Palm Motor Lodge

Located two miles North of Disneyland on Harbor Blvd, the Palm is a survivor indeed. The motel predates the Magic Kingdom but managed to corral it's share of visitors, including Doris Huffman of North English Iowa. She arrived by bus and stayed a week before making her way home via Canada. This was back in August 1961. Today's modern guests are more of the extended-stay, down-on-their-luck types. Here's how she looked on June 20th, 2007:


If you're in the mood for a swim in the heated pool, you'll need a time machine:


And a final sign shot from the street---

Time For A Quick Cup

Up the road from Anaheim (about 260 miles on Highway 99), let’s stop for a cup of coffee and maybe some steak fries. This is Farnesi’s Restaurant and Coffee Shop in Madera, CA.

It’s large, free standing sign can be seen from quite a ways off. Farnesi’s has been open since the early 60’s, serving quality food and drink to those traveling down California’s golden Central Valley.

Here’s the great sign from a mid-60’s postcard and a picture from the present day. Though largely intact, some of the playfully-fonted mini-signs pertaining to the adjacent motel (which still stands) have gone missing (‘TV’, ‘Phones’, etc.) Oh well, at least the classy cocktail glass remains…

The restaurant building itself looks largely the same, but has been enlarged somewhat over the years:

Next time you’re motoring through Madera, make sure you patronize this fine old relic of the road. After a couple o’ highballs and New York Steak & Eggs, you’ll think its 1966 all over again… (And you’ll probably want to get a room!)

A Schusssing We Shall Go...

Back in Anaheim, we now visit the Alpine Inn. The Alpine was one of the earliest of the motels that sprouted up to surround Disneyland after it’s 1955 opening. It was/is located at 715 Katella Avenue near the now closed South entrance to the old Disneyland parking lot. Each room had it's own phone and free TV, and also featured refrigerated air conditioning. This postcard shot dates from the late fifties based on the cars in the lot.

Here’s the Alpine in 2004. The sign now conforms to the new Anaheim Resort code, but this old motel is definitely still kicking. I’m not sure when the well-themed snowy roof and log siding was added, but one could argue that the Alpine looks better now than when it was new some fifty years ago. I think I’ll dial KEystone 5-2186 and book some rooms for my annual June trip...

The Shadow Of Your Smile - Sandpiper Lodge

Now let’s travel about 300 miles north of Anaheim, on good old Highway 99. Here we are in Merced, at the site of that cities newest motel, The Sandpiper. Not sure if the inspiration came from the Burton-Taylor film of the same name or was simply a wistful reference to the beautiful Pacific Ocean which was (and still is) only about 200 miles to the West.

The Sandpiper had rooms for the budget-conscious as well as luxurious suites for those better off. Each room was “…elegantly appointed and magnificently furnished and equipped with individually controlled heat and refrigeration.” There was a “…Bridal Suite, Conference Room, and Background Music”..? Phone RA 3-1034 to reserve your room.


Aahhhh…What a (non) difference 45 years can make. The Sandpiper still stands in most of its original livery, the pool is still heated, the parking lot had some fairly new cars parked in it and business appears to be OK. Only one thing I’m not sure of: do they still have Background Music?

Bahia Motel - Beach Blvd

Sorry for the long gap between posts. Here we go:

Here’s the last word in luxury and convenience: ---The Bahia Motel---
This exotically-themed motel was located at 821 Beach Boulevard in Anaheim.

With thermostatically controlled heat, pool, kitchen units, adjacent restaurants and recreation room, the Bahia was a great place to stay when visiting Knott’s Berry Farm, Disneyland, Movieland Wax Museum and Marineland of the Pacific.

Things were looking good. Of course, that was in the early 60’s…

Now it’s the early 70’s and the foliage has matured. It’s still the Bahia and business is good.

Now we’re in the early 80’s and New Wave is all the rage. The Bahia is new too; it’s now the Razzmatazz…kinda catchy and ‘hip’ huh?

So 40 Summers have come and gone. Here we are at the now-Covered Wagon Motel in 2005. It looks like they removed most of the Palms and the other greenery. Still want to stay there?

Make sure to call ahead and make reservations!

Brookside Winery/Vineyard Company

Here we have a mid-sixties postcard shot of the Brookside Winery located at 711 Brookhurst Street in Anaheim, CA. The back of the card states:

“Featuring over 100 different wines, champagnes, and brandies. Brookside Winery’s lovely Anaheim Cellar No. 5 and it’s tasting room, located midway between Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm, is…one of California’s oldest wineries – established in 1832.”

