Into the 90s

     At first, there wasn’t too much of a difference between 1989 and 1990. Nevertheless, I do want to clear up a few things: I did go to more places than I mentioned in my essays from the 1980s and for the essays from the 1990s. The places I didn’t mention usually didn’t get published in any professional publications, but they did end up in fan publications. That’s understandable because I am competing with the regular staff of different magazines and newspapers, and those employees of these same publications most likely went to those places themselves. Anyway, I will also mention that since the early 1980s and into the 1990s, I took what I called my S.O.P. (Standard Operating Procedure) trips to a few different places each year: 1) daytrips within New Jersey for the day, a few times a year sightseeing. I also visited 2) Philadelphia for the day for a few times a year to go sightseeing, to the theater, and to see some films. In my favorite city, 3) New York City, I spent a few times a year from a daytrip to staying a night, or two, or three for sightseeing, the theater—Broadway, Off Broadway, and Off-Off Broadway, and the cinema. Then, I took mini trips to 4) Washington, DC, from one night to four nights for sightseeing. I have to admit that I feel spoiled because of living close to those cities and their wealth of attractions and culture. Therefore, when I travel elsewhere, I usually ask myself, “What is at ____ that I can’t find in my own area?”

     As for going to science fiction conventions (SF cons), 1990 was the first year I ever attended 1) Balticon, the Baltimore-area SF con, at Hunt Valley Inn, Hunt Valley, Maryland. Back then, the Baltimore SF Society held the con on Easter weekend for three days, and so far, this was the best SF con I ever attended. I never saw a SF con with so many tracks of programming: reading SF, writing, art, and science—especially space exploration, costuming--and a very impressive masquerade, etc. Because this has been a regular SF con, as opposed to a media-SF con, the guests of honor (GOH) were SF writers and artists. Whereas at a media-SF con, the GOHs were actors from SF TV shows and films. For the rest of the 1990s, off-and-on, I would say to my friends, “If it’s Easter, it must be Balticon.” My next con, 2) Phorolic Con, in Mt. Laurel, NJ, in July, was much more quiet with one room for programming, a small dealers’ room, a small art show room, and the con suite. I did have the chance to socialize more with other SF fans at this con as I seldom did at cons like Balticon or Philcon. Speaking of 3) Philcon, they, too, had different tracks of programming. While they didn’t have as many programming tracks as Balticon, it still made for an interesting three days at the Adams Mark Hotel on City Live Ave., on the Philly side of the street.

