Want to take a trip to the southwest part of the country?
Sure.
I took an 11-day guided tour of four states: California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. And I drew this map to show the way.
We flew to Los Angeles and flew back from San Antonio. And in between we saw the sights in the four states.
Nice.
So, first we’ll tour places in California. One of the first places we visited was the Hollywood Bowl. I had heard about the place, and it’s been featured in the movies.
There wasn’t any show at the time, but it was impressive to see.
I’ll bet.
Then, along Hollywood Boulevard, we stopped at Grauman’s Chinese Theater.
Didn’t they change the name of that place?
Actually, the place changed hands and changed names a couple of times. But, to old-timers like me, it’s still Grauman’s. As it was to Jack Benny when he put his footprints in a concrete block outside it in 1941.
Also on on that street is the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Those are my feet.
Selleck’s star and your feet. Got it.
Universal Studios offered a tour, which I took. On a simulated cruise, our friend from Jaws made an appearance.
And, up on that hill, is the Bates Motel from Psycho.
I remember that.
After that, we headed down the coast to Long Beach for a couple of tours. Have you heard of a plane called the Spruce Goose?
Yes.
It was a flying boat or seaplane built of wood by Howard Hughes during the war.
World War 2.
Right. Hughes wanted it to be a transport, but the war ended before it was finished..
Why made of spruce?
Actually, it was mostly made of birch. Spruce Goose was a label used by his critics. Aluminum was needed in the war effort. Also, Hughes was concerned about weight.
Anyway, the people promoting Hughes’ plane sat us down on rows of benches, stadium-style. And they showed us pictures on a screen. And told us about the plane. Which, technically, was designated the H-4 Hercules. And when we thought the talk was over, the screen — which was actually a curtain — parted. And there was the big bird itself.
And they invited us to come down and inspect it. It was impressive.
I guess so.
I understand it’s now on display somewhere in Oregon.
But, on the other hand, still docked on the water in Long Beach was the Queen Mary.
Big one.
Yep. She was a major trans-Atlantic vessel years ago. Now she’s a tourist attraction, with a hotel and restaurants. We had lunch there. And after we enjoyed the main deck.
Nice.
Okay. Musical quiz time. Have you ever heard the song that goes, “When the swallows come back to Capistrano”?
I think so.
Well, the song refers to this place: The Mission San Juan Capistrano.
It was founded in the 1700s by Spanish Catholics, and some of it still stands.
And it was true. A certain breed of swallow would migrate between here and Argentina. A 6,000-mile journey.
Amazing.
Yep.
From there we traveled further down the coast to San Diego. Here’s a shot of La Jolla Cave. Story goes that, in the old days, smugglers would hide there.
I can picture that.
Nearby, at Cabrillo National Monument Park, a ranger described the view of San Diego from Point Loma.
Later, in San Diego, we visited Seaport Village. It’s a waterfront property something like Baltimore’s Harborplace.
On another side-trip, we took a 2-hour cruise around the San Diego harbor on the schooner Invader.
It gave us a nice view of the city skyline.
After that, we left California and entered Arizona.
Our tour-bus made a stop in Yuma at the Arizona Territorial Prison.
It operated from 1876 to 1909.
Now it’s on a register of historical places.
As we approached Phoenix, we viewed it from Camel-back Mountain.
Pulling into the city itself, we visited the state capital. Take a look at the cactus.
Big one.
When we pulled up to our hotel, I went across the street and photographed it from the Civic Plaza across the street.
But what impressed me more was the plaza itself. See the structures? Here’s another view.
They’re conducting an environmental experiment. Look up. See the water being sprayed up into the air?
Yes. Several sprays.
Right. They’re demonstrating how water evaporation cools the surrounding air. And it worked. The outside temp was 105 that day, but it was cool in that area of the plaza. It’s not wet there; just cool.
Interesting.
Next day we’re back on the bus and entering New Mexico. This is the view through a window as we headed for the famous Carsbad Caverns.
You’ll recall that stalactites hang down and stalagmites build up. Both because of the minerals in the dripping water.
Inside the caverns it can get pretty dark. I think this stalagmite was too far away for my little flash. But this was said to be one of the three largest.
