Strange So. Cal. Adventure

So yesterday when I was leaving the Nursing Center, (about 6:30 p.m.) I see this big, ugly, black smoke. Looks like it's in the El Monte area. I get home and wait for Eddie to return and then we go look for the fire. One of Eddie's favorite past-times is to find fires and police activity. If he hears the helicopters over head he's a very excited boy and wants to go see what's going on.

So we found the fire last night, but they already had things blocked off. Bummer!

So this morning at 6:30 a.m. we bounded out of bed to go see the remnants of the fire. It was a brick building in an industrial section off of Rush and Merced. Employees were getting to work and just standing around looking pretty amazed!

That was our first adventure of the morning!

Before you hear our second! I must give you a little background. In less than 2 weeks, my sister is coming to town to give us a break. We are planning a STAY-CATION! So we've been looking up things to do around Southern California. I find the strangest websites! Anyway, on one of the strange websites I found we found a bunch of "Hollywood" stuff. Where the stars live, died and our buried, etc. http://www.seeing-stars.com/ is the website I believe. So this morning after our adventure to El Monte...we decided to go to Alhambra and visit the Pyrenees Castle.

Who puts a Castle in Alhambra????

Sylvester Dupuy in 1926.

He always wanted to build a beautiful chateau like the one he grew up admiring in

Southern France.

As it looks today!

Of course, if you live in Southern California you probably know that this is Phil Spector's castle and that he no longer lives here. He is enjoying his 3 hots and a cot in prison for shooting Lana Clarkson at this estate!!!!
It's so bizarre that this gorgeous house is on a hilltop right off of Valley Blvd. You can actually see the top of it from Valley Blvd. From Parkview Dr. as you drive around the neighborhood you get a better look at it too. The high walls and surrounding trees pretty much keep it hidden from up close and personal glances! It also has a gate and private road to actually get to the house itself. We forgot to take our camera so I found these pictures on line! The photo from 1926 was before all the houses in the neighborhood showed up. It's a very residential part of town. Phil Spector said, "I've bought myself a beautiful and enchanting castle in a hick town where there is no where to go that you shouldn't." I guess he was never his own guest!!!!

So this begins the odd places we plan to visit and blog about while we are still living in California. If this is any indication of our adventures...expect the bizarre!