     My main trip for 1990 was to San Francisco for four days. I stayed for four nights at a hotel a few blocks away from Union Square, and I ate breakfast at either a luncheonette a few blocks away from the hotel on Sutter Street that offered the same breakfast as the hotel for a lot less, or I ate at Sears Fine Food. This place had nothing to do with Sears Department stores. Sears Fine Food opened in 1938 near Union Square, and they have been famous for their 18 small Swedish pancakes and other breakfast and lunch items.
     As for sightseeing, I spent each day in a different area of the city starting with Fisherman’s Wharf. I rode the cable car to this area from Market Street to the Mason Street stop, a few blocks from the waterfront. Once at Pier 39, I saw a film with special effects that covered the history of San Francisco. Later, I walked along the waterfront where I especially noticed the pier that held sea lions, and the distant Golden Gate Bridge. Because the prices for seafood were very expensive—double digit prices for most seafood appetizers—I went to a street that was parallel to the waterfront and to a pizzeria where my husband and I ate a large pizza for the same price as we would have paid for two seafood appetizers. Most of the area, however, was very commercial with different shops and restaurants. I did manage to go to the beach and get my hands into San Francisco Bay. It wasn’t the Pacific Ocean, but the bay does lead into the ocean. We also walked around North Beach and went to the top of Coit Tower. The interior at the bottom of the tower showed Depression Era (1930s) murals of people doing everyday things, and the top offered a bird’s eye view of the city. Then we took the crowded cable car from the waterfront back to Market Street.
     The second day, we roamed around Chinatown, at that time, the largest Chinese community outside of China. Compared to the Chinatowns in Philly and NYC, this Chinatown seemed more spread out and not as tightly packed along the streets, especially the main street, Grant Street. I ate at a restaurant where I noticed that many of the patrons looked Chinese, browsed at the shops, and saw a mid-sized Chinese art gallery in a modern hotel that displayed art from ancient times to the 20th century in sculptures and pictures.
     For the third day, I took a tram or trolley car to Golden Gate Park. Along the way, I saw some lovely pastel-colored, Victorian-gingerbread houses trimmed in gilding. Once in the park, I visited the De Young Museum of Art, San Francisco’s main art museum. Like other major art museums, this place held art from different eras and nations in fine arts—paintings, drawings, photos, and sculptures as well as decorative arts: furniture, items, and some period rooms. Nobody could see it all in a day. I remember looking at different glassware, and as I noticed some glass pieces from NJ, I pointed them out to my husband. With that, a woman introduced herself as a curator for that glass and told me about her visiting NJ to obtain those glassware items.
     Finally, on the last day, we went to Golden Gate Park again, but this time to visit the Asian Art Museum, located near the De Young Museum. (Nowadays, the staff relocated this museum closer to the Civic Center, downtown.) Therefore, I looked at plenty of fine and decorative art from many areas of Asia and from different eras. I remember a special exhibit devoted to ivory, and I listened to a lecture and saw a slide show about the ivory trade and of how it should be outdated. (Poachers are murdering many elephants for their tusks, and the means to make artificial ivory requires using materials from petroleum.) On the way back to Market Street, we stopped at what was then the San Francisco Shopping Center on Market Street near Powell Street (nowadays, the Westfield Shopping Center). While the shops looked like any upscale shopping mall, what made this place unique were the spiral escalators! Overall, I enjoyed San Francisco, and vowed to return someday.

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1991:

     I attended the usual SF cons: 1) Balticon, 2) Phorolic Con, and 3) Philcon, but my main trip was closer to home: The Hudson Valley of New York. I spent a few nights at different hotels and motels, and I visited a few castles and mansions as well as walked through some quaint towns. 

     The main event for 1991 for me was getting a new job as a supervisor in a factory in Camden, NJ, that made parts for computer games. I also joined the North American Association of Freelance Journalists. (I have more details about this in DOTTY’S DIMENSIONS: THE PREFACE.)

     A sadder event was the death of Star Trek (ST) founder, Gene Roddenberry, that year on October 24. At least he lived long enough to see the 25th Anniversary of the airing of ST. It first aired September 8, 1966.

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1992:

     In addition to my usual SF cons, 1) Balticon, 2) Phorolic Con, and 3) Philcon, I also attended a media-SF con, 5) Shore Leave, at Hunt Valley, MD. Although, I’ve been lately finding regular SF cons more interesting than media-SF cons, I went to Shore Leave because they advertised that they were going to celebrate the 25th anniversary of ST. This SF con presented the usual actor GOHs from SF TV shows and films, held media-fan panels, and showed different ST episodes as well as ST and other SF films. The dealers sold media tie-in books and other merchandise in the dealers’ room, and the art show displayed art works of mostly paintings, drawings, sculptures, and other items mostly having to do with different SF TV shows and films. The one panel I remembered was “Where Were We On September 8, 1966?” About half of the people in that room weren’t born yet. Others talked about where they were on that date. (I was 10 and starting fifth grade in a public school after spending four years in a not so good Catholic school. While public school was no picnic, I found attending there to be a bit better than Catholic school. Moreover, yes, I did watch ST that night—and I’ve been a fan ever since.)

     Speaking of SF, I was saddened to learn of the death of Isaac Asimov on April 6. I felt this loss more than the passing of Gene Roddenberry because I had met Isaac Asimov a few times at different SF cons, and he was a very affectionate person as well as an interesting speaker who told stories that sometimes kept me spellbound.

