SoCal Trip: SeaWorld San Diego

14 March 1985

There’s so much to see and do in San Diego, but our time was limited and we had to make a choice.  After much debate, we spent the last day of our vacation at SeaWorld.

The genesis of SeaWorld was nothing like what it turned out to be.  It started out as an idea for building an underwater restaurant and marine life show.  Before long, however, the four men who had come up with the idea realized it wasn’t feasible to move ahead with their plans.  Instead, they decided to build a theme park.  And so SeaWorld San Diego was born.  With over 400,000 visitors in the first year after it opened its doors in 1964, the park proved to be a big success.  So much so that immediate plans were made to open additional locations around the US.  (Click the map for a larger, interactive version on the SeaWorld website.)

We had a beautiful day to enjoy all that the park had to offer, including shows that, in later years, would be deemed “politically incorrect.”  On the one hand, I don’t like the idea of training captive animals to perform for audiences.  But if just one or two kids out of the many who see each performance come away with an appreciation for the need to conserve these animals, isn’t that a benefit to the overall marine ecology?  After all, not everyone has the wherewithal to see these animals in their natural habitat.  Something to think about.

Welcome to SeaWorld!

That's my friend Sir Winston Walrus on the right.

Dolphin Discovery

Caribbean flamingos are the most colorful of the six flamingo species.

Flamingos get their color from the algae and crustaceans they filter-feed.

Feeding time at the whale petting pool.

ARCO Penguin Exhibit

The Blue Penguin (aka Fairy Penguin) is the smallest species of penguin.

The Blue Penguin is found on the coastlines of southern Australia and New Zealand.

In 2007, we had the privilege of seeing King Penguins, the second largest of the species,
in the wild in the Falklands and on South Georgia Island.

When we took this picture of a picture at the exhibit, we had no idea we would
be privileged to see rafting penguins in Antarctica someday.

Shamu, the Killer Whale, is the most popular attraction at SeaWorld.

The Orca (aka Killer Whale) is a toothed whale that is a very fast swimmer and
an efficient predator that eats fish, squid, and marine mammals.

In 2010, we saw our first breaching Orca displaying this behavior  in the wild in Alaska.

Photo Op with Shamu, the SeaWorld mascot.

SoCal Trip: Los Angeles to San Diego

13 March 1985

This was our day to drive down Route 1 to San Diego.  We took our time and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.  The weather gods were on our side and we had a fantastic day with plenty of sunshine and blue skies on our way south from LA.

Nearing Oceanside, a road sign with the words Mission San Luis Rey caught our eye.  With spare time on our hands, we decided to make a short detour.  We were not disappointed.  With its white-washed walls gleaming under the brilliant afternoon sun, the mission lived up to its nickname, King of the Missions.  It was a scene right out of the westerns we used to watch as kids.

Here's some information I posted in my photo album at the time (again, no source information):

The Mission was founded in 1798 by Padre Lasuén.  It was named after King Louis of France (13th Century).

The mission system was one of the marvels of history.  While colonists in other parts of the world tried to expropriate and exterminate the natives, the Franciscan padres and Spaniards sought to save them.  Within a short time, the Indians progressed from a state of barbarism to a relatively high level of civilization.  Large sections of the countryside were brought under cultivation, and the Mission became the home of two to three thousand Indians.  As late as 1832, Padre Antonio Peyri was still in charge of this vast enterprise.

In 1834, a law of secularization was passed; and politicians took over.  Mission properties were put in the hands of the Indians, and almost immediately bought from them for a pittance by greedy colonials.  In the home of their own people, the Indians became outcasts.  They withdrew to the hills and secluded valleys where almost total extinction awaited them.

In the unsettled period that followed its seizure, the Mission was reduced to nothing more than a noble ruin.  In 1865, Abraham Lincoln restored the Mission to the church.  He signed the deed (the original of which is at San Luis Rey) less than a month before his assassination.  In 1892, and again in recent years, restoration on a large scale has been undertaken and the splendor of the past has returned to some degree.

For more information about the King of the Missions, click here to visit the website.

By the time we reached San Diego, we were too tired to do much more than peek around Old Town San Diego and make a quick stop at Shelter Island to check out the scenery.  When we caught sight of the Yokohama Friendship Bell, we couldn’t resist one quick photo op.

