Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1951)

DAY BY DAY ITINERARY ( Continued from page 78 ) FRIDAY Rent a U-Drive automobile. Rates for eonvertibles are usually $10 for twenty-four hours, insurance, gas, oil paid, plus a mileage charge of 10 cents per mile after the first 50 miles, which are free. A closed car is about $7.50 for twenty-four hours, mileage as above. Drive to Hollywood Blvd. and Laurel Canyon and turn north to follow the canyon road over the mountain to The Valley on the other side. This highway is so widely used that you should know something about it. Don't drive fast; the curves are sharp and the traffic is heavy. When you reach Ventura Boulevard (the main Valley thoroughfare) turn left and continue to Coldwater Canyon; turn left again and follow Cold water Canyon back to Beverly Hills. Turn left on Sunset and drive along The Strip, which will be familiar to you now. Proceed along Sunset to Highland Avenue, turn right to Melrose, turn left and continue to Windsor Drive. Stop in at Lucey’s for a Monte Cristo sandwich and a quick look at any lurking celebs. After leaving Lucey’s, drive east to Wilton Place, turn south (right). Continue on Wilton to Olympic Boulevard. Turn right and continue on Olympic to the beach. Sun yourself. Go lor a dip. At five, drop into Ocean House (in the summer) for a Coke, horse’s neck, or what you will. This is the former home of film star Marion Davies and it is magnificent heyond exaggeration. Note the ceiling in the bar; this room was once the formal drawing room in this fabulous house. Over $100,000 worth of gold leaf has been applied to the ceiling has relief. Everything about Ocean House is sumptuous. From Ocean House, continue along the Coast Highway to Holiday Inn, well beyond the heavily inhabited beach areas. This bar-restaurant is perched on bedrock high above the sea: two walls are glass, affording a breath-catching view of the Malibu Bay crescent and the Pacific. In the case of rush timing, you may have to compromise with a Coke. horse's neck, or cocktail, a long look at the view, and a quick trip ba< to Sunset Boulevard on the Coast Highway. At Sunset, drive inlai about half a mile to Santa Ynez Inn, one of the most delightful restaurants. Summer or winter (unless the thermometer bursts) the are roaring fires in the fireplace (it is always cool at the beach). San Ynez is not only a restaurant-cocktail lounge, but a motor hotel wi swimming pool as well (See page 63). Proceed along Sunset into Hollywood. Turn north (left) at Highlan Avenue and go to Hollywood Boulevard. Turn off the Boulevard McCadden Place. Half a block north (left) is Don, The Beachcomber' one of the most famous of all California restaurants. The beverages are out of this world, and so is the Chinese food, you don't care for Chinese food, don't return to Hollywood but simp i follow the Coast Highway to Venice, and dine at Jack’s at The Beac which is at the end of the Venice Pier. Jack’s is as popular with Holl wood people as the Beachcomber's. In case your taste rebels at either sea food or Chinese dishes, contim along Sunset Boulevard (after leaving the Coast Highway) to Bel-Ai and dine on French and American specialties at the lavish Bel-Air hotel Car Rental (approximately) $20.00 Breakfast at Musso-F rank's 2.50 Luncheon. Lucey’s 4.00 Ocean House 2.00 Holiday Inn 2.00 Santa Ynez 2.00 Beachcomber's 15.00 ( Jack’s At The Beach, slightly less ) $47.50 SATURDAY AND SUNDAY Weekend at a resort. In the winter time, which Californians interpret to mean “between November 1 and May 15,” try Palm Springs. This most delightful of resorts is approximately 125 miles south and east ol Los Angeles via excellent highways, many of them divided. Palm Springs is not only a place; it is a state of mind. Ten thousand years ago, ancient man lived in the area now occupied by Palm Springs; modern discovery of the area took place in 1769, and the first permanent resident of Palm1 Springs (aside from the Cahuilla Indians of the Agua Caliente tribe) was John Guthrie McCullum, who built a desert home in 1884. During October, November and December, the days are hot, the nights cool; during January, February, and March, the days are warm, the nights chilly; during April. May and early June the days are blistering, the nights tropical. It is not true, as rumored, that Palm Springs is too expensive for the average person. It is possible to spend a hundred dollars a day in Palm Springs; but it is also possible to have an equally happy time at about $16.00 per day. The "great” restaurants are the Chi-Chi (pronounced shee-shee). The Dunes, The Doll House, The Shadow Mountain Club (you must have a guest