     I took my main trip that year to Long Island, NY, where I spent a few nights at a few motels and visited some shore towns catering to different social classes. My favorite place, however, was Jones Beach. (I guessed by now that I’m neither high class or low class but something in between.) I’m not a big sunbathing-beach person; I’m more of a shade worshiper than a sun worshiper. While I don’t mind being near salt water, I don’t like swimming in it. I prefer to just get my feet wet, or at most, go up to my waist. (Fresh water is another matter; I love swimming in fresh water.) Anyway, I mostly walked along the beaches, on the main streets in different towns, and visited a few museums and old homes in those towns.

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1993:

     It was back to the usual SF cons for me: 1) Balticon, 2) Phorolic Con, and 3) Philcon.

     I took my main trip for a few days to Connecticut, especially to Hartford and New Haven. In New Haven, I toured the campus of Yale University and visited the Yale Museum of British Art, the largest collection of British art outside of the UK. Later, in Hartford, I visited the Wadsworth Atheneum of Art. This somewhat large museum displayed its share of fine and decorative arts from around the world from different eras, and I later walked through Bushnell Park and noticed the current capitol building.

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1994:

     The saddest event for me so far happened that year: My father, Joseph Rudolph Kurtz, died on March 25 of cancer. He was 70, and he had smoked for years before quitting in 1986, but it was too little, too late.