The bell stands 6-feet (1.8 m) high and weighs nearly 2½ tons. The words “Bell of Friendship” are inscribed on it in both English and Japanese.  As is the case with traditional Japanese bells, it has no clapper inside.  It is rung by being struck with a big wooden ram that is suspended horizontally from two v-shaped chains.  The bell house, open on four sides and surrounded by a moat, is typical of those found in Japan.

SoCal Trip: Grauman’s Chinese Theater

12 March 1985

After spending most of the day at Universal Studios, it seemed appropriate to wrap things up with a visit to Grauman’s Chinese Theater, located in Hollywood.  After all, the website says: “to visit Los Angeles and not see the Chinese is like visiting China and not seeing the Great Wall.”

Welcome to the “Chinese!”

Here’s a short bit of history from the theater’s website:

The grand opening of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on May 18, 1927, was the most spectacular theatre opening in motion picture history.  Thousands of people lined Hollywood Boulevard and a riot broke out as fans tried to catch a glimpse of the movie stars and other celebrities as they arrived for the opening.  The film being premiered that night was Cecil B. DeMille's “The King of Kings,” which was preceded by "Glories of the Scriptures," a live prologue devised by master showman Sid Grauman.  A Wurlitzer organ and 65-piece orchestra provided music for the prologue. The theatre opened to the public the following day, May 19, 1927.

(The picture on the right is from the theater’s website.  The caption reads: “April 30, 1927: Practicing for the very first footprint ceremony, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Sid Grauman (kneeling) later placed individual prints in two separate squares.”)

Jimmy Stewart — 1948

Humphrey Bogart — 1946

George Burns — 1979

Yul Brynner — 1956

Left: Dean Martin  — 1964; Right: Charlton Heston — 1962

When I was writing this post, I asked Mui why on earth he picked George Burns’ hands for his photo op.  His response, “Maybe because I aspired to live as long as he did.”  At the time, George Burns was 89.  When he died in 1996, he was 100 years old.  Looks like Mui picked a good one!

SoCal Trip: Universal Studios

12 March 2011

HOLLYWOOD is the historical center of movie studios and movie stars.  We had no interest in acquiring a map and searching out the homes of the stars, but we thought it might be fun to visit a studio lot — specifically, Universal Studios.

Here’s some information I posted in my photo album at the time … source unidentified:

The biggest and busiest movie studio in the world, Universal Studios is situated on more than 420 acres (170 hectares).  In March of 1915, film pioneer Carl Laemmle bought property in North Hollywood, and began to convert what had been a remote chicken ranch into a major film-making mecca.  The more than 15,000 people who attended the opening ceremonies had to hike seven miles (11 km) through the Cahuenga Pass to reach the site.

Laemmle was also the first to instigate the tours of the lots.  The first tour patrons hiked over Universal’s hills to an area known as Six Points, Texas, where they were allowed to cheer and hiss while actors and technicians filmed, at times, as many as six feature films simultaneously.  That was during the era of silent movies.  With the advent of sound into video, the Laemmle tours became impractical … silence on the set had become golden.  In 1964, the tours were begun once more, letting patrons view sets from behind the scenes, and attractions designed to illustrate movie-making technology.

Welcome to Universal!

The tour will take us to the backlot behind and below me.

Loaded into a tram, which was open on either side, we went exploring around the backlots of Universal.  Even though we had only one celebrity sighting, we enjoyed our day.

KITT, the talking car of Knight Rider fame.
(inset shows Edward Mulhare and David Hasselhoff with kitt.)

Ernest Borgnine on the set of Airwolf. 

Taking ET for a ride.

I'm probably one of the few people of our generation who hasn't seen Jaws.

Once inside Battlestar Galactica ...

… We experience a laser show and a close encounter with a cylon.

The parting of the Red Sea ... the mystery revealed.

Anywhere Europe!

Avalanche is all about special effects as the tram goes through the tunnel.

Watch out! We're about to be swept away.

Bomb Run — what looks like a big ocean in the movies is just a small pond on the set.

Me and my friends — Andy Panda and Woody Woodpecker.

Last, but not least, meet Universal’s newest starlet.  Her wide-ranging talent allows her to play roles such as Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind, and Red Sonja in Conan, the Barbarian!

Interestingly, according to a Wikipedia article I found on the Internet, of the six major film studios, 2009 statistics have Universal in last place with 9.2% of the movie market.