“The Negro Scarlett OHara”

This morning, the sisters Szyndel and I decided to try and explore some more of Savannah before we hit the road north to Charleston.  It was raining so hard, but our first mission was to get to CVS Pharmacy to get Kasia some Cortizone because she got poison ivy all over her legs.  We think Little Gracie gave it to her at Bonaventure Cemetery.  No, but seriously, there’s nowhere else she could have gotten it from.

Today's travel lesson: If you plan on going traipsing around in the swamps of Georgia, make sure you stay away from all foliage. Kasia is a good sport! Hey, at least it's not typhoid!

After our mission, the rain stopped for a bit so we parked  and walked to Calhoun Square, and found The Book Store.  “The Book” is of course Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which basically put Savannah on the map.  Kasia got a copy of Midnight to read on the plane back to Poland, and I got a copy of Hiding My Candy by The Lady Chablis, who was the drag queen featured in Midnight.  I’m only on page 3 and it’s HILARIOUS!  The first chapter is called “The Negro Scarlett O’Hara” and it has a picture of Chablis dressed in Scarlett’s bar-b-que dress, HAHAHA!  I’m loving it.  What a character (who happens to be totally real)!

Anyway, Savannah is so gorgeous.  And old.  And fabulous.  And very GWTW and “southern”.  It pretty much blows Atlanta out of the water as far as beauty. Sorry, Atlanta, you’re too modern for me.  I tend to like cities that have a lot of history that is still apparent in the buildings.  Savannah’s historic district has such a quaint charm and gorgeous buildings and houses.  The ghost tour we went on by trolley last night took us to the Sorrel-Weed House and a really neat cemetery in the middle of town.

The third story balcony of the Sorrel-Weed House

The Sorrel-Weed House is supposedly haunted by two spirits: Mrs. Sorrel and their slave housekeeper, Molly.  Mrs. Sorrel commeted suicide by throwing herself off the third floor balcony (pictured above) when she discovered her husband sleeping with Molly the housekeeper.  Molly was hanged two weeks later.  It was featured on the Sci-Fi show Ghost Hunters and they certified it “haunted”.  It was a bit creepy but also pretty awesome, and the period furniture in the upstairs was gorgeous!

The cemetery we saw had these weird mausoleums that are dome shaped and lie close to the ground.  The tour guide said that Savannah and Charleston are unique in that their crypts lie underground instead of above ground like most cemeteries.  When Sherman came and invaded the city during the Civil War, his soldiers were there during a cold winter, and dug up the underground graves and then crawled in to keep themselves warm.

Underground mosoleum

We totally forgot today was Veteran’s Day here in the US, so it was a pleasant surprise to see a parade going through town.  All the old vets waved at us and someone gave us little American flags.  But then the nice parade became a huge hassle when we tried to make our way out of town because all the streets were blocked off!  Waaah!  I’d love to go back to Savannah when it’s sunny outside, I bet it’s amazing!

House on Calhoun Square, Savannah

Then we drove 2.5 hours to Charleston.  It was pouring when we got here and the hotel is a bit of a dump.  Okay, it’s not that bad, but it’s not as awesome as the past 2 hotels (even though I think it was a bit more expensive).  Kasia was worried about her legs, so we asked the lady at the desk if there was a hospital or walk-in clinic close by.  She gave us directions to a place about 15 miles away–during rush hour traffic and it took us about an hour to get there :S  It was really annoying.  We got lost on the way back.  Another travel tip:  when you’re in a city that you’ve never visited before, and you’re driving a car, remember to bring a map, otherwise you might end up on the wrong side of the river.  Literally.

So, since the weather has been so awful, we didn’t get to see much of Charleston today.  We did, however, drive through a flooded street, sit in traffic, and eat Taco Bell for dinner.  But we have a sight-seeing tour booked for tomorrow morning and we plan on stopping by Drayton Hall on the way back to Marietta. It’s going to be a looong drive.

I’m looking forward to the event on Friday, though, and we hope to meet some interesting people!