     I kept busy both at work and by traveling to both SF cons and trips. The first SF con I attended that year was 1) Balticon at the Hyatt in Baltimore near the Light Street Pavilion. I loved the location of this hotel; it’s too bad Balticon couldn’t have another SF con there.
     In May that year, I attended a SF con that listed itself as a fanzine con in Arlington, VA, called 2) Corflu Nova. I wish that somewhere in the flyers they had said they were a “relaxie” con. While I don’t mind attending a relaxie con locally, such as Phorolic Con, when I travel a distance, I like to travel to a SF con with a sizeable amount of programming. I was under the impression that this “fanzine” con would have panels and talks about writing, editing, and putting together a fanzine, along with a bit of partying. Corflu Nova included one meeting room and a con suite! I did talk to a few fans—one of whom seems full of herself—that’s all I’ll say about her, in both this meeting room on Friday night, and at the con suite on Saturday night, but most of the SF fans were nice. Because this SF con was near Washington, DC, I prevented this weekend from being too much of a waste of time; I visited the National Air and Space Museum on one day, and the new Postal Museum on another day. Overall, Corflu Nova had no programming at all.
     Another conference that I attended was 3) Jupiter Watch, Mayflower Hotel, Washington, DC. This wasn’t SF, but science fact because in addition to celebrating 25 years of the Apollo Moon Landing, it was also the year the comet Shoemaker/Levy crashed into Jupiter, and the following people had a talk about it: Gene and Carolyn Shoemaker, David Levy, Louis Friedman, and Carl Sagan. After Louis Friedman introduced Carl Sagan to the audience, Dr. Sagan gave his opinions about the comet before introducing David Levy. Mr. Levy talked about his interest in astronomy and especially comets—which he started searching for when he was 17 in 1965—and showed slides of both the Shoemaker/Levy Comet and other comets. Later, Dr. Sagan introduced Gene and Carolyn Shoemaker who also gave their opinions about the comet partly named after them as well as the fun they had working with David Levy. Then, they too, showed slides of the comet. Finally, this session ended in a question and answer time for the audience.
     It was back to SF for the next event, 4) Phorolic Con. This con had more programming and room space than Corflu Nova, and they advertised themselves as a “relaxie” con. It was a local con not too far from where I lived.
     Then, my main trip also tied into the next SF con for me: I spent two days sightseeing in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and later, I attended the 5) World SF Con or Worldcon 1994, in the same city. I’ll start with Winnipeg, MB, Canada: My first impression of Winnipeg was from the window next to my seat on the jet as we were getting ready to land. It looked like a patchwork quilt of prairie farms with a city thrown into the middle. Once, I received some Canadian cash at the airport, I took the bus to the closest stop to my hotel, a Best Western that was about a half a block from the Winnipeg Convention Centre. The next day, Wednesday, I visited the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature. Here, in this somewhat large museum, I saw animal dioramas of the following: bison, polar bear, caribou, wolf, and moose. Another area displayed a ship from 1645 called The Nonsuch. Thus, I was free to board the ship, and surrounding this ship, the museum recreated a 17th-century English seaport town that included houses and warehouses I could enter. Other exhibits included a log cabin, a sod house, and items about the local First Nations people (people formerly called “Canadian Indians”), and the early European settlers. One of my favorite areas included a recreated 1920s street from Winnipeg, complete with different businesses: doctor’s office, dentist’s office, shops, etc., and especially a cinema showing silent films inside. My visit ended with seeing a hands-on science gallery and planetarium.
     The next day, Thursday, I visited the Winnipeg Art Gallery. This mid-sized museum included two temporary exhibit areas. When I was there, one area presented The Earthly Paradise about British artist and designer William Morris (1834-1896). Morris and his friends, mostly other artists and writers, tried to bring beauty and pride back to the world, especially to the middle and lower classes with individualized arts and crafts. He disliked the Victorian mass-produced, machine age. Therefore, I looked at exhibits of paintings, furniture, room interiors, and so forth. The rest of the museum showed Inuit (formerly known as Eskimo) art. In fact, this museum contained one of the largest collections of Inuit art. Because of their limited space, this museum couldn’t show all of their Inuit collection at once. Thus, they presented different themes for a certain amount of time. The month I was there, I saw a special collection of quilts the Inuit women made that symbolized their lives, hopes, and beliefs. Overall, both sections of this museum displayed some colorful collections.
     Then, from Thursday night through Monday, it was time for Worldcon! My main impression of my first Worldcon was that it was similar to a regular SF con, but with more panels, a bigger dealers’ room, art show, and con suite. Among the unique parts, I witnessed a larger Masquerade, the Hugo Award presentation, more room parties at night, a fanzine reading room, and an exhibit area showing items from past SF cons, including past Worldcons from the first in 1939 up to the previous year. Overall, I did enjoy myself here. Because it catered to people who mainly attended regular SF cons, the GOHs were mostly SF writers and artists. Nevertheless, the panels—in so many tracks--reminded me of combining panels from Philcon, Balticon, and a few other cons into one giant con. On the other hand, if you noticed, I usually took a major trip outside of the Northeastern USA in the shoulder season or sometimes in the off-season, but seldom or never in the high season—mostly summer. By going shoulder or off-season, I’ve dealt with less crowds and lower prices. Therefore, as much as I enjoyed Worldcon, I didn’t enjoy it enough to travel again like that in the high season. From now on, I said that I would go to another Worldcon if it is in the Northeastern USA, and save my major trips outside of that area for autumn, spring, or sometimes winter.
     Anyway, I finished out the year by going to 6) Philcon where I didn’t have to do half the planning to attend here that I did for Worldcon.

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1995:

     This year became another active year for me, but it started by attending my first 1) Lunacon, in March, at the Rye Town Hilton, Rye Brook, NY. The NYC area SF organization, the Lunarians, played host to this con—hence the name, “Lunacon.” Although this con didn’t have as many items on its multi-track programming compared to Philcon—let alone Balticon, I still sat in on panels about costuming, SF fandom, science—including space exploration, computers, writing, art, etc. At night, I attended a few parties, and on Saturday night, the Masquerade. They also had the usual “fixed-function” rooms such as the con suite, dealers’ room, and art show room. I also discovered an interesting deli, the Rye Ridge Deli, within close driving distance to the hotel.
     On Easter weekend, I was again at 2) Balticon. For 1995, the panels and most of the other programming were at the Lord Baltimore Hotel, in downtown Baltimore, and the Masquerade was at the Omni (nowadays, the Wyndham) Hotel next door. As usual, Balticon had plenty to see and listen to in its several tracks of programming, and a great masquerade.
     In mid-July, I traveled to Washington, DC, to the National Academy of Science to listen to the 3) Steps to Mars symposium. Here, Louis Friedman talked about the last 10 years since he did a similar symposium and introduced the rest of the guests: Arnauld Nicogossian—American Astronautical Society, Roald Sagdeev—University of Maryland, and Thomas Stafford—commander of Apollo. Other guests included Aleksey Leonov—commander of Soyuz, astronauts Bonnie Dunbar, and Robert “Hoot” Gibson—who recently returned from the Mir Space Station. They each talked about subjects such as working with other nations, understanding the planets, and the Apollo/Soyuz mission. Other subjects included working on the space shuttles, the Mir Space Station, and what NASA and other space agencies needed to do to prepare for a mission to Mars. They also showed a few slide shows. Following this, they did an audio link-up with the Mir Space Station where astronaut Norm Thagard talked about everyday life on the space station. After a lunch break, the head of NASA (in 1995) Daniel Goldin, Donna Shirley from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Alex Galeev of the Russian Space Research Institute, discussed possible future Mars missions, and they presented their own slide show. Finally, all of the guests came on stage to answer questions from the audience. It was an interesting symposium, but I also remember the very hot weather. It was so hot (How hot was it?), that the National Park Service closed the Washington Monument for that weekend. The temperatures went up to over 100 degrees. On the train ride home, the train too, had to move slowly because of the possibility of the tracks buckling. Therefore, a two-hour train ride became about a four-hour ride. Then, there was getting around the hot streets of Philly and NJ to go home to an air-conditioned apartment. Anyway, after about an hour in our apartment, the power went, and I stayed the rest of the night at my mother’s apartment.
     About a week later, I attended 4) Phrolic Con on another hot weekend. Fortunately, it wasn’t as hot as the DC weekend, and I’m glad because on the first night, the fire alarm went off a few times, and we had to vacate the hotel for about 10 to 15 minutes each time.

     That fall, I took a mini-trip to Canada to visit Ottawa for a few days, and later, took a train to Toronto, Ontario, for another few days. In Ottawa, we took a bus tour of the city, and I stepped into the Canadian National Library and Archives. The time I was there, this place presented a special exhibit about SF. Here, I saw exhibits of SF books, magazines, games, toys, etc. as well as a few videos.
     Later, when I took Via Rail Canada to Toronto, I was surprised to find that they served complementary dinner and free refills of tea and coffee. (Nowadays, Via Rail Canada is just like Amtrak: you are lucky to get tap water free.) Along the way, I noticed that this part of Ontario had some small towns as well as several dairy and corn farms. Once in Toronto, I spent my time taking a bus tour of the city and visiting the Royal Ontario Museum, the largest museum in Canada. This was one of those museums that you could not see all of it in a day. I picked my favorite sections to see, especially the section on Canadian art and history—and vowed to return someday.

     I went to one more SF con, 5) Philcon, before taking my major trip for the year. In addition to the usual con activities, some SF fans gave me advice on the place I planned to visit for my main trip.

