Make Way For Ducklings

Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Address: 4 Charles Street
Date: Sept 2013
Website: friendsofthepublicgarden.org

  Mr. & Mrs. Mallard are looking for a nice place in Boston to start a family.  While they are searching for the perfect place Mrs. Mallard hatches 8 little ducklings.  Mr. Mallard looks for a new home and arranges to meet Mrs. Mallard in Boston Public Garden.  Mrs. Mallard has to lead her ducklings from the Charles River through traffic and other obstacles.  Fortunately, the police help out so that everyone will make way for ducklings.

  Make Way for Ducklings is a best selling children's book written by Robert McCloskey back in 1941. In 1987 the bronze sculpture arrived in Boston Public Garden and has become almost as popular as the book.

  The sculpture shows Mrs. Mallard leading her children towards the pond that they will eventually call home. Her children are called Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack.

  In 1634 Boston Common was created as America’s first public park and Boston Public Garden was the first public botanical garden in America opening in 1837.

  A large number of ducks call the garden home so every spring there is a new group of ducklings following their mothers around on a new adventure.  The rest of the year Mrs. Mallard will always be there to the delight of visiting children. 

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Map of Our World
Make Way For Ducklings

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Post # 273

Happy Days House

Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Address:  565 N Cahuenga Blvd.
Date: June 2019
Website:  www.paramountstudiotour.com

  Happy Days the popular television show ran for about 10 years after first airing in 1974.  It followed the life of Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) and his friend The Fonz (Henry Winkler).  The show was filmed at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles so it is not surprising that when they were looking for a home to stand in as the Cunningham residence they found one just a few streets over from the studio.

  Happy Days was filmed on Stage 19 of the Paramount Studios lot.  In the photo above, the red trolley is just about to pass the building.

  If you take the Paramount Studios Tour, Stage 19 is located right next to the tour entrance building on Melrose Avenue.

  On North Larchmont Avenue is Cafe Gratitude. After our Paramount tour we walked here for some vegan dishes.  A few streets further west is North Cahuenga Blvd.  The Happy Days house is located at number 565. The fictional house is supposed to be located in Millwaukee, Wisconsin at 565 North Clinton Drive.  At least they got the number right.

  Unlike some homes used in television or movies, this home has not changed much in the last 40 years so it was easy to recognize. Sunday and Monday are happy days. Tuesday and Wednesday are happy days. Thursday & Friday unfortunately appear to be garbage days.

  The house was used for exterior shots during the shows run. We enjoyed our brief visit to relive some Happy Days memories with the Cunninghams and of course Fonzie living over the garage. We give it two thumbs up. "Aaaay!"

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See more locations from the Paramount Studio Backlot.

Map of Our World

Cunningham Residence
Cafe Gratitude

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Post # 269

Vessel

Location: New York City, New York, USA
Address: Hudson Yards
Date: September 2019
Website:  www.hudsonyardsnewyork.com

  The High Line in New York is a repurposed elevated railway that passes through the west side of Manhattan.  At the northern end of the High Line is Hudson Yards.  Hudson Yards has grown to include a large shopping center, apartments and a concert event venue.  In the middle of it all stands the Vessel.

  Before we reached the Vessel we had to walk past The Shed.  The Shed is a huge metallic looking building on wheels so that the amount of covered space can increase in size.  When we walked by, someone was rehearsing a song which to us sounded like "Bye, Bye Macaron" repeated over and over.  We found out later that the event was for World Central Kitchen so maybe those were indeed the lyrics.

 The Vessel really is something to see.  It is a hollow open structure that stands almost 16 stories tall.  It is made up of a series of steps and landings and one elevator.  There are 154 staircases and 80 landings inside the structure.  It looks like a giant vase sitting in the middle of the square.

  Climbing the Vessel is free but requires a reservation as only a limited number of visitors are allowed inside at any given time.  The first day we arrived and were told to visit one of the kiosks surrounding the structure.  From there you can use a QR code or be sent a text to get a link for reserving a time slot.  Unfortunately, all of the times were later than our other afternoon plans would allow.  The next day we returned and tried again.  We booked a time for later in the afternoon and went off to explore New York.

  We returned within our designated entry window and were allowed into the Vessel.

  At the bottom of the Vessel was a glowing purple light where people were placing their phones to get a perfectly round image with their faces and the surrounding buildings.

  The photo would look something like this photo above except with the view ruined by goofy faces.

  We started to climb the stairs.  There are no seats or benches anywhere so be prepared to climb up and down without a break. There is one elevator if you wish to wait for it.

  The stairs go up in multiple directions so you kind of move around the sculpture as you climb up.  If you wanted to stay on one level but move to the opposite side you would go up one staircase then across a small platform and then down again.  You would repeat this until you got where you were going.

