A walk down Broadway

I'm a person who is fascinated by history and the story of what came before us,
What something was in it's glory day's and the tale of it's demise or in the odd case it's restoration
Downtown Los Angeles for many years had slowly descended into one very large decaying and decrepit city with pockets of places that were kept up for the Art culture and the downtown elites. Other than that the city of angels wore a rather tattered gown
In recent years the downtown area has seen a great resurgence in development and restoration and I for one have been happy to see this happen.
For instance the old Banking District is now the Art District and there is a wonderful Art Walk that happens there the second Thursday of every month, something I would strongly suggest any native Angeleno, resident or tourist attend.
Downtown Art Walk
Another area that has seen some progress in re-development is on the street Broadway,
This grand avenue was once the most glamorous place in the world and it was the center of the golden age of Hollywood, the many stupendous movie palaces that lined Broadway were the launching pads of the greatest movies of that era.
The movie premiers were attend by the brightest stars of the time and were seen on newsreels around the world, the glamor of Hollywood and the city of Los Angeles never shined brighter.

The day before the 4th was like a holiday here and it seemed many people were off work the day before our national independence day holiday.
I decided to take my camera and go downtown for a walk and hopefully some good photo opportunities. There still is a dark grittiness to many parts of downtown along with the new lofts and condos that have been built.
Some of these are in new buildings and some are in the beautiful old vintage buildings that still stand.
Walking down Broadway you will encounter all of the above along with the various forms of humanity that live, work or visit downtown LA

Traveling south on the 101 freeway I got off at Silverlake Blvd. and the first thing you see as you wait for the light to change is the old Western Exterminator sign


As I headed down Beverly towards downtown, what you notice as you drive along the street is the blending of ethnicity's in the various neighborhoods you pass. They invariably will be predominately one ethnic group and then you start to see the lines blur so for instance in this photo you have a Mexican market with Koren signs on the side of the building

It's all part of the continuing melting pot of humanity here in LA

As I parked on Broadway I had an idea of the sort of things I wanted to take pictures of and that primarily was the old Movie palaces that line this street.
These former shrines of Hollywood's glory days are for the most part in bad shape and sadly many are simply gone, only a few retain their former brilliance
The first movie palace I happened to walk by was the Roxie Theater

The Roxie was built in 1932—the last of the movie palaces built on Broadway and had a seating capacity of 1,600 when it opened and was noted for its Art Deco or Zigzag Moderne style, including its stepped roofline and angular grillwork

There are all kinds of run down retail stores selling crap you probably wouldn't want mixed with the new ventures that someone has opened mixed with the remaining movie palaces, it's an odd juxtaposition of things on Broadway

And you see the working poor, the homeless the have's and the have not's
it's all there..... even some wack nut wearing a bunny costume muttering some kind of nonsense only he and his imaginary friend can understand


One of the great theater's to see a resurgence is the Palace theater

Built in 1911 as part of the Orpheum vaudeville chain (Houdini, W.C. Fields and the Marx Brothers played there), it is now the oldest remaining Orpheum Theater in the United States built in a replica of a Renaissance Florentine palace It seats 1,167
recently they have been trying to book concerts and other live performances, and the new owner plans to spend millions on a major renovation over the next few years



The State Theater was built in 1921 by MGM and it it offered 2,450 seats, making it the largest of all the Broadway theaters, The interior is a mix of medieval, classical, and Spanish design. It was unfortunately converted into a church. and as such, it is now off-limits to the Saturday morning Conservancy tours they have for the downtown Broadway movie palaces


The Tower Theater opened in 1927, constructed in a long and narrow fashion to accommodate its unusual real estate parcel, the Tower Theater's innovative design and exterior is now scarred by street vendors. Its famous tower has been shortened and its marquee has been modernized over the years. But it still is one of the wonderful movie theaters still intact in downtown Los Angeles


Opened in 1917 by J.M. Quinn, Sid Grauman took it over in 1919 and gave it a remodel using William Woollett as the architect and for awhile it was known as Grauman's Rialto.
For many years this theater's lobby was used for a retail store and that was finally closed in 1988, so here it sits....there have been a few proposals in the last few years to renovate and make it into a restaurant/bar/live music venue.