     That December, I visited Southern California, and this was the first time contingency plans worked better than original plans. At first, we planned to rent a car—we did—and drive to the different attractions we wanted to see. We had booked a hotel in Anaheim for a few nights, and we booked other hotels in the LA and San Diego areas for a few nights each. Because others warned us about the need to drive in the LA area, we planned to do a lot of driving. First, after landing, a shuttle bus took us to the car rental place nearby, and then, my husband drove down I-405 south toward Orange County. From what I saw, so far, 405 reminded me a bit like I-295 in NJ, but with occasional palm trees here and there. We then exited onto State Route 22 toward Anaheim, then onto Harbor Blvd., and finally to Ball Road and our first hotel, the Best Western Anaheim Stardust Hotel. As we checked in, a very informative desk clerk named Jackie asked us about our plans, and told us about VIP Tours. We looked at these tours, and we noticed they were going to the same places that we planned to visit on our own. If we added up the costs of gas, parking, admission, etc., these tours would only cost us about five to 10 dollars more, each, than if we traveled on our own as planned. Therefore, we booked this hotel for the next several nights and cancelled the other hotels. Then, we booked a VIP Tour of 1) LA By Night for that night. (I don’t usually plan to do anything the day I land, but this tour looked interesting.) In a few hours, a shuttle bus picked us up and drove us to our first stop, Universal City Walk Shopping Center. Almost everything looked larger than life as I saw building exteriors lined in neon along with different animated signs. The shops, however, were not too different from an upscale mall. A second stop took us to Hollywood and in front of Mann’s (formerly Grauman’s) Chinese Theater. A picture of this place doesn’t do it justice—you have to see it in person with all its opulence. I also noticed the celebrity handprints and signatures in the pavement in front, but I found the façade of this movie palace more interesting. Next, we stopped at the LA Music Center between the Mark Taper Theater and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. What I remember the most was the fountain in the center of the plaza when our guide told us that a computer operated the dancing of the waters. Finally, the bus drove us through different areas of Hollywood, LA, Beverly Hills, and Sunset Strip. These areas looked even more colorful because of the Christmas decorations.
     2) The second day, we took a complimentary shuttle bus to Disneyland. (Our hotel was located a few blocks away from Disneyland.) While it would be unfair to compare this park to the whole Walt Disney World complex in Florida, I could compare it to the Magic Kingdom Park in FL. In this case, I liked Disneyland better. First, there was the weather; second, this park looked more compact, and I most likely did less walking to the different attractions; third, Disneyland Castle looked more colorful in shades of pink and gray; and fourth, I felt more of Walt Disney’s personal touch here because this park opened when he was still alive. Even though I mostly limited myself to attractions that I either didn’t do in FL or that weren’t in the FL park, it still took me almost all day to see everything. Among the unique attractions in this park when I was there--Sailing Ship Columbia, Matterhorn Bobsleds—the oldest metal roller coaster in the world, Autopia—even I drove in Southern CA, Casey Jr. Circus Trains, Storybook Land Canal Boats, and New Orleans Square. I also saw Disneyland decorated for the holidays and a Disneyland Christmas Parade on Main Street with the Disney characters on holiday floats. Another nice touch with Disneyland was the variety of eating-places. I ate at a Mexican-styled cafeteria, and the food was as good as any that I had in a regular Mexican-styled restaurant.
     Thus, I booked more VIP Tours, and on the day after Disneyland, I took the tour bus to 3) SeaWorld in San Diego. This was the oldest of the SeaWorlds—opened in 1964, and I watched the show featuring the killer whales, one of them named Shamu, as well as dolphins, sea otters, seals, and sea lions. Because Anheuser-Bush owned SeaWorld, I also saw the employees hitch the Clydesdale horses to the beer wagon, and I noticed the Dalmatian dogs that came along. Therefore, this was one of the few places in the world where I fed a dolphin, petted a Clydesdale, and got kissed by a Dalmatian. What more could I ask for?
     The “more” was another day, and another tour toward San Diego, but this time to 4) the San Diego Zoo. This was one of the world’s largest zoos, but what impressed the most was seeing all the subtropical and tropical foliage landscaped throughout this zoological park. Even at a food concession, I ate chili as I noticed more foliage and a waterfall in the distance from my table. After lunch, I took a bus tour that covered about 80% of the zoo. I also watched some animal shows, and saw parts of the zoo not covered by the bus tour: primate, bird, and reptile houses, and a farm area/petting zoo.
