Happy Easter!

Here's an odd little clip from the 1949 film, "My Dream is Yours," starring Doris Day and Jack Carson.   In this dream sequence, Doris and Jack dress up as Easter bunnies to sing a ditty based on the Hungarian Rhapsody #2.   Of course, they get help from another famous Warner Bros. star...

Saturday Morning Cartoon: Croissant de Triomphe

Yeah, I'm a little late with this one, but I think it's worth waiting for:  Croissant de Triomphe, a new Mickey Mouse cartoon from those fine folks at Disney.  Yesterday Bob Iger announced that this would be the first in a series of 19 new Mickey Mouse cartoons being made for the Disney Channel and Disney's website.  I think this first one is a great start...   it almost seems like a 1930's cartoon, but it also has a contemporary touch to it.  In addition, I like the characters all speaking French.  Click the link below the picture to watch the cartoon at the Disney website.  Aimer quelque chose!



Croissant de Triomphe on Disney Video

Blogging 101

For those of you who have been counting, my last post was my one hundredth post on this blog!   I will allow you a  moment to collect yourself, as I'm sure you are overwhelmed by sheer apathy.  But for me, this is a moment to reflect on the last 100 posts, and look back at what you, the readers, enjoyed most.   I assume that would be anything I stole from another blog, but we'll see.

Most bloggers judge their blog entries by the number of comments that a certain article generates.   Well,  my blog doesn't generate comments.   I don't even generate spam.   When your blog is so pathetic that even the spammers won't bother with it, well, that really says something.   On the bright side, I'm also not bothered by people wanting to advertise on my blog.   At least I won't be tempted to give a favorable review to a restaurant or product due to the offers of big money.   I have been offered money by some restaurants, but they offered me money NOT to write a review.   Snobs.

So, how can I possibly judge what people liked?   Well, fortunately Google tracks what articles have brought the most traffic to this blog.  so, in honor of my 100th entry, I am listing the top ten entries on my blog, listed by the number of hits.   Here they are:

1. Happy Birthday, Daffy Duck!                                      1194 hits
2. Restaurant Review #3:   The Bahooka                          314 hits
3. Magic Mountain Trip Review                                       222 hits
4. Restaurant Review #1: Chris 'n' Pitts                            149 hits
5. Recreating America Sings                                             118 hits
6. Restaurant Review #8:  Knott's Chicken Dinner             62 hits
7. Saturday Morning Cartoon:  Easter Yeggs                      61 hits
8. Saturday Morning Cartoon:  Porky Pig's Feat                 60 hits
9. Restaurant Review #4: Pie 'n' Burger                               55 hits
10. Fast Food restaurant Chains:  The Missing Links            38 hits

As you can see, my little tribute to Daffy Duck was the top-rated item on this blog by a wide margin.   I'm not sure what that means, but the fact that he beat out Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig cartoons (items 7 and 8) should give the defiled duck some bragging rights.  My original Bahooka review has recently jumped in the ratings, due to the recent announcement that the much-beloved restaurant is closing.  The rest of the items tell me I need to do more restaurant and amusement park reviews.  I have taken pictures at a few places and will post them soon.

Of course, I do want to take a moment to thank you, the readers, for popping in here every now and then and reading what I post.   And I'm sure I will one day.   But hey, this is my day.  Write 100 blog entries sometime and see if you don't get a little bitter.

Alaskan Cruise - Part Nein

In our last thrilling chapter, our heroes were left on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon.   Who knows what adventures await them as they make their return to Pomona, CA?   Let's tune in and see....