The card was dated March 31, 1972. The caption reads:

“Vi and I stopped here today. We had a taste of wine and I bought some to bring back. Archie stayed home.”

Must have been a fun place to taste a bit o’ vino during a break from the parks. I'll bet Archie was envious when he found out how much fun Vi and whoever had!



Now it's June, 2005. The winery is long gone and the building is available to lease. Last use: nightclub. The parking lot was littered with trash and the vines and other such landscaping had pretty much taken over. Over the past 40 years the surrounding area has crept in on the old gal; the motel to the right consumed what had been a formal auto entrance and parking area. Hopefully someone will take charge of this turretted, towered, and vaulted-ceiling endowed piece of Anaheim history and return it to it's former function...but I doubt it will happen...


On a side note, Brookhurst Bowl is located just a short distance North on Brookside. I highly recommend a visit to these vintage lanes. The coffee shop has great food and the Kopa Room is still going strong. I'll have some pictures of the unique late 50's sign complete with giant rotating bowling pin in a future post.

Happy travels---

Charter House / Anaheim Plaza Hotel Pool

Ahhh... the good old days...

Here's the olympic sized pool at the Charter House Hotel on Harbor Blvd in Anaheim, located across the street from the old Disneyland sign that many of us remember. As a guest of the Charter House, you would "Enjoy spacious comfort in modern sleeping rooms." When you get hungry, slip over to the Rib Room for "...fabulous roast beef, dancing and entertainment nightly." The CH opened up around 1960(?) with the Saga Motel directly to the North and the Fantasy Motel next door to the South. What a great place to stay during your Disneyland visit!


Fast forward to 2004, and my family and I are staying at the Anaheim Plaza Hotel. Looks kinda similar huh? Well, this is that same olympic size pool and those are the same spacious, flowered grounds that first greeted guests when Ike was in office. We usually stay at this fine place when we visit the Big D. The Rib Room is long gone and the nightly entertainment can be a bit sparce unless someone is getting married in one of the meeting rooms by the pool. This is the last olympic sized pool in the Anaheim area and was once the rival of the one at the Coral Club on the grounds of the Disneyland Hotel on the other side of the Magic Kingdom.

Two For My Brother

Here's a nice bit of time travel.

My family took an annual trip to Lake Tahoe nearly every Summer of my childhood. A few Summer's ago I tagged along with my brother's family and we re-created a few of the old shots.

The first pair were taken on the front deck of the cabin we always stayed at which was owned by my Dad's business partner, Ron. The top shot is from 1978, bottom 2002:

The area around the cabin had been wide open in the 70's...The neighborhood had filled in considerably by our return. We used to ride 3-wheelers out on the open sand around the cabin.

The second brace was taken in front of a Wells Fargo monument located along Highway 88 heading East towards Jackson, CA. Highway 88 was one of the two routes we alternated on when making the journey to South Lake Tahoe, the other being Highway 50. The top shot is from 1974, bottom 2002:

Though many years had passed, revisiting these youthful places brought back the old times as if new again. The familial connections made over time via shared places and concurrent experience are forged of strong material indeed...

Until next time ---

Howard Johnson's Caravan Inn - Then And Now

Here's the pool area of the former Caravan Inn (now Arena Inn) in Anaheim. From a 60's postcard:



Now, here's the same view from June, 2006. There was a city warning on the pool gate regarding a violation of the health code.

That ladder on the second floor appears to have survived these past 40-odd years. A few of the balconies were filled in and the cool signage is long gone (anyone no anything about the ice rink located nearby?) There was once a coffee shop facing the pool and a cocktail lounge to boot.

This tired old inn appears to have slipped into monthly rental mode and looks ripe for the bulldozer...

Calico Motel Then And Now

Here's a 1960's postcard view of the Calico Motel at 500 Beach Blvd in Buena Park(?)
And here it is today (June 2006):

Because motels produced postcards for advertising and souvenir use, tracking their decline over time isn't too difficult. Comparing the postcards sunny view with the run-down condition of today is a poignant affair.

The pool was located in front of the office and had been filled in by the time I visited. A filled in or drained/mucked up pool is a good indicator of where an old motel is in it's lifecycle.