Mid-day in the Garden of Good and Evil

Whoever said Savannah was only two hours from Atlanta was lying.  or maybe I just made that up–no, I’m pretty sure I read it on the internet.  It actually takes about 3-3.5 hours to drive.  Our roadtrip consisted of miserable weather.  Hey, hurricane-i’m-not-sure-what-its-name-is-because-i-haven’t-watched-the-news, STOP IT!  I mean, it was raining.  And there wasn’t anything good on the radio.  But at least we had some Jr. Mints and Sour Patch Kids to tide us over.

Once we got to the hotel we decided to take a little trip to a place I’d wanted to visit for a while now should I ever get to Savannah:  Bonaventure Cemetery.  Cemeteries are probably a dime a dozen around these parts; with the Civil War and all sorts of tropical climate diseases.  Bonaventure was made famous by John Berendt’s true crime novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (haven’t read it?  WHY NOT?!).  The novel isn’t set in the cemetery, but the cover features a statue that was once found there (the Bird Lady is now in an art museum here in the city due to the amount of tourist traffic that came to see it after the book was published).

The Bird Lady

The cemetery is known for being one of the creepiest and most haunted places in the city (and people say the entire city is pretty haunted), and I can definitely see why people think that.  It’s sprawling and old, tucked away on Bonaventure Road–a little narrow two way street that runs past old, run down houses and is littered with trees raining Spanish moss.  It sits on a bluff overlooking the Savannah River on what used to be a plantation.

One of the most famous graves there is that of Gracie Watson, otherwise known as “Little Gracie.”  Gracie Watson died of pneumonia when she was 6 years old in 1889.  The plaque by her grave says:

Little Gracie Watson was born in 1883, the only child of her parents. Her father was manager of the Pulaski House, one of Savannah’s leading hotels, where the beautiful and charming little girl was a favorite with the guests. Two days before Easter, in April 1889, Gracie died of pneumonia at the age of six. In 1890, when the rising sculptor, John Walz, moved to Savannah, he carved from a photograph this life-sized, delicately detailed marble statue, which for almost a century has captured the interest of all passersby.

Here is one of the photos I took of Little Gracie–I thought it was creepy but awesome.  Apparently she haunts both Bonaventure and the Pulaski House.

Little Gracie Watson

We were taking photos by the river when a massive downpour started, so we ran back to the car and came back to our hotel.  I’m sad the weather is so gross, Savannah looks so brilliant and old–I bet it’s great in the sunshine.

In a couple of hours we are taking a trolley ghost tour around the city and we are going to eat she-crab soup at the Pirate House restaurant which is apparently the oldest building in Savannah.

More on evening adventures later.

The Road to Tara

Today, Kasia, Maggie and I navigated the Georgia highways via rental car.  Driving here is hard!  There wasn’t even that much traffic, it was just that we kept getting lost and taking wrong turns.  For example, this evening we were trying to find a shopping center in East Point, and google maps told us to take the freeway.  We got on going north instead of south, and if my human GPS system (Kasia) hadn’t figured out we were going the wrong way, we’d have gone to Birmingham!  Haha.  I feel like CA isn’t this hard, or maybe the streets are better marked at home?  Or maybe I’m just out of my element?  Probably the latter.

First, we drove up to the Scarlett on the Square museum in Marietta so Kasia and Maggie could pick up their tickets.  The lady at the ticket counter seemed really excited to learn they were the ones who came from Europe just for the event.  There were also a LOT of old people there taking tours.  We’re really wondering what the demographic for this event will be, and if we’ll be the younest people there.  I can’t wait to see!

Afterword we drove down to the Atlanta History Museum.  But first we stopped at Taco Hell Bell to grab some lunch, which was exciting for my European friends.  When we got on the right road, we were amazed at all of the stately homes back in the forest there.  Have any f you ever seen them?  I felt like I was driving through 10 Mile Drive at Pebble Beach in Monterey.  They were HUGE mansions of all sorts of styles.  It was quite obnoxious and fascinating at the same time.

