started college, in fact – I did a little stalking of my fave horror movie, Scream. I guess you can say that I have been pretty much obsessed with that movie ever since it premiered back in 1996. At the time I was still living in Northern California, and I was absolutely floored when I found out that the entire movie was filmed on location in the towns of Santa Rosa and Healdsburg, just about an hours drive from my house. I absolutely could not believe that one of my favorite movies was shot in such close proximity to where I lived, so of course I dragged my mom and my aunt Lea, who lives in the area, right out to stalk it.

The first stop on our Scream stalking tour was the Healdsburg police station, which my mom had suggested might have some info on what areas of town were used in the shoot. I was quite the little stalker even then so I marched right in to make an inquiry and the officer on duty could not have been nicer. I was shocked when he told me that the station itself stood in for “Woodsboro” PD where Deputy Dewey worked in the movie! As he informed us, Scream used both the interior and exterior of the building, but shortly after filming was completed, the station was relocated to a new location. The former police station is now a grocery store/delicatessen called Oakville Grocery and sadly looks very different than it did in Scream. The detective then surprised us by offering to take us on a little mini-tour of some other Scream locations in town.

And he gave us some good news – while the Woodsboro police station no longer looks like it did in Scream, the alleyway where Sidney punches Gail Weathers towards the beginning of the movie is still there and is still very recognizable from the movie. 🙂

And, in fact, the officer told us that if you watch that scene closely you will notice a crowd of people standing just outside the alleyway (pictured above). The crowd was actually made up of residents of Healdsburg who had come out to watch the filming. Wes Craven decided to keep them in the shot, and simply set up barricades and police tape around them to make them look like gawkers hanging around the police station waiting to hear news about the killings of Casey Becker and her boyfriend.

The officer then showed us the Healdsburg town square, which was featured several times in the movie, most prominently in the scene where Sidney and her friends eat lunch after learning about the killings. The town square looks EXACTLY as it did during the filming and even the fountain the group sits on is still there. For some reason, though, the fountain is usually boarded up, but otherwise, it looks the same as it did in Scream.

Another little tidbit of trivia that the officer shared with us was that the scene where the street sweeper drives around the Woodsboro town square at dawn the morning after the murderer first tries to kill Sidney (pictured above) was actually not filmed in the morning, but at dusk. Apparently Wes Craven needed the shot and was not able to get it during the morning of his last day of filming, so he simply shot it at night. I always love hearing little bits of insider information like that! : )

I must say that it was very exciting for me to visit the Scream locations in person – especially since visiting them was one of my very first stalking adventures. The town of Healdsburg is an absolutely adorable place, with great restaurants, coffee shops, and boutiques. I highly recommend stalking it, even if you aren’t a Scream fan!

On a side note, my aunt told me this morning that Bradley Video, which was also featured in the movie Scream, just announced they are closing down. 🙁 How sad!

Note – the above photographs were taken during two different trips to Healdsburg, which is why I am wearing two different outfits. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Healdsburg town square is located on Healdsburg Avenue, between Plaza Street and Matheson Street. Oakville Grocery (the former police station) is located at 124 Matheson Street, kittycorner from the town square.

October 21, 2008September 29, 2017

Kansas City Barbeque Is Back In Business – Just In Time For Halloween!

This weekend, I took a little vacay down to San Diego with my family. Of course, while there I had to do some stalking of the Top Gun Bar, aka Kansas City Barbeque, which sadly has been closed since June 26th of this year due to a major fire. I was very curious to see what the restaurant looked like since the devastating fire took place and what progress, if any, had been made on the restoration of the property.

I was actually shocked to see that the restaurant actually looked pretty good! I was expecting complete devastation, but I am happy to report that, from the outside, the place looks pretty much the same as it did before the fire, despite a few scorch marks.

While we were outside taking photographs, one of the staff members walked over to talk with us. He really could not have been nicer and he even showed us some photographs and newspaper articles about the fire. And he gave us the good news that, while the restaurant probably won’t be open for regular business until mid-November, there will be a Halloween party held there on October 31st! Not only is that great news, but it also allowed me to tie KCBBQ in with my Halloween theme for this month! 🙂

He told us that the kitchen area, which is located towards the rear of the restaurant and which is where most of the fire damage occurred, has already been entirely rebuilt. The interior seating area suffered mostly just smoke damage, and sadly much of the Top Gun memorabilia was lost, including the juke box where Kelly McGillis plays “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” in the closing scene of the movie. 🙁 But thankfully Goose’s piano was salvaged, as were most of the candid photographs taken by KCBBQ staff during the filming.

The owners are asking for replacement memorabilia at this time. They are looking for anything having to do with Top Gun, the military, Kansas City, or flying in general. You can send any memorabilia you wish to donate to the address listed below. They ask that you sign and date everything you donate.

I am glad to report, too, that through the disaster KCBBQ kept its sense of humor – at one point they even added the letter “D” to the their logo out front so that it read “Kansas City Barbequed”. LOL I truly can’t wait for this San Diego (and Hollywood, for that matter) landmark to re-open. Until that time, if you happen to be in the area on Halloween, be sure to stop by KCBBQ. Tickets are $20 per person, but include all the alcohol you can drink.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Kansas City Barbeque is located at 610 W. Market Street in San Diego. The restaurant will hopefully re-open for regular business in mid-November. For more information you can visit their website.