Month: August 2011

Speaking of procrastination, it’s about time I finish our last vacation post.

Day 5 of our vacation we were headed to a wedding in San Juan Capistrano, which was really what prompted the whole trip to Southern California in the first place. It didn’t start until 5:30, though, so we had most of the day to kill. We decided to head to Mission San Juan Capistrano, which was actually just about a block away from the wedding venue (and less than half a mile from our hotel).

Established in 1776, Mission San Juan Capistrano was the seventh of California’s 21 missions. Because the parish population grew so rapidly, a great stone church was built on the site around the turn of the century. An earthquake destroyed the church in 1812, and it was never rebuilt.

The mission’s four bells survived the earthquake. Two of the four hanging in the bell wall today are reproductions.

The mission also boasts the oldest building still in use in the State of California, the Serra Chapel, which also happens to be the only remaining church in which Fr. Junipero Serra actually celebrated mass.

Speaking of Fr. Serra, we can’t pass a statue of the guy without taking a fun picture emulating the statue on 280 (a.k.a. the Junipero Serra Freeway).

We did a lot of fun stuff on our vacation, but I really enjoyed the mission. I thought the grounds were beautiful. In other words, I wouldn’t mind if my yard looked like this.

There is also an edible garden. I’m not sure who maintains it, or who eats the produce, but it was a pretty good garden.

Amongst the edibles was a grape arbor with vines that looked quite a bit healthier than the ones we have here at home. Of course these are not the original vines, but Mission San Juan Capistrano was home to the first wine grapes planted in California. Not surprisingly, they grew the grapes and made sacramental wine from them so they would not have to import it from Europe.

I liked some of the shots I got of various insects among the flowers.

And of course, San Juan Capistrano is famous for the migration of the swallows. We did not actually see any, but we did see evidence of them.

So that’s it. Five days of vacation.

© 2011 The Beehive All Rights Reserved

Are you tired yet?  Because by Day 4, we were tired.  Nonetheless, we pressed on to Disneyland.

Digression:  We went to Disneyland, not California Adventure.  We ran into families at the wedding we went to on Day 5 and I asked the kids, “what was you favorite ride?”  and got a lot of “Tower of Terror!” and “World of Color!” and I was like “huh?”  Anyway, the point is, it’s really one park, even shares a parking lot, but they give it two names so they can charge you more for access to the whole thing.  I’ll remember that next time and get the park hopper pass.

Back to our day of fun.  A few days prior, when we got back from the Queen Mary, I checked Facebook and I saw that my friend Ashley had just arrived with her family at Disneyland.  Long story short, we ended up talking on the phone and planning to get together.

So we met Ashley, her husband Mason, their girls Ava, Norah, Keira, and Serena, Ashley’s brother Jared, and Jared’s daughter Isabelle in Tomorrowland shortly after we got to the park.  Sound like a big group?  It was actually two short, because Ashley’s parents were also with them and just hadn’t arrived at the park yet.  We got Fast Passes for Star Tours (more on that later) because they run out, well, fast,  and rode the Buzz Lightyear ride.  It’s funny, Ashley lives two blocks from my parents and I randomly run into her 400 miles from home.  It was a great surprise that they were at Disneyland at the same time, and a delightful visit.

Ashley’s family had a few days at the park and we were only there for one, so we went our separate ways.  We rode all the usual suspects: Indiana Jones Adventure, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Space Mountain, the Tea Cups, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, and so on.

Our first misadventure occurred on Splash Mountain.  We were actually nearing the end of the ride when the boats suddenly started to stack up.  We sat motionless for at least 15 minutes, with a loudspeaker periodically reminding us to stay seated and assuring us our experience would continue shortly.  It didn’t.  Finally, an attendant came out and helped us all out of the boats and led us through the ride to an exit, where we received front of the line passes for the ride of our choice before being released back into the park.

I don’t think I’ve ever been on a ride when it broke down before.  It was weird to walk through the ride, behind the animatronic characters, and see all the inner workings, and to see the sort of “back stage” area of the park where only employees go.  I took a few pictures, but I’m not going to post them because they really didn’t want us taking pictures and because I think it really does take some of the magic away.