The History Center was tucked away at the other end of the woods, and since we were just interested in seeing the “Costuming Gone with the Wind” exhibit, the curator let us in for free (but we dropped a donation into the box when we left).  The best piece was 1 of the 3 green curtain dresses worn by Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind:

I used myself to show scale

I knew Vivien was small, but it’s always hard to tell the size of someone from a photo.  She was very petite.  You can use me for comparison.  I’m 5′7″.  A couple weeks ago, an author friend told me I’d probably  have fit into a dress he used to own that Vivien wore in The Sleeping Prince.  I said “I disagree!” Lo and behold, I knew I was right in that I wouldn’t have fit into anything that that lady wore!  Anyway, this dress was beautiful and very well preserved.  I should have liked to try it on for fun (even if it wouldn’t zip up all the way, lol.

Next we headed down to Jonesboro to see the Road to Tara Museum.

The old train depot at Jonesboro

It was really cute!  The people who worked inside were so nice and seemed very eager to talk with us about our adventures.  Apparently people all around the world actually think Tara is a real place, so when they’re told there is no “real Tara,” some people apparently even cry!  But there was an inspiration for Margaret Mitchell’s Tara (which isn’t at all like the Tara from the film).  It was MM’s ancestor’s plantation:

The real Tara

I think Georgia should combine all of the GWTW museums around the Atlanta area and make them one big GWTW museum.  This would be more practical, I think, because then the die hards like us wouldn’t have to drive all around to see everything.  You know?  But they were all wonderful, and I look forward to exploring the Marietta museum some more this coming weekend.

Well, off to bed.  There’s an interesting program about the Hoover Dam on PBS right now.  We’re old ladies at heart.  Have you been to the Hoover Dam?  It is pretty cool to see it in person.

Tomorrow: Savannah!!  I’m so excited to see Bonaventure Cemetery, and we’re taking a ghost tour!

“Mint Juleps are the Beverly of Cocktails”

We got up early this morning and took the shuttle from our hotel back to the airport and caught the MARTA (the metro) into the city.  It was virtually a ghost town, which was really confusing because I’d never seen a big city so dead.  The ticket guy at the station said a) it’s Sunday and b) there’s a football game in town.  It was strange.  MARTA is pretty efficient, and I like that the train cars are fairly big; we weren’t packed in like sweaty sardines in a can like on some lines of the Tube in London, but it also doesn’t come every 6 minutes like the Tube does.  Still, it got us to where we needed to go for fairly cheap, so that was awesome.

LONDON?! No? Where is everyone?

This station reminded me of one in London–Charing Cross, I think.  Look at all those stairs!  It’s like climbing a concrete mountain.

Our first stop was the World of Coca-Cola, which is an actual factory and we took an interesting tour and saw some pretty cool memorabilia, like this:

Clark Gable and Joan Crawford like Coke

At the end of the tour, there was a room with about 5 or 6 different kiosks that served Coca-Cola products from all over the globe.  Some of them were pretty good, others were really interesting, and some were really not very good.  We tasted a drink from Italy called “Beverly” which happened to be the most disgusting soda I’ve ever had in my life.  I can’t even decribe it, it tasted like some sort of medicine.  No thanks, “Beverly!”

We then made our way to Midtown MARTA station and took 10th street to the Margaret Mitchell Museum.  We had remembered reading somewhere that Margaret Mitchell called this house “the dump” because it was so small.  When we saw the outside we said, “Say what?  This house is big!” But it turns out MM and John Marsh only lived in the downstairs apartment which was 3 small rooms.  She called it “the dump” because she had grown up in a mansion.  Anyway, MM wrote most of Gone with the Wind in this house.  And isn’t it funny to think that she didn’t think anything of her book when she was writing it?  She didn’t think it any good.  WRONG, Margaret Mitchell!  Yours is the only novel I’ve ever read more than once (I’ve read it 3 times, actually).  So I think it was good!

Margaret Mitchell House & Museum

There was a small movie museum next door to the MM House that had the huge painting of Scarlett that was used in the film of GWTW.  It looks kind of scary but it was so cool!

It was used in the movie!

