Travels with Joe: The Ship Ashore Motel

Last year, while driving up route 101 near the Oregon border, I came across a ship sitting in the middle of a field.   My first thought was, wow, high tide is pretty bad around here, and I decided to drive towards higher ground.   Then I realized that this was the infamous Ship Ashore Motel and Resort, located in Smith River, California.

The ship was built in Germany in 1925 for a New York millionaire.   No expense was spared to make this yacht one of the most palatial type ever built.  It sailed around the globe, and many foreign dignitaries, including members of the royal family, accepted a ride on the "Caritas," the original name of the ship.
In 1941 the US Government bought the ship and retrofitted for use as a naval ship in World War two. It was stationed in Hawaii until 1946, when the ship was decommissioned.  She made the rounds of different harbors in the next few years, eventually becoming a floating restaurant, gift shop, museum and motel office in the waters off of Smith River.
In 1965, 12 tractors were hitched to the boat, and she was dragged a quarter mile to her current resting place along Route 101.   The trip took 10 hours, but she made it intact, and is now a prominent landmark in the area. 
Unfortunately, the boat was closed for repairs when I arrived, with no re-opening date announced.   Still , it was worth a quick stop for a picture.

Did I mention that this was the infamous Ship Ashore Motel?   As I looked up the ship's history, I discovered that the Ship Ashore motel was also the site of a mass shooting.   In March of 1975, Robert Sander killed seven people in cold blood for apparently no reason.  I had prepared this posting a few days ago, unaware of what was going to happen over this weekend in Colorado.  I considered pulling it, but decided to go ahead.   It's amazing how little changes.   My prayers go out to the people in Aurora....

Saturday Morning Cartoon: Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom

Here's a great Disney cartoon from 1953:   Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, directed by Ward Kimball and Charles Nichols.   At this time, UPA studios was the new Hollywood darling, creating cartoons with bold new graphic design.  This was in direct contrast to the realism Disney had spent years perfecting in their animation.  Disney decided to jump on the bandwagon and show they too could use the "new style" in their animation.  They also decided to film this cartoon in CinemaScope, making this the first animated cartoon released in the new format.  Hollywood took notice, and this film won the 1954 Academy Award for best animated film.  More recently, in 1994 it was chosen #29 in the Top 100 cartoons of all time.  You may want to hit the "Full Screen" button on the bottom right when watching this one, as it is presented in widescreen. Enjoy!

Saturday Morning Cartoon: Mickey's Service Station

Here's one of my favorite Mickey Mouse cartoons of all time:  Mickey's Service Station, released in February of 1935.   This was the next-to-last black and white Mickey cartoon, and the first one to feature Mickey, Donald and Goofy working together as a team.  This cartoon never slows down from start to finish, with numerous gags constantly coming at you throughout the film.   You really have to watch it twice to catch it all.   One of my favorite moments is when Mickey holds the door open for Pete and it comes off the hinge...  It's a quick, subtle gag that you may miss, beautifully animated.  Mickey cartoons were at their high point in the early 1930's, and this was one of the last great ones before Mickey began to lose the spotlight to Donald and Goofy.  Enjoy!




As an added bonus, here's some production artwork from the film, including a different ending that was not used...