  We moved around the structure as we worked our way up to the top.  The staircases full of people made for interesting photos from any angle.  The whole structure had a metallic bronze exterior to it which reflects.  We felt like we were in some futuristic space station.  We expect it may not be too long before someone films a movie inside this structure.  If you can, we recommend you visit The Vessel and take the stairs.

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Map of Our World
Vessel

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Post # 268

Crosby Street Ghost

Location: New York City, New York, USA
Address: 79 Crosby Street
Date: January 2019
Website:  www.firmdalehotels.com

Oh, my love, my darling  I've hungered for your touch.

  Sam (Patrick Swayze) and Molly (Demi Moore) get attacked on a dark street in New York City.  Sam is killed but lives on as a ghost.  He tries desperately to let Molly know he is still around and enlists the help of psychic Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg) to help him.  This is the premise of the aptly named movie, Ghost.  Surprisingly Ghost was directed by Jerry Zucker who is better known for his work on comedies like Airplane! or the Naked Gun movies.

  Sam & Molly are attacked on Crosby Street in New York City not far from where we once enjoyed tea at the Crosby Street Hotel.  When two men finally come to help Sam & Molly we are quite certain that they come running from the vacant lot where the hotel was built.  The photo above is of the rear entrance to the hotel on Lafayette Street.

  In the movie, Sam & Molly walk down Crosby Street and notice a man lurking in the shadows.  We find out later that the man's name is Willie.  Willie quickly pulls a gun on Sam and as the two struggle the gun goes off.

  We see Willie run off down the street and then see Sam run after him.  Sam turns back to Molly and is shocked by what he sees.

 Lying in the street is Sam with a gunshot wound and Molly calling for help.  Sam is shocked and literally beside himself.  They would have been on the coblestone street somewhere near this mysteriously yellow puddle.  Sam soon realizes he is now a ghost.

  Sam & Molly's apartment is only about 3 blocks from where Sam was killed.  It is here at 102 Prince Street that Sam and Oda Mae Brown come to try and convince Molly that Sam is still around and watching out for her.

  Their apartment is the fourth from the top.  The second window from the left is where the workers can be seen trying to pull a statue of Mary up to the apartment.

    New York City is such a popular movie location that no matter where you go, you are probably walking through the ghosts of a movie shoot from the past.

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Map of Our World

Ghost Attack , 102 Prince Street
Crosby Street Hotel

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Post # 267

On The Set of Jeopardy!

Location: Culver City, California, USA
Address: 10202 Washington Blvd.
Date: June 2019
Website:  www.sonypicturesstudiostours.com

  As part of our Sony Pictures Studio tour we were going to visit either the set of Wheel of Fortune or the set of Jeopardy!  The Sony Pictures Studio Tour is a walking tour of the studio grounds.  Today's set visit was Jeopardy!  Contestants are given answers and then must phrase their response in the form of a question.  So if the answer was "A Merv Griffin created game show that has been around since 1964".  The question would be "What is Jeopardy!?"

  The two game show sound stages are located right beside each other on the lot so we walked past the Wheel of Fortune stage to get to Stage 10 for Jeopardy!

  Once inside we were face to face with the Jeopardy! contestants row.  Everyone in our group took turns pretending that they had what it takes to answer Jeopardy! questions.

  As we stepped behind the panel we could see the tablets they use to write their final answers.   There are also lights at each position to let the contestants know who buzzed in first.

  The photo above is of one of the buzzers in its holder.

Alex Trebek has been the host of Jeopardy! since 1984.  He has had some health issues recently but is fighting to keep going and he has the support of a legion of fans.

Jeopardy! has won 33 Daytime Emmys over the years.  There was a cabinet displaying the hardware.

  There were other awards on display such as the Jeopardy! college championship trophy.

  In 1932 this Danish company was formed making interlocking bricks for children.  What is Lego?  There was a Jeopardy! set made out of Lego.

  There was a photo of two Mr. Ts.  There was the Mr. T we know from The A-Team and the other Mr. T as in Trebek.  Both men were sporting lots of gold chains.

  There was a Toronto Maple Leaf Trebek jersey on display.  Alex is an avid sports fan and was born in Canada.  He wore this jersey during a video clue shoot.

  If you have ever watched the show and wondered what Alex is writing down during the show, we now know.  He has a chart of the board and he crosses out the answer once a contestant has given him the correct question.

  Finally we had a chance to sit in the audience in front of the set.  The front row is for a group of judges who have to decide if a question was given correctly or if something needs changing during the show.  The big game board was up on the stage, but the set was dark as there was no taping that day.  The answer is "We did!"  The question is "Who had a good time going behind the scenes on the set of Jeopardy!?"

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Map of Our World

Sony Pictures Studios

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Post # 263