Autumn

Afterword, we walked up Peachtree Street and found the Georgian Terrace Hotel, where stars from GWTW stayed during the premier.  It was really posh inside, very fitting for Vivien Leigh, methinks, although did she stay in the governor’s mansion with Larry instead?  I got a chocolate/raspberry cupcake at Mims Cafe next door.  We were then accosted by a possible vagrant who “needed $2.15 to get a MARTA ticket because he just moved to Decatur and his friend left him stranded.”  I hope he enjoyed that ‘MARTA ticket.”

For dinner we headed over to the Pittypat’s Porch restaurant downtown.  It was pricey but we figured we had to try it.  I think I gained 10 lbs in that one sitting, there was so much food!  I got the salmon, which was really good.  We also decided we had to try mint juleps since none of us had ever had one/  I think we were expecting it to be a mojito but boy were we wrong.  It looked like dirty pond water with algae at the bottom.  And it tasted about the same.  The bourbon and mint were so strong.  Kasia forced herself to drink almost the whole thing, but it looked like quite a struggle.  I quit after 1/2 a glass. Oh! The ladies’ room at Pittypat’s was so cute!  It had a powder room and everything.

Mint juleps = Beverly...or pond water. Are those organisms swimming around in there?

We decided mint juleps are the “Beverly” of cocktails.    I tried to picture Scarlett O’Hara (if she were real) or even Vivien Leigh drinking mint juleps on the porch (or the balcony?) and had a hard time.  Although Vivien’s favorite drink was apparently a gin and tonic which I also don’t like very much because it’s so dry.  Oh, Alcohol.

Then we went into a food coma and decided to go back to the hotel.  The night ended with Tool Academy on VH1 and a program about monorails on the Travel Channel.

Tomorrow: Atlanta History Center, Jonesboro, and beyond!

 

Atlanta: Day 1

Made it!  I woke up at the crack of dawn yesterday to go to th airport.  The flight from Orange County was smooth and without incident.  When I got to the airport, I met up with Kasia, but her sister had a problem with her ticket on Air France and therefore had to book a later flight.  Thankfully she got another one that arrived later last night!

Once we got checked in to the hotel, Kasia and I went across the street to a restaurant called Ruby Tuesday–which is basically Red Robin and had really bad service.  But the spinach and artichoke dip was really salty/delicious!  Then later we got an Atlanta map and tried to plot Gone with the Wind on the map.  For example, based on incidents we remembered from Margaret Mitchell’s book, we decided that “Tara” was (hypothetically) right here–yes, right at this hotel.

Then we got a bit of a kick out of The da Vinci Code being on Peachtree TV.  Everything here seems to be a GWTW reference but hey, who’s complaining?  Not me.

The da Vinci Code

Not Tom Hanks' real hair ^^

The da Vinci Code is a terrible movie in which Tom Hanks is especially awkward.  I’ve met Tom Hanks in real life and I’ll let you in on a little secret.  That’s not his real hair.  I’m serious, it’s either extensions or some kind of wig because Tom is really thinning out up top in reality. The magic of the movies.

Well, it’s 8:30 am, earlier than anyone should be up on a Sunday, but we’re going to go take advantage of the complimentary breakfast offered at the hotel and then go back to the airport and take the metro down town for a little sight-seeing!  The metro station at the airport reminds me of the Tube in London, only not.

Until next time!  Hopefully then I’ll have something more entertaining to talk about.

 

Atlanta, Savannah, Charleston, and the Gone with the Wind Re-Premier

I’m leaving tomorrow morning for Atlanta and I have to say I’m really excited!  At first I was a bit indifferent, not because I didn’t want to go, but because the event tickets were pretty pricey and because all of this other stressful stuff kept happening here on the home front.  But now that it’s actually here and plans have started to fall in line, I’m really stoked about it! This is something I felt I just had to participate in.

I’ve never been to the South before (unless you count Texas, but isn’t that more of the “midwest”?), so I’m really curious as to what my impression will be.  A good one, I hope, for his California girl.  I do know this, though: I’ve wanted to take a “Gone with the Wind roadtrip” for YEARS, and now it’s finally happening!  I’m traveling with my friend and fellow Larry and Viv lover Kasia, who I met in London back in February, and her sister, Maggie.  They’re traveling from Poland just for the event!  We’re staying in Atlanta, and then driving to Savannah and Charleston in search of a little Southern hospitality and a fictional guy named Rhett Butler before going back to Marietta for the GWTW re-premier event.  Exciting!  I’m hoping to see lots of old houses and dripping Spanish moss.  I’ve also been told the hush puppies are a must-eat.  I don’t know what a hush puppy is but I’ll give it a try!