card). The Tennis Club (guest card), and The Racquet Club (guest card). A reasonable hotel is the Del Taquitz, 316 S. Palm Canyon Drive, where rates begin at eight dollars per day, single. Plush hotels are The Biltmore, on the Indio Road; La Quinta Hotel at La Quinta, and the famed, beloved Desert Inn, right in the heart of Palm Springs. There are several delightful Dude Ranches in and around Palm Springs, the B/H, The Smoke Tree. The Deep Well, for instance. These are run on the American plan ( meals included ) ; they are always booked solidly for the season well in advance, and their rates usually start at $25 per day, up. Another desert resort is Borrego Springs, 168 miles southeast of Los Angeles and 85 miles northeast of San Diego. This is new, but it promises to be as popular as Palm Springs. There are two spankingfresh hotels, both run on the European plan (no food included in rates) : Rancho Borrego Club, where the rates start at $10.00 double; and Hoberg’s Desert Resort, rates also $10.00 double. Far-famed Furnace Creek Inn is in Death Valley, about 300 miles northeast of Los Angeles. It is a luxury hotel. Rates start at $30 per day, double occupancy, (American plan). However. Furnace Creek Ranch is run on the European Plan, and rates start there at $5.00 for two. The Amargosa Hotel, European Plan, is open the year around, and rates start at $5.00. During the summer season, try these resorts; The Alisal Ranch. From March until October each year, it is one of the fun spots of the coast, forty miles north of Santa Barbara, three miles inland, and only a short distance from the delightful Danish settlement of Solvang where everyone goes for coffee and wonderful Danish pastry. Alisal is friendly and for amusement there’s riding, tei nis, archery, hiking, swimming, golfing, and lazing in the sun. And a ways dancing at night. The rates begin at about $15.00 per day pc person. Worth it. Apple Valley Inn is about 125 miles east of Los Angeles, over tl Cajon ( Ka Hoan ) pass, and only a short distance from Victorville ail the George Airforce Base. It consists of a huge, friendly, substantia building in which the public rooms are housed (cards, library, cockta lounge, huge dining room in which a nightly square dance is held and a series of small lodges on the hills above the main building. Son of the cottages accommodate three units, some two, some one. Don't expect to see apples or apple trees around the Inn. App Valley is desert quite as much as Palm Springs is desert except the it lies at an altitude of 3.000 feet. The Inn was opened on November 22, 1948, and has become a favoril of picture people. Horses may be rented for $1.00 per hour on weel days: $1.25 on Sundays. There is a 9-hole golf course at the Inn, an the pool is heated. The cocktail lounge is a Gay Nineties replica an the walls are papered with placards 60 to 100 years old. The dinin room is particularly inviting. The waitresses, all attractive, we: Western togs and, in many cases, valuable Indian bracelets set wit exquisite turquoise. Their hand-wrought silver belts are beautiful. Have shirred eggs, Hawaiian style, for breakfast. Interestingly enougl the kitchen is in charge of an Hawaiian boy. Rates (American plan, with meals) start at $26.00 per day for twi Ojai Valley Inn is about 84 miles north of Los Angeles via 101 as f: as Ventura, inland 14 miles from there. A tennis tournament is hel in April annually: aside from this there is excellent golf, bird huntinj fishing, and the usual resort activities to keep one busy. The Inn i operated on the American plan (meals included) and rates start : $30.00 per day for two. The beaches are, of course, the great lures the year around. Going south from Los Angeles, some of the most beautiful are Laguna, where the Riviera at 825 Coast Boulevard, South, is enchantin) and where La Playa at 985 N. Coast Boulevard is an attractive mote hotel. The Surf & Sand, also on the Coast Boulevard, is modernisti and new. and The Carousel is quaint and friendly. At Del Mar, the Turf & Surf Hotel has everything a week-end travele could desire: handsome public rooms, comfortable bedrooms, both po< and surf bathing, and delightful food. In La Jolla, the Beach Club Apartments are on the sea. In additio to breathtaking views, this new, smart hotel offers both surf and po< swimming, golf, badminton, volley ball, surf fishing, tennis, aquaplanin; water skiing, nightly dancing, and — as often as you wish to drive t nearby Tia Juana — jai alai. You haven’t lived until you've watche jai alai. Rates at the La Jolla Beach Club begin at $6.00 per day during tli winter (September-,! une 14th) and at $12.00 during the summer seasor 82