And here’s another one, a lot closer.
Gives you an idea how big they can get.
I’ll say.
Well, from there, we moved on into the big state of Texas. And I show you this map in particular because it’s relevant to our first stop.
In what way?
Because the blue line you see is the Pecos River.
And our stop was in Langtry, home of the well-know Judge Roy Bean.
He was a saloon-keeper and justice of the peace. And this is his place. That’s me on the porch.
Back in the 1800s the land west of the Pecos River was the wildest of the Wild West. And Bean considered his word to be the Law West of the Pecos. Someone later put up a sign to that effect.
I see on the building a sign saying The Jersey Lily. What’s that?
Judge Bean was infatuated with a famous personality of the day named Lillie Langtry. She was born on the island of Jersey. That’s a British island off the coast of France. So some people called her the Jersey Lily.
Her first name is actually spelled two ways. I think she was “ie” to the British, but some Americans have spelled it with a “y”.
And the town was named after her?
That’s a matter of opinion. Judge Bean claimed that, but others say the town of Langtry was named after an unrelated person; an engineer. So, who knows?
Here’s the next stop we made. In Brackettville. Do you remember the movie The Alamo with John Wayne?
Yes.
Well, here’s the set where the movie was filmed.
And, while we were there, our guide, an actor, described how the movie was shot.
Well, now we come to the end of our four-state tour. We flew out to L.A. And we flew back from — ?
San Antonio?
Right. And here was our hotel.
That’s the San Antonio River running past the hotel. And notice how far down it is from the street level.
About one floor below.
Right. And that’s handy because one floor below the hotel’s ground floor is River Walk. Know what that is?
I’ve heard the name.
It’s pretty neat. It’s about 2 1/2 miles long. Shops and restaurants on both sides of the water.
Looks great at night too.
And did I mention bars? We stopped for a drink at one place. Ordered a Margarita. I’m not too keen on tequila, but, after all, “When in Rome – – .”
“Do as the Romans do?”
Or the Texans. Right. And it was a memorable experience.
But there was more to see in San Antonio. A few more photos to go. For instance, across the street from our hotel, in HemisFair Plaza, was this architecture.
It’s the wall of the Mexican Cultural Institute.
Interesting.
And here — I’m glad I kept my notes — is the courtyard of the Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute. You can see the Spanish influence.
And here is the Sunken Garden.
Okay. Test your memory. Remember way back when I talked about the effect of World War 2 and how they renamed things? The beer hall so it wouldn’t sound German? The song lyrics so it wouldn’t sound Japanese?
I remember.
Well here’s another example. Before the war this place was called the Japanese Sunken Garden. During the war it was called the Chinese Sunken Garden. And after the war they went back to calling it the Japanese Sunken Garden.
A shame they had to do that.
Yeah. But that’s how things were during that period.
Anyway, moving on. We visited a brewery. The Lone Star Brewery. And look what they had there. In addition to trophies on the wall, they had antlers on the ceiling.
A bunch of them.
And we shopped at a Spanish market. El Mercado.
As I look at it, I can almost hear the music playing once again.
“Mexican Hat Dance?”
Something like that. I think Gene Kelly did a dance with a little girl in a market like this. In some movie he made.
Okay. Here it is. We visited the Alamo. The real thing.
That’s it?
Yep. The Spanish Mission that became a makeshift fort when Texans fought the Mexicans. Not much to look at, but very symbolic to Texans. “Remember the Alamo,” they would shout. Like “Remember Pearl Harbor” to my generation.
I guess so.
Okay. Now we come to the end of the end. Our final night in San Antonio. From our hotel balcony we could see the Tower of the Americas. Know what that is?
No.
San Antonio hosted the 1968 Worlds Fair. They called it the HemisFair.
You mentioned a HemisFair Plaza before.
Right. And the Tower was the theme structure for the Fair. At the top is a lounge and a rotating restaurant that gives you a panoramic view of the city.
On our last night of our tour we went up to the lounge for a drink and a night-time view of the city. And here’s the photo I snapped..
Nice.
I think so. A fitting end to a memorable vacation.
And a pleasant way to end this session. See you next time.
Okay.