Beside the architecture on Broadway there is always the unique street art here and there if you look for it
Like this dark menacing face peering down from above

Or Nosferatu with some added graffiti

And you can still see quite a bit of old signage still lingering on the sides of the old buildings


The next theater I came to was the United Artists Theater

The downtown United Artists Theater was opened in 1927 by its founders Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford; who needed the massive Spanish Gothic style movie palace as a venue for world premieres of their movies, it featured a domed, mirrored ceiling, and offered 2,141 seats. Its walls still have murals of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks in historic poses. It has been wonderfully restored, but is now used as a church, the good news is this is one of the theaters you can visit on the conservancy tour



Up the street from the United Artists theater is one of the greatest examples of Art Deco architecture ever built and that is the Eastern Building

Here is the grand Art Deco entryway for the Eastern Building on Broadway, this amazing building opened in 1930 and is considered by many to be the most beautiful of Los Angeles' historic buildings, as well as one of the finest surviving example's of Art Deco architecture in the world

And the lobby


Across from the Eastern Building is another Jewell in the crown of movie palaces
And that is the Orpheum Theater


Built in 1926, the Orpheum Theater is another Broadway theater that has been wonderfully preserved - from its crystal chandeliers to its grand staircase, right down to its mammoth, original Wurlitzer pipe organ (which is still played, on occasion). Open over 70 years now, the Orpheum is still a spectacularly beautiful theater. Its ornate, gilded ceilings soar nearly five stories above its 2,190 seats. Its lavish Paris Opera architecture features large balconies, opera boxes, even a marble lobby which is decorated with fine sculpture, gold/copper leaf, and 20-foot-high crystal chandeliers. In 2001, the Orpheum reopened after a $3 million make-over, including the addition of air conditioning, a new orchestra pit, refurbished dressing rooms, and the theaters re-lighting of the rooftop neon sign (which hasn't worked since WW2)

Here is the beautifully restored and maintained marquee

And if you happen to be downtown and in need of a cool libation the very trendy Broadway Bar is right next door


Another LA landmark is Cliftons Cafeteria at 7th and broadway
Opened In 1935 this redwood forest themed restaurant has served millions of customers, unfortunately for me it was closed for the Holiday Weekend
so all I got was this tasty neon sign in the window


Now feeling a pang of hunger after passing Clifton's I ducked into this joint for a quick snack


Moving onward after my repast I came across the Globe Theater

Opened in 1913 this theater was conceived not as a vaudeville house or nickelodeon, but as a elegant dramatic play house, In 1987, concrete was used to level the floor from the lobby to the stage, so that a permanent indoor swap meet could supplant what had once been the first serious playhouse in Los Angeles....... now the theater is used as a downtown nightclub

And last but not certainly the least is the granddaddy of all the movie palaces
The Los Angeles

Built in 1931 in the French baroque style of Louis XIV, it was a virtual Hollywood cathedral. Famous for its huge crystal fountain in the lobby, the Los Angeles Theater was considered at the time one of the four or five finest movie palaces in the world.

Well I had now arrived at 4th and Broadway and I decided to check out one of my favorite little places downtown and that is The Museum of Neon Art, it's a rather small museum but they do have a great collection of vintage signs and are always restoring and finding new pieces. MONA

They were having a poetry reading and Jazz concert that evening and Kim the gal that runs the museum was kind enough to let me take a few pictures












Walking past the Hotel Barclay I headed back to my truck


As I started to make my way homeward I stopped briefly by one of the new Los Angeles landmarks the Walt Disney concert Hall

Designed by architect Frank Gehry, the Walt Disney Concert Hall is the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and it's a pretty cool building to see day or night

I reflected on my evenings adventure, seeing the old and the new with the changing Los Angeles identity.
I hoped that the usual destruction of our LA landmarks will not be the norm as it's been now for many decades, but that a renewed appreciation of our rich history will be left standing for other generations to appreciate.