Let’s see, do I have everything ready?

• fancy dresses: check
• fancy shoes: check
• laptop: check
• phone: check
• charged ipod: check
• Siamese cat: check–wait!  Coco’s not coming with me!
• camera: check
• tickets: check
• something to share with fellow Vivien Leigh fans: check
• everything else: check, check

expect lots of photos for vivandlarry.com

I will try and update here every day about my experience so please check back often!  Have a wonderful week, and if you’re attending the event, I look forward to hopefully meeting you!

Gone with the Wind Comes Back to Hollywood!

If you’re a big fan of films from 1939, you know that this year is the 70th anniversary of such classics as The Wizard of Oz, Wuthering Heights, and of course, Gone with the Wind.  Every year the American Cinematheque screens classic films at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica, CA, and Grauman’s Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Blvd.

This year, in honor of 70 years of 1939, The Egyptian will be screening Gone with the Wind on Saturday, November 28 at 7:30pm.  What makes the Egyptian special is that it was THE original “picture palace” and is now a Los Angeles historic-cultural landmark.  It may look rather small on the outside, but don’t let that fool you.  The inside looks like an opera house with gilt ceilings and a real organ!

Interior: Grauman's Egyptian Theater circa 1922

The Egyptian is steeped in Hollywood history–having been built by the famous Sid Grauman (who also built the Chinese Theater  and the El Capitan Theater a few blocks down)–and was the location for the first ever Hollywood premier:  Robin Hood starring Douglas Fairbanks in 1922.  In later years the theater fell into disrepair and was sold to the American Cinematheque in 1996, whereupon the funds were raised to restore it to its former glory.  Though the Chinese Theater has surpassed it in fame due to its location and all of those celebrity hand prints out front, The Egyptian is still a wonder to behold and a pleasure in which to see films of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Street Entrance on Hollywood Blvd.

This will be the second time I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Gone with the Wind at the Egyptian and I can say first hand that is it such a wonderful experience.  The print that they’ve shown previously is pretty old and very saturated with Technicolor, so it’s always interesting to see this film  as it was shown over the decades to different audiences, and how technology has come so far in digitally restoring films.  Moreover, it’s always fun to see it with a whole crowd of people who love it as much as you do.

Gone with the Wind

If you’re in the LA area, you can purchase tickets to the screening on Fandango.  Don’t miss out on this fabulous opportunity!

Film Review: “The Boys from Brazil”

Hello, website blog.  It’s been a while.  I recently did a little poll on the vivandlarry.com facebook fan page about what visitors most wanted to see on the website.  One of the suggestions was more film reviews, and I thought that was a good idea.

I just finished watching Franklin J. Shaffner’s 1978 film The Boys from Brazil, which Turner Classic Movies aired as part of their month-long salute to the thriller genre.  The film stars Gregory Peck and Laurence Olivier in surprising roles.  Surprising for Gregory peck because he plays a ruthless Nazi, Dr. Joseph Mengele, a total departure from Peck’s all American screen persona.  Surprising for Laurence Olivier becuase he had just done a turn as a ruthless Nazi in John Schlessinger’s 1976 film Marathon Man, and in The Boys from Brazil he plays a frail Jewish Nazi hunter.

I have to admit that The Boys from Brazil isn’t a very good movie (so this review may contain some sarcasm and/or mockery).  Disappointing because it has so many big names.  Aside from Olivier and Peck, the cast includes James Mason and Lilli Palmer, and that guy who plays the creepy cart operator who lures the children to Willy Wonka’s factory of wonders in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the one with Gene Wilder, not the Tim Burton movie that I refused to watch because no one beats Gene Wilder as the Candy Man).  I just checked, his name is Günter Meisner.