As I mentioned, our first stop the next day was Tillamook, to visit the Tillamook Cheese / Ice Cream factory.   (Warning!!!   Cheese puns ahead!)  Let me tell you, it was a Gouda thing we stopped.   I love a good factory tour, and this one was great.   At the end of the tour they had a line of cheese samples where you could help yourself, and I went back four times before I saw the sign reading "Please, only one visit to the sample bar."   I took that in stride and only went back three more times.   I was a regular Muenster!  Some of my favorite cheeses. such as the cheese curds, were only available there at the store, and were not available in Southern California.   This seemed pretty unfair - Cantal the cheeses be available everywhere?  Either way, it was a good place to Gruyere cheese cravings.   I Edam all until I was all feta up!   (okay, we're going out on a limb now...)   On the way out, I ran into Rick Moranis.  His handlers asked me if this was a good place to take Mr. Moranis, and I said, "Ricotta go right in."   I hope it wasn't out of his whey.

Anyone still reading?   Wow, that's remarkable.  Seriously, it was a great tour and the best part, beyond the cheese samples, was the fact that they had all the Tillamook ice cream flavors available for purchase.   I had blackberry and huckleberry....  yum.   Well worth the stop.

At that point, we began driving down the coast.   We were determined to visit as many tourist traps as we could find along the way, so the going was pretty slow.   Stop number one:   Sea Lion Caves, outside of Florence, Oregon.   This tourist stop has been in business since 1932, and despite the addition of an elevator in 1961, it hasn't changed too much in all those years.   In fact, one of the original familes still owns and runs the caves.  When we arrived is was very foggy and pretty late in the day, so I had my doubts that we'd see any sea lions.   The clerk in the gift shop, however, was very nice and promised us a full refund if we were unable to see any sea lions.   Well, with an offer like that, how could I refuse?   I put a blindfold over my eyes, paid the admission and down we went into the caves.  

Sea Lion Caves in the 1930's.  

Sea Lion Caves today.   As you can tell, the changes are minimal...

As it turned out, the fog lifted, I lost my blindfold and we did indeed see some sea lions on the beach below.   However, there were no lions in the main attraction, the caves themselves.   It was explained that the sea lions seek the refuge of the caves in the winter months, when the ocean is cold and stormy.  They stay through early spring, when the babies are born and raised, then head out of the cave at summer.   Below are some pictures I pulled from the internet of the caves when the sea lions have taken up occupancy.

We made it  to Florence and decided to spend the night there.   Three factors made us decide to spend the night in Florence:

1. They had a Kozy Kitchen there, which is one of my favorite small chains of diners,
2. There was a big scary bridge at the end of town that I didn't want to cross in the dark, and
3. BJ's Ice Cream.   Florence is the home of BJ's ice cream.   They had 48 different flavors to choose from, and even more flavors in salt-water taffy.  Despite the fact that I had just eaten a big meal at Kozy Kitchen, we made a stop at BJ's and tried a few different flavors.   The ice cream did not top the ice cream at Handels or Fosselmans (reviewed HERE) but it was still great ice cream and well worth a stop.

 

We stayed at a hotel with no air conditioning.   They said that no one needs air conditioning by the ocean.   They were wrong.   After an uncomfortable night of sleep, we began our journey anew.   NEXT:   We journey back in time and face off with prehistoric creatures!   Really!   You won't want to miss the next thrilling chapter in our drive down the west coast!   I cheddar to think about it!

Saturday Morning Cartoon: What's Cooking, Doc?

In honor of the 85th annual Academy Awards, I present What's Cooking Doc?, a 1944 Bugs Bunny cartoon directed by Robert Clampett.   No need to say anything else; you'll get the reference soon enough.   Enjoy!

Bye, Bye Bahooka...

 



What rotten news.   I just heard from my brother that one of my favorite restaurants, The Bahooka, is closing next month.   I reviewed the restaurant HERE, and if you have never been, I urge you to pay a visit now before this original, one of a kind tiki restaurant goes the way of dial phones and fiscal conservatism.    



I've been expecting it for a while...  the last few times I visited, it was fairly empty and half the restaurant was "dark."   I liked it that way; it was like having your very own Polynesian hideaway.  No other people around to take away the atmosphere... just the Hawaiian music, the colorful strings of lights, and the hum of the many fish tanks that dominated the available wall space.  Every time I went I noticed something new and exciting.   I had hoped that one day I would hold an event in their funky banquet room (which was also adorned with fishtanks), but it looks like that won't be happening. 

