Photo Essay: The Neon Studio Working to Save the Bay Area's History, One Sign at a Time

As I mentioned before, I actually had a hard time booking my trip to the Bay Area a couple of weekends ago—whether out of a sense of responsibility, or guilt, or fear, I don't know. 

I couldn't really justify just taking a weekend away—God forbid I take a vacation—and the Doors Open California events I was interested in just didn't seem like enough. 

 

And then I stumbled across an event sponsored by the Neon Speaks Festival & Symposium, which was occurring that same weekend, and I thought, "OK, that clinches it."

Photo Essay: Riding a Steam Train Through the Redwoods at an Abandoned Army Camp

I struggled with whether or not I should travel up to the Bay Area last weekend, given my uncertain employment and my certain commitment to be writing a book. 

But I hadn't taken a trip since Memorial Day weekend, and my feet were getting itchy. 

Turns out, it was the perfect time to get away from Los Angeles—which was in the throes of a 110-degree heatwave—and embrace the cooler environs up north. 

One of the draws for my trip was the annual Doors Open California weekend, hosted by California Preservation Foundation. And one of the places the program was giving special access to was the Redwood Valley Railway in Tilden Regional Park, just east of Berkeley. 

Photo Essay: The Dutch Windmills That Helped Establish San Francisco's Golden Gate Park

In Southern California, the only windmills you'll usually see are the wind power-generating ones, like on the windmill farms of Palm Springs or Tehachapi. 

At least, that's been true since the last of the Van de Kamps coffee shops closed in the 1990s. (The last remaining windmill is now a Denny's in Arcadia.)

But in Northern California—specifically, San Francisco's Golden Gate Park—two windmills are alive and well, including the Northern Dutch Windmill built in 1902. 

Photo Essay: A Los Angeles Carousel Has Made San Francisco's Golden Gate Park Its Home for Over 80 Years

This is just so typically me. 

I go years (or decades) without visiting a place—and then as soon as I go back once, I end up going back a bunch of times. 

Because it's so easy for me to shift my attention elsewhere. But once something gets back into the front of my mind, I realize how much I've missed out on. 

Such is the case with San Francisco. 

I was just there in January, after having not really been there since 2006—save for a couple of hours two years ago—and ever since, I've been itching to go back. 

This time, California Preservation Foundation's Doors Open California program gave me the perfect excuse to return. 

But first, I had a lot of places to cross off my list. 

 

Take Golden Gate Park, for instance. It feels very much like San Francisco's version of Central Park in New York, with meandering paths and sprawling lawns and a few historic points of interest—including its own vintage carousel. 

R.I.P. Belle Boy, Heritage Square's Museum Cat

One of the great joys of visiting Heritage Square Museum in Montecito Heights, Los Angeles over the last few years has been its floofy orange museum cat.

His name was Belle Boy. And I just found out he passed away last September 28, 2023.

 

When I heard the news, I cried with heartbreak. But I was also grateful—glad that I'd gotten to spend a little time with him in May 2023 while producing a video for PBS SoCal's "SoCal Wanderer."

Photo Essay: The Ups and Downs (And Ins and Outs) of San Francisco's Historic Cable Car System

I remember riding at least one cable car during my San Francisco visit in 2006. 

It seemed like a novelty to me at the time—something I'd only seen in Rice-A-Roni TV commercials as a kid. 

 

 

I was less into trains back then than I am now—so I wanted to re-experience this mode of public transport upon my return visit to SF earlier this year. 

 

Trying to get around in the rain with a bum foot made the cable car a necessity this time around.

This time around, there was something else at the top of my list, too: the city's cable car museum, which I had no clue about until after I'd returned home to NYC from my SF trip, nearly 20 years ago.

 

Sure, I wanted to learn about the history of cable cars—but this is no ordinary historical museum. 

Photo Essay: Glimpses of Grace Cathedral's Art and Architectural Treasures

We had some time to kill while we were exploring San Francisco back in January. 

 

So, I asked my friend—who's not religious, but neither am I—if we could go to Grace Cathedral to take one of the tours they offered.

Photo Essay: Taking the CBS Out of Television City

CBS Television was a big part of my childhood—whether it was summer mornings spent playing along with The Price is Right or every afternoon joining my mother to watch the soaps. 

circa 2024

So, it always kind of astounds me that CBS Television City is just down the road from me, now that I live in Los Angeles. 

Photo Essay: The Camarillo White Horses and the Ranch They Once Called Home

The "ranch house" of Adolph Camarillo is really a Victorian mansion—built in the Queen Anne style by the architecture duo Herman Anlauf and Franklin ("F. P.") Ward in 1892.

 

I'd seen it once, at night, at Christmastime, back in 2018—but I knew I had to go back and see it in the broad daylight.

Photo Essay: Piru's Newhall Mansion is a 130-Year-Old Queen Anne Design in a 40-Year-Old Body

I first became intrigued with the Ventura County town of Piru because of its position in the path of the St. Francis Dam flood. (It's also home to a filming location from the music video to "Hot Legs" by Rod Stewart.) 

 

But then my interest was piqued even further when I found out there was a sprawling Queen Anne mansion in Piru—known simply as the "Piru Mansion," but also "Cook Mansion" and "Newhall Mansion."