The story is based on the book of the same title by Ira Levin, in which we follow a Nazi Hunter named Ezra Lieberman as he unfolds a plot by Nazi-on-the-run Joseph Mengele to clone little Hitlers (I know, right?  Huh?).  According to the recent documentary about thrillers that aired on TCM last weekend, the 1970s were prime for making people paranoid about the potential second rise of the Nazis, and Hollywood really took advantage of this.  War criminals on the run and hiding in South America, waiting to come to the US to wreak havoc after they find out “Is it safe?”  Interesting plot point right there.

DVD poster

The Boys from Brazil had a lot of potential.  The story was just weird enough to border it on horror, but unfortunately the cheesiness of the 1970s and the bad acting all around, especially by Jeremy Black who plays the Hitler clones, didn’t help it any.  Plus is had Steve Guttenberg.  Remember him?  Laurence Olivier received his 10th and final Oscar nomination for this film, and while I say “Huzzah to Larry!” it feels like one of those films that he did later in his life because he needed the money to put his younger kids through school.  It also made me really sad to see him looking so gaunt and frail.  It’s like he dropped about 30 lbs between 1976 when he did Marathon Man, and 1978 when he did this film.  There was even a scene at the end when Lieberman and Mengele are having a fighting match and they’re rolling around on the ground trying to strangle one another, and Gregory Peck looked so much meatier than poor Larry.  I hope he used a stunt double.

I want to say that this movie probably would be better with today’s special effects, but then I’m not so sure the story would hold up today because it doesn’t involve vampires or robots.

Sadly, I’d give it a C- rating.

Gregory Peck and a pack of vicious dobermans

1939: A Celebratory Celebration!

Attention all West Coast (specifically southern CA) classic film lovers! Starting May 18, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is doing an ode to Hollywood’s greatest year, 1939, with a 10 film tribute (all 10 films nominated for the 1939 Best Picture Oscar). Starting off with the mother of all 1939 movies, Gone with the Wind!

Hooray for Hollywood!

THE FILMS:

Gone with the Wind
Stagecoach
Wuthering Heights
Dark Victory
Love Affair
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Ninotchka
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Of Mice and Men
The Wizard of Oz

WHERE: The Samuel Goldwyn Theatre | 8949 Wilshire Blvd | Beverly Hills

WHEN: Monday nights at 8 pm starting May 18, 2009

HOW MUCH: $25 for entire film series//$20 with a student ID

Tickets go on sale on April 27, be sure to grab yours in time!

I think you can guess which two I’ll definitely be at, hope to see you there!

London Day 12

I’m at my friend Katie’s house in Pinner, in west London. It’s been such a good time and her family is so nice! Her mom even gave us a proper English desert of bread and custard, mmm!

I’m so glad I’ve checked out of that hostel and had a proper shower, lol. THAT’S what I’ve missed from home. But i’ll be sad to leave as I love Europe so much. However, as I’ve told people already, I feel like this has definitely been the best trip of my life and I feel like I got the most out of it. Looking back, I really feel lucky that so MUCH happened in only 2 weeks. I met just about everyone I’d always wanted to meet regarding Larry and Vivien, and they couldn’t have been more kind and hospitable, and there I was worried that they’d think I was stupid because I’m so young or something. I guess with enough determination, you really can do anything! Now when i get back I have a task I’ve set out to do and I fully intend to make it happen one day. It’s nice to have people’s support.

I also met some amazing people that I knew through vivandlarry.com, and it was so fabulous to talk to people in person who actually like the same things as I do and love talking about it! So, Kasia, Katie, Elizabeth, and Meg, thanks for meeting up and for being so nice! And tomorrow I’m meeting up with Adeline (who does those amazing drawings in the vivandlarry.com gallery), so that’s exciting! It’s like Larry and Vivien really DO bring together people from around the world.

Yes, this has definitely been the best trip of my life, and I’m glad I came alone and had my own adventure because I got to meet so many amazing people and have such amazing and enlightening conversations, and just do my own thing on my own terms. It’s empowering and fun and I couldn’t have asked for more, really.

I’ll miss it here, but I’ll be back again some day. Only one more day