Too many times all we are left with is a photo of what was and will never be again



~M

Run to Kernville

One of my best friends Pat Bianchi (who I usually do most of my long riding trips with) has opted out of his Harley and has been riding a BMW GS lately, he also recently picked up an very nice old vintage 1971 R50 and joined a local BMW club.
Pat mentioned they were doing a run to Kernville and asked if I'd like to ride with him and the group.......Organized rides are something I pretty much never do as a rule but I said what the hell and took a chance.
Pat spent the night at my place and we got up early the next morning, not too worse for the wear after some great Sushi and wading pretty deep in the Sake river the night before.
We had to ride to the city of La Cañada which sits at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.
This was where the BMW club riders would be meeting for breakfast and start the ride from.
We arrived at the designated restaurant and met all the guys and a few gals who would be riding on the trip, everyone was quite nice and friendly and in a great mood to have an adventure

After a brief breakfast for most, (mine is always coffee, vitamins & Ibuprofen) we all met out in the parking lot for a general orientation and the riding etiquette for the riders on the trip to Kernville

The great thing about this ride and the the guys that put it together is that they map out a way to get to a destination with virtually not ever going on a major highway...... pretty much back roads all the way......and that my friends is the shear joy of motorcycling!
We first took a route going through the Angles Crest highway

Always a real nice ride through the local LA mountains

We continued onward and rode through the lower desert of Leona Valley and Lake Elizabeth



The first gas stop was after 105 miles of canyon and mountain riding and it was shaping up to be really beautiful weather for the ride, I'm sure everyone including myself was having a really wonderful time doing what we all love to do.......It's these kind of days that make you love motorcycling.....

Here we had to wait for a freight train to pass before gassing up, just another form of working traveler I suppose that criss-crosses the countryside

The first town we passed through was the city of Tehachapi, it's a city that was incorporated in 1909 and is located in its namesake the Tehachapi Mountains between the cities of Bakersfield and Mojave in Kern County California.
The area is known for its Tehachapi train Loop, Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm, and it's proximity to Edwards Air Force Base where the Space Shuttle lands

As we rode into town and the old section of Techachpi I saw quite a few things that caught my eye, and being the shutter bug that I am I spied a cool old gas station sign that I had to take a photo of, so I made a u turn and pulled off the road for a minute to take a photo of it


I was thinking I could easily find the group again with some speed on my part to make up for lost time and of course I promptly lost everyone, fortunately knowing the things I do when I ride Pat pulled off and waited for me to go by (and I did taking the wrong road) Pat caught up with me and turned me around and he certainly was a good bro to do that

Neither one of us had the route map, and not knowing the exact route the group was taking we stopped and looked at a California map that Pat had brought with him.
We assessed our options and the roads available and decided to ride ahead and find a point where we could run into everyone again,

We ended up at a little road house stop along highway 58 called Keen

And as luck would have it we didn't have long to wait as everyone suddenly appeared coming down the Tehachapi Loop road and passed us as they were headed onto the 58 Highway, a few of the riders waved at us as we fired up our bikes and fell right back in line with the group for the rest of our journey

Heading back up into the mountains we rode through the Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm on the Willow Springs Road

Something about seeing all these windmills producing clean energy is a rather calming feeling for me, it seemed like there were hundreds maybe a few thousand of them rotating from the wind in that area
The Southern California Edison company who has built and operated the wind farm sense the 1980's plans on developing another fifty square miles of wind farm power for the future


One thing Pat learned about his BMW R50 was that it's not exactly fast going up mountains, and he was ringing that BMW's neck for all it was worth to keep up.....lol
I think the next time out he'll ride the GS, because that boy has the need for speed

I took a photo of him here as I easily passed him by


Riding onward through the lower desert and the Antelope Valley we encountered the California Poppy fields and state park preserve, the group made a quick pit stop at the park for a look around and a rest stop for any of the riders

This time of year the hills and mountains of California are lush and green, and the desert flowers are in full bloom..... this is always a pleasure to see whether it's the Antelope Valley poppy fields or the many blooms one will find in Joshua Tree in the Springtime

Here are the beautiful California Poppy's........our State flower

As we made our way deeper into Kern County we came into an area where the cattle run free....basically what they call "Free Range"
So every now and then as you would come around a corner the cattle would be right there, we had to be really careful of the animals.......it's never a good thing if they get spooked and start stampeding

lol I passed a few feet from this fellow....nice and slow like


A little further along we saw some wranglers that were herding a group of cattle, so we all waited for the cowboys to round them up off the road and put them in a large coral



It was getting close to lunchtime and being the non breakfast eater that I am I was getting rather famished(I'd been telling my tummy to piss off but it still grumbled back at me)
As we rode along the Caliente Creek road we stopped at this old red school house that was built in the 1930's
The old school building seemed like the only public place in Twin Oaks.......this town if you could even call it that was really small and very rural