Let’s return to our Star Tours Fast Passes, shall we?  Even though we got them at 9am, our return time was not until between 5:30 and 6:30 pm.  We spent the day doing other stuff and returned shortly after 5:30, only to find that the ride was closed.  Closed!  Apparently for the second time that day!  Needless to say, we were disappointed.  But it was nothing a Dolewhip float (me) and a funnel cake (Steve) couldn’t fix.

We re-visited some of our favorite rides, and eventually decided we were about ready to head out.  Steve suggested that we might stop by Star Tours, just in case it was up and running again.  I was skeptical, but agreed.  And sure enough when we got there they had just opened it!  They honored our Fast Passes and we were pretty near the front of the line, which grew very quickly behind us.

And now, here is the one and only picture from Disneyland that turned out:

That is Steve in front of a vehicle at the Indiana Jones ride.  He’s pretty convinced it’s one of the actual vehicles used in Raiders of the Lost Ark, pointing out that it has the same license plate and a number of other details are identical.  And of course there is no way Disney’s imagineers could possibly have recreated something from the movie, right?

Sorry, Steve.  I only poke fun at you because you are cute.

 

On the second day of our trip, we visited the R.M.S. Queen Mary in Long Beach. In addition to its significance as a luxury liner and a World War II troop carrier, the Queen Mary has particular significance for Steve because his dad traveled from England to the U.S. on the ship after living in England for several years as a boy.

When the ship was retired from service in 1967, the city of Long Beach purchased it and turned it into a tourist attraction, museum, hotel, and event facility (there’s even a wedding chapel).  The next highest bidder wanted to use it for scrap metal, so we are pretty lucky Long Beach won and we can still see it.  In addition to the general self-guided audio tour, the Queen Mary offers a guided Behind-the-Scenes Tour (focusing on the ship’s history and service as a passenger liner), a WWII Tour, and a Haunted Encounters Tour (which we were told is the most popular and happens to be the one we did not do).  As part of our ticket package, we also got to walk through a Cold War era Soviet submarine docked along side the Queen Mary.

We started with the Behind-the-Scenes Tour.  By far the best thing about it was our tour guide.  I can’t for the life of me remember his name, but he is featured on the Queen Mary website.  He looks like a ship’s captain there, but he’s really a tour guide. Probably the most animated tour guide you’ve ever seen in your life.  He didn’t just give us the tour, he performed it.  Every word was slowly and clearly enunciated with flair.  This was most evident in his explanation of the different classes of passengers.

You see, from the movie Titanic, most people think first class passengers are on the upper decks, second class passengers in the middle decks, and third class passengers below.  Not so on the Queen Mary.  Rather, the class section was determined by “smoooooooothness of the ride.  Smoooooooooothness of the ride.  Smoooooooothness of the ride . . .” and you get the idea.  I wish I could convey the gestures that went with it, sort of a slow horizontal movement with the hands.  Anyway, the smoothest ride was the center of the ship on all the decks from top to bottom.  Second class was toward the aft (they got engine vibration).  Third class got stuck with the bow because, in rough seas, it had a tendency to go “DOOOOOWWWN into the waves!  DOOOOWWWN into the waves!  DOOOOWWWN into the waves!”  Pretend your hand is a ship and plunge it DOOOOWWWN into the waves and you get the idea.

Speaking of the Titanic, which ship do you think is bigger, the Queen Mary or the Titanic?  Turns out Titanic was only a big movie, and the ship could fit inside the Queen Mary 1 1/2 times.

Ok, back to the tour.  The Behind-the-Scenes Tour was mostly through areas of the ship that are not open and on the self-guided tour.  Unfortunately, many of these spaces were dark and my flash was less than helpful, so the pictures were really bad.  I did get decent pictures of the first class suite we looked at.  I thought the living room was quite spacious, for being on a boat.

You might notice that there are four valves by the tub/shower in this next picture.  Apparently, at the time, people believed salt water baths provides great health benefits, so you had hot and cold fresh water, and hot and cold salt water.

The bedroom, also rather spacious, for being on a boat.

And finally, the HVAC, a.k.a. a fan.