 

The waiting area.   Here I watched fish building little hills by putting rocks in their mouth on one side of the tank, then depositing them on top of an ever-increasing pile on the other side.   I could've watched for hours.

The cashier station.   If you wanted a good table you could slip them a fin (Fish joke #32) 

The interior.

This is the table I got.   I guess a fin wasn't quite enough of a tip.

The banquet room.   As you can see, this wasn't exactly your Elk's Club rental hall.

I'll be sure to stop by for one last meal, and report back on the visit.   Be sure to make your own memory while you have the chance...



Travels with Joe: The NEON Museum

Last week I took a quick trip to Las Vegas and took time out to visit the Neon Museum and Boneyard.  To say that I found it delightful would not only be accurate, but it would be a really bad pun.   The Neon Museum is a relatively new attraction in Sin City.   Tours of the Boneyard have been available for years, but they were by appointment only.   Only the insiders knew about the tours.  The museum finally was able to get a visitor's center up and going and now offer official tours every day.
The main exhibits are actually found all over Vegas, particularly in the old Downtown area.   There, you can find several refurbished signs, lit up every night (as many of the Fremont Street residents are).  Here are a few examples I borrowed from Yelp:

However, the boneyard tour has very few operating signs.   Here, they store the remnants of Vegas's past, including signs waiting for a chance to be revived.  Several older signs are beyond repair, such as the one for the Desert Rose.   However, the recently demolished Stardust sign is here, in eight pieces, awaiting the funds to be rescued.  Here are a few pictures I took with my cell-phone...  I forgot to take my camera!

Here's the entrance to the Boneyard.   Nice touch, for a Neon Boneyard to have a neon sign...

The Moulin Rouge was the first racially integrated casino / hotel in Vegas.   It opened in 1955.   Big name entertainers like Sammy Davis could entertain in the Strip hotels, but were not allowed to stay there.  Most ended up at the Moulin Rouge.   Despite its popularity, it was only open for 5 months, closing due to mismanagement.  However, it made its mark on Vegas - the agreement to desegregate all Vegas casinos was signed at the Moulin Rouge.

The Sassy Sally's sign.   To its left, barely visible, is a small blue sign that used to stand at a gas station along the Strip.  It proclaimed, "Free aspirin and tender sympathy."  In the years the sign was up the station gave away thousands f aspirin tablets.  It used to be one of my favorite Vegas landmarks - nice to see it was saved!

 

Here is the original sign in its heyday.   As you can see, they also gave away Green Chip Stamps.  Should we get a rowboat or a sewing machine with our stamps?  Maybe one of you will get that reference.   Probably my brother Robbi.



The Tropicana's old sign, with the Silver Slipper in the back.

Ah, the Stardust.   The Stardust's neon sign was once the largest neon sign ever built. 

This giant pirate skull was once part of the Treasure Island sign.   Once Treasure Island decided to de-emphasize the pirate theme, these came down.   Our tour guide told us to look up the Neon Museum on Google Earth when we got home.   She said you would see piles of junk and a giant pirate head staring back at you..  Naturally, I did and saved the image below.  She was right! 

Avast, me hearties!   Welcome to ye boneyard!

The Sahara's sign, still in great condition.  In 1964, the Beatles played the Sahara and stayed in the hotel.

Boneyard...   the Final Frontier...  

I'll end with this picture of the Silver Slipper, and this great story:   The Silver Slipper casino was located across the street from the Desert Inn, where Howard Hughes had taken up residency.  This giant slipper lit up and rotated on top of the Silver Slipper's sign, and Howard watched it from his window every night.   Eventually, he became convinced that the shoe contained a camera and was monitoring his every move.   So, Howard sent one of his minions across the street to kindly ask the owners of the Slipper to remove the shoe from their sign.   When they refused, Howard immediately bought the casino and took it down himself.