     The next day, I took the VIP Tour bus to 5) Universal Studios. There were three parts to this theme park: the Back Lot Tram Tour, Studio area, and the Entertainment area. When I arrived, I made a beeline toward the Tram Tour. This was what set Universal apart from other theme parks. I saw many of the back lots and felt some of the special effects recreated from popular films and TV shows. Next, I rode the escalators up to the Studio area, and in the different buildings, I looked at and heard how those behind-the-scenes made different special effects for films and TV shows. While eating at the Art-Deco-styled cafeteria called “The Commissary,” some re-enactors imitated movie stars from Hollywood’s Golden Era from the 1930s into the ‘50s. The last section, the Entertainment area, I watched the following shows: a stunt show on a recreated Western street, animal actors show, and a few other shows. Some of the streets looked like a Western town and another street looked like a street in Paris.
     I went for culture the next day as I visited the 6) J. Paul Getty Villa in Malibu, but first, our tour bus stopped at Fisherman’s Wharf in Marina Del Ray. This was a recreation of a Cape Cod village of shops located in the largest fabricated sailboat harbor in the world. Then we stopped at Venice Beach where I put my hands into the Pacific Ocean and collected a few shells from the beach. On our final stop that day, I looked at Roman and Greek art and antiquities on one level, and European fine and decorative art on another level in a building that was a replica of a Roman villa. In fact, the villa could distract from the art. Here, I saw different inlaid marbles and 3D-looking murals of columns, flowers, and different designs. (Nowadays, the Villa only houses Greek and Roman art; the European art is now in a new Getty Museum in Brentwood in a modern building.)
     I then spent the next to the last sightseeing day on a 7) Grand Tour via VIP Tours. While this tour covered some stops from previous tours that I’ve taken, I also saw a lot more and learned more about the LA area than I ever did before. Among the places that we stopped at was a view of the Hollywood sign from Mulholland Drive, and Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. The overall area of Rodeo Drive looked interesting, but the shops looked similar to what I’ve seen in NYC along 5th or Madison Aves. Then, we ate lunch at the Farmers’ Market near CBS Television City. This market dated back to the 1930s when farmers sold their produce. Now it has many food stands and shops. After lunch, we stopped at one of my favorite stops, Olvera Street, the oldest part of Los Angeles, founded in 1781. This neighborhood reminded me of pictures that I’ve seen of villages in Mexico as it seemed very lively and colorful. Finally, our tour bus took us through many different areas of LA County: Downtown, Hollywood, and Beverly Hills as well as Bel Air, Sunset Strip, Westwood Village, Santa Monica, Burbank, and other places.
     On my last sightseeing day, I took a Gray Line tour bus to 8) Knotts Berry Farm theme park in Buena Park. Long before Disneyland, the Knotts family would crossbreed some berries into a boysenberry, and sell them at their farm stand. Later, Mrs. Knotts made fried chicken dinners and sold them too. In time, they opened a restaurant, and on the grounds outside, they added some Western buildings. In the 1940s, it because a Western-themed park. Through the years, the family added more attractions and rides in different theme areas. When I was there, I saw six theme areas: Indian Trails, Old West Ghost Town, Fiesta Village, Roaring 20s, Wild Water Wilderness, and Camp Snoopy—for children. To me, a good theme park was a place I could be entertained without having to ride wild rides. This park had its share of rides, both wild and tame, but it also had enough entertainment for those who didn’t care for rides. Here, I watched Native American dancing, a 19th-century melodrama on stage, and a Western saloon show as well as different crafts people demonstrating their crafts: blacksmith, Native American crafts, weavers, spinners, and more. An interesting small museum covered the history of both the old West and Knotts Berry Farm, and along the way, I noticed an old school house, jail, courthouse, and other places I would have seen in a Western town. I also rode a train that used a truck body to cover the engine. When I pointed this out to my husband, a woman nearby told me that these kinds of trains used to take workers out to the fields to work. Later, I had lunch in the main restaurant where I ordered the original fried chicken dinner and boysenberry pie that made the Knotts family famous. (It was good.) Finally, I saw an exact replica of Independence Hall. In the replica-room where congress met, it looked just like the one in Philadelphia, and unlike the room in Philly, they presented an audio show about the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The room on the other side, that would have been the courtroom in the Philly building, contained a gift shop and a small museum about the American Revolution. Also unlike the building in Philly, this Independence Hall still contained a Liberty Bell—replica. (In 1975, the National Park Service moved the original Liberty Bell out of Independence Hall to a pavilion across the street.) Overall, this theme park surprised me on having more than I expected. As for the trip as a whole, someday, I will return to Southern California!