One of the other visitors on the tour asked why the ship didn’t use a steam heat system, seeing as it is a steam ship.  Our guide didn’t miss a beat.  They couldn’t use steam heat because the ship was extensively decorated with woods from various parts of the British Empire.  This piece of inlaid wood artwork showcases more than 30 of the 50-some different species of wood used on the ship

This artwork is also a good example of the Art Deco style used throughout the ship.  Art Deco style flourished in the 30s and the WWII era, the heyday of the Queen Mary.  Art Deco is very ornamental, and part of the style’s success was in response to the forced austerity of WWII.  Its distinguishing characteristics include varied materials like aluminum, stainless steel, chrome, lacquer, and inlaid wood, and motifs like geometric curves, stepped patterns, chevrons, fountains, and sunbursts.

This area was kind of a mini-shopping mall when the ship was running, and it still is, just mostly with cheesy souvenir stuff.  You can see the step pattern and geometric curves in the ceiling detail.  Oh, and the cove lighting is pretty cool too.

I loved this mirror.  Look at the etched curves!

We ate lunch after the Behind-the-Scenes Tour.  I paid $6 for a little hot dog, a small non-refillable soda, and small bag of chips.  Doesn’t even come close to Costco’s buck-fifty dog and soda.  But look at the view we enjoyed while we ate!  You won’t find that at Costco.

After lunch we went on the WWII tour.  The threat of U-Boats made it too dangerous for the Queen Mary to continue to operate as a luxury liner between Britain and the U.S., but with a few modifications, it could effectively operate as a troop transport.  They removed all the luxury furnishings and added bunks, mounted some guns on the decks, and painted it Navy gray, which, in combination with its speed, earned it the moniker the “Grey Ghost.”  (“Grey” instead of “gray” because it’s a British ship.)

The Queen Mary carried up to 15,000 troops at a time, five times the number of passengers it could carry as a luxury liner.  As such, it did not have nearly enough lifeboats to accommodate all of them.  Luckily for the troops, it was never an issue, and the ship never fired its guns outside of training or morale-building exercises.

The look-outs manning the crow’s nest had it good.  Unlike most, this one was covered and heated.

At the other end of the ship, the sole remaining propeller, in a special viewing tank so guests can see it under the water. And yes, that’s a beer bottle floating there. Some people are so awesome.

I don’t have much to say about the Soviet submarine, the Scorpion.  I’ve been on the U.S.S. Pampanito in San Francisco and the U.S.S. Bowfin at Pearl Harbor (both WWII-era U.S. subs) and found both of those to be more interesting.

And that’s about it!  It took us a lot longer to see and do everything than I thought it would, and we didn’t even do the haunted ship tour.  A fun, tiring day.

© 2011 The Beehive All Rights Reserved

 

Last week we took a little road trip to southern California.  The catalyst for this trip was the wedding of one of Steve’s close family friends in San Juan Capistrano, and we decided to make a road trip out of it and do some other stuff as well.  Day 1 consisted mostly of driving, mostly.  But to break up the seven-ish hour drive from the San Francisco Bay area of the Los Angeles area, we made a stop roughly midway at Hearst Castle in San Simeon.

I am sure I have driven through San Simeon at some point of my life, but I guess I never noticed it through the car window since I didn’t stop.  It is pretty nice.  Steve and I both noticed right away that the ocean is actually blue!  As opposed to the stormy gray that we usually see in, say, San Francisco or Santa Cruz.  Anyway, George Hearst apparently thought it was pretty nice too, since he bought a nearly 50,000 acre ranch (which eventually grew to over 250,000 acres) in 1865.

Speaking of George Hearst, when he was described on our tour, he did not resemble the George Hearst portrayed by Gerald McRaney on Deadwood even remotely.  Now, I know Deadwood is fictionalized, but I don’t think they would have the guy chopping off fingers and ordering murders if he was the kind, giving humanitarian the good people at the castle suggest.  But I digress.

It wasn’t George Hearst that built the castle, it was his son, William Randolf.  Little Willie played on that land as a child, and in his 50s, after building his media empire, he built la cuesta encantada – the enchanted hill.  Hearst built the castle over a 28-year period with the help of architect Julia Morgan.  Morgan herself was something else.  She was the first woman to graduate with a degree in architecture from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and designed over 700 buildings in California throughout her career. Photo of Hearst and Morgan, below, from Wikipedia.

Our tour started with a bus ride up a long and winding road to the top of the hill on which the castle sits.  We got some amazing views of the ocean, the hills, and animals that are descendants of the ones that used to reside in Hearst’s private zoo.  I can’t remember exactly what kind of animals we saw, but we did not see zebras, which the place is famous for.