The old Twin Oaks school house had been converted to a general store and restaurant,
Inside they still had the original school chalkboards on the walls, the place had kind of a old homey western feel to it
As pat and I sat at the counter I noticed the 4x3 kitchen was manned by one cook already slaving away for the customers that were there before we arrived
I looked behind me at the other twenty people who just sat down at various tables and said to Pat lets make it simple and order now,
Lucky for us and the hole in my tummy that needed filling because the rest of the group waited an hour for their food to be served

We finally left Twin Oaks and headed on towards Bodfish


Evey now and then I would catch something interesting to take a photo of on the fly


The Caliente-Bodfish Road is a wonderful road, everywhere you look there are large California Oak Trees and a lot of Spring flowers, this road takes you all the way up the mountain and as you come over the crest you can see Lake Isabella and the valley below


As we made our way through Bodfish and Lake Isabella I spied a few things I wanted to come back and take pictures of later (I learned my lesson from stopping before)
Riding into the town of Kernville we crossed over the Kern river (known for it's great white water rafting) and found our motel for the night a place called the "Kern Lodge" it's a nice motel to stay if you ever find yourself in Kernville and it's right next door to a great micro-brewery and restaurant



As everyone was settling in Pat and I decided to hit the road again,
I wanted to check out some things that I had seen and take some pictures
Of course anyone of you that know me or read my blogs know that I like checking out old graveyards and I found this one right next to and overlooking the Kern river

Here is a old headstone from 1871



The other thing I love to shoot are old motel and neon signs
These cool old vintage signs were found in Lake Isabella, the abandoned and empty motels were a far cry from their best days, now just weathered signs from days gone by..........stark reminders announcing what used to be.





I liked the sign for this juke joint


Moving on Pat and I rode into the little town of Bodfish, I had seen this place called Silver City.
Silver City is an old western town movie set that now has several antique stores full of antiques and collectibles
Well by the time we got there the owner had just locked the place up but he was nice and said go ahead and take pictures of the place if I wanted to....so I did







From there we rode back to Kernville passing Lake Isabella and the Kern River




Arriving back at the motel we got cleaned up and had a relaxing time on the porch hoisting a few beers with some of the guys as the sun set in the west
Seemed like a nice finish to the day's ride


Pat and I got up the following morning while most of the club riders were at breakfast.
we both decided to go back home the same way we came so I could take some time for my photography.
Saying our goodbyes to the guys having breakfast in Kernville we headed out on a beautiful Sunday morning

Here we are on the Bodfish-Caliente road, taking in the beauty of the landscapes as we rolled by



Here's Pat next to the old Havilah courthouse built in 1866


Riding onward through the oak woodlands and the grazing cattle




As we left the mountains we set our sights on Tehachapi


The Tehachapi Loop is a .73 miles (1.17 km) long 'spiral', or helix, on the railroad main line through Tehachapi Pass, in south central California. The loop derives its name from the circuitous route it takes, in which the track passes over itself, a design which lessens the angle of the grade. A train more than 4,000 feet (1.2 km) long (about 85 boxcars) will thus pass over itself going around the loop.


We missed the Tehachapi loop part of the ride the day before,
and as Pat and I rode up we both watched the train pass over itself.

This loop is considered one of the seven wonders of the train world, Hailed as one of the greatest engineering feats of its day (ca. 1876) and it is a truly amazing site to see

Arriving back in downtown Tehachapi Pat and I decided to have lunch at Kelcy's

Kelcy's restaurant has been in existence under a few different owners sense 1933 and the walls are adorned with photos and memorabilia of the history it has seen since it opened, and the food is excellent!
So if your ever in downtown Tehachapi check it out....oh and the sign is really cool too ;-)



After lunch Pat walked over to the park for a cat nap while I cruised around town for some photo opportunities







Years ago The area in and around the city is also known for its apple orchards, though these have decreased in recent decades, here is the old Apple Orchard warehouse train depot




And if you have a sweet tooth that needs attention,
the Apple Shed right next door has a real nice homey ambience and superb baked pies




Well it was time to hit the road again and finish off our day riding back through the poppy fields and Antelope Valley






The outer reaches of the American southwest are the Southern California deserts with their vast places of inherent beauty and intrigue

As a native Californian it's a place that holds a dear place in my heart,
And I think if any of you spent some time there it might hold some good memories for you also


Happy Trails.....


~M