We met our guide at the top.  He led us to the main facade of la casa grande and laid out the ground rules, which were: (1) stay on the tour mats and (2) don’t touch anything.

Once we entered the house, our first stop was the Assembly Room, which is where Hearst and his guests would gather for cocktails before dinner.  It appears I did not take a picture of this room as a whole.  I’m sure you can find one online if you are interested.  My best description is lots of fancy paneling and mouldings, tapestries all over the walls, fancy furniture, statues, and really nowhere for the eye to rest.  In other words, busy.  What I did take a picture of was the antique church choir stalls used as paneling on the lower walls.

Next we headed to the Refectory, or dining room.  This I did get a picture of, though it’s a bit blurry because it was pretty dark in there.  The room is pretty Gothic-inspired.  You can see the tell-tale pointed arch windows at the top of the wall at the end of the room.  The chairs, though, are Dante chairs from the Renaissance period, evident in the interlocking X shape of the legs.

My favorite part of this room was a carved wood statue of the Madonna and Child because it demonstrates the “Gothic sway” that was common in depictions of Mary and Jesus during that period.  It’s the gentle s-curve created in her body by holding the child on her hip.

We pressed on to the Billiard Room.  This room contained the most expensive piece of art in Hearst’s collection, a tapestry previously owned by Catherine de Medici.  It reminded me immediately of a series of early Flemish renaissance tapestries called The Hunt of the Unicorn.  The foliage is extremely detailed, the figures are pretty flat looking, and the horizon line is very high in the background – it’s pre-Brunelleschi and linear perspective.  Turns out it is a Flemish tapestry circa 1500.  Score 1 for school.

You might also notice the suspended light fixture smack in the middle of the photo.  Our tour guide mentioned that Hearst gave specific instructions that all light fixtures were to display the beauty of the incandescent bulb.  I guess at the time it was a big deal to have your whole house lit with electric bulbs.

The next room was uninteresting, except for the guy who decided he didn’t want to stay on the tour mat.  And after several requests from the guide and the security guard in the room, he decided to step onto an antique rug instead of back on the mat, which set off an alarm.  Good times.

Our final stop was the theater, where we viewed some silent movies of Hearst and his guests at the castle.  This room featured caryatids, which are columns carved to look like women, up and down the room, and holding the room’s light fixtures (again, notice the exposed incandescent bulbs?).

Once we finished the tour proper, our guide released us to roam the expansive grounds.  The views are incredible and the pools are amazing.  Here we are at the outdoor Neptune Pool.

The structures are actually pieces of ancient Roman temples Hearst imported.  They weren’t hard to find because the Romans were prolific builders.  They had perfected the art of building with slow-drying concrete and veneering with marble (as opposed to the Greeks, who built with solid marble), so they saved lots of time and money that way.

Of course, Hearst needed an indoor pool as well: the Roman Pool.  It may be hard to appreciate in these photos, but the entire inside of the pool is made up of small mosaic tiles.  I cannot imagine the hours of work that must have gone into it.

Also, check out the ladders in and out of the pool.  They are solid marble.  Not the skimpy plastic and metal you and I are used to, huh?

Here’s was I didn’t like about the tour.  We took the Grand Rooms tour, which is the one recommended for first time visitors.  For your $25 entrance fee, you get to see a whopping five rooms.  That’s right, five.  Did I mention there are 136 rooms in the house?  So you get to see less than 4 percent of it.  For $25 more dollars, you can see four more rooms on the Upstairs Suites tour.  And for yet $25 more dollars you can see four more rooms on the Cottages and Kitchens tour.  And there is no discount for doing all the tours in one day even though you are only taking one bus ride to the top of the hill instead of three.  Contrast that with tours of another wild estate built by a crazy rich person, the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, which takes you through 110 of the 160 rooms on the basic mansion tour for $30.  Talk about a bigger bang for your buck.

Finally, W.R. Hearst’s mother was apparently the major benefactor of the University of California at Berkeley at the time, so our docent made a number of shameless digs at Stanford, which is seriously not cool.  If you got into Cal and Stanford, where would you go?  That’s what I thought.

© 2011 The Beehive All Rights Reserved