Photo Essay: A Station Master's Tour of LA's Monumental Train Terminal

After nearly 15 years of living in Los Angeles, you'd think I've seen everything there is to see. But I'm constantly reminded of how much more there is, hiding beneath all those layers. 

Take Union Station, for instance. I thought my "holy grail" was getting back into the bar space that had become the Streamliner Lounge—which I finally got to do during this year's TrainFest in September.

But as it turns out, this great train station had even more in store for me—revealed to me during a recent tour I took with Los Angeles Railroad Heritage Foundation (LARHF). 

 

Now, all I knew was that it was going to be led my a former station master—so it certainly would be different than the architecturally-focused Los Angeles Conservancy tour I took all the way back in 2012.

Photo Essay: Holiday Bells and Whistles at the Bellagio Conservatory

This was my fourth time spending Thanksgiving in Las Vegas on a solo trip—and after taking myself out to dinner, I decided to head to the Bellagio for the Christmas display in its Conservatory & Botanical Garden.

I'd never seen the Conservatory displays at night—and I thought it might be a little less crowded, since Vegas itself is pretty quiet on Thanksgiving. 

Photo Essay: The Life and Career of Elvis Presley, As Seen Through Graceland's Costume, Car, and Airplane Collections

It actually never really occurred to me that going to Graceland would mean more than just visiting the mansion that Elvis Presley lived in until his death in 1977. 

 

But actually there's more—a lot more—across the street, including the "Elvis: The Entertainer Career Museum."

Photo Essay: An Emotional Visit to Graceland, A Trippy Voyage Back to the 1970s

Memphis had been on my bucket list for a long time—but I kept regretting not going when I was a lot closer to it geographically while I was living in New York City. 

I couldn't fit it in during my trips to Tennessee when I flew to Knoxville for a wedding in Chattanooga in 2005 or Nashville for the Kentucky Bourbon Festival in 2007. And after moving to California in 2011, Memphis has just always felt so far. 

It was the type of trip I hadn't allowed myself to splurge on, which made it the perfect way to celebrate a milestone birthday. 

The lynchpin to my birthday trip was, of course, Graceland—the historic home of Elvis Presley from 1957 until his death in 1977. 

Photo Essay: The Memphis of Elvis, Beyond Graceland

The easy explanation for my recent Memphis trip was that I was celebrating my 50th birthday at Graceland. 

But the truth is, I went to Memphis for Elvis. All of Elvis. 

After all, most casual Elvis fans seem to segregate his career into two eras—young Elvis (à la Jailhouse Rock) and Vegas Elvis—and typically prefer the "earlier" one versus the "late" one. But my favorite Elvis era is a middle era: the '68 Comeback Special, when he was coming out of his Paramount movie career and getting back into performing live, right before he started his Las Vegas residency in 1969. 

And I have much affection for the cape-wearing, lei-laden, karate-chopping Elvis of Aloha from Hawaii, That's the Way It Is, and his final album (a live-and-studio combo) Moody Blue. 

I'd already chased all those Elvises around two states—like at the Honeymoon Hideaway and other sites around Palm Springs, and at the former International Hotel on the Vegas Strip. But now, it was time for me to finally experience what remains of The King in his longtime hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.

And that's more than just Graceland (pictured above, of which at least one photo essay is forthcoming.)

Photo Essay: How Southern California Inspired the Creation of This Memphis Cemetery's 'Crystal Cave'

I took a trip to Memphis for my milestone birthday at the end of September, mostly to finally visit Graceland and cross that off my bucket list. 

I really wanted an Elvis-themed weekend, so I shied away from attractions that weren't rooted in the history of rock and roll or its king. 

But there was one exception to my rule, something I definitely did not want to miss: the Crystal Shine Grotto. 

It's touted as "the world's only man-made crystal cave" (I guess the Crystal Cave in Yucca Valley, CA doesn't count because it's foam?)—and from the outside, it looks like a geological oddity tucked away in the middle of East Memphis's Memorial Park Cemetery. 

 

 

Photo Essay: A Nighttime Centennial Celebration for the Breakfast Set

The year 2025 marks the centennial of The Los Angeles Breakfast Club, the storied social club of which I've been a proud member ("Ham-and-Egger," as it were) since April 2017.

The actual birthday is in March—when the club held a special breakfast fête to commemorate the occasion. But this past weekend, we had a big nighttime party to celebrate 100 years of friendship.  

It was held at Friendship Auditorium on Riverside Drive, located on the selfsame site where The Breakfast Club (before "Los Angeles" had to be added to its name for legal reasons) was founded in 1925. But this particular clubhouse building is much more recent—dating back to 1965, built after the club returned to the sacred land after spending a stint at the Ambassador Hotel (now demolished) and an even longer stint at a clubhouse on Los Feliz Boulevard (also demolished). So, it was a double celebration of sorts—the 100th for the club, and the 60th for the auditorium (which is actually owned by the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks). 

 

The club could've celebrated offsite—but it's here that guests could party under horseshoe-adorned chandeliers (an artifact brought over from the Los Feliz Boulevard clubhouse) and don eggy top hats at the photo booth. 

Photo Essay: The California Museum That Celebrates the Art of the Clown

There's something so appealing to me about single-genre museums—like the Bunny Museum or the Banana Museum—and narrowly-curated collections, like the Crochet Museum or the Beauty Bubble Salon and Museum. 

So, despite having no particular affinity to clowns (other than dressing up as one last Halloween), visiting a clown museum in Barstow was still a must-do detour on my way back from Death Valley this past summer.

Photo Essay: WeHo Halloween Carnaval 2025

I've lived in the same Los Angeles neighborhood for 15 Halloweens—and for almost half of them, I've spent the night of October 31 at the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval.

The Things I Never Learned (A.K.A. Time Goes By So Slowly For Those Who Wait)

 

I was born knowing certain things—and knowing how to do certain things. 

I was born knowing how to laugh—and while I may have learned some things along the way, I think I naturally knew how to make others laugh. 

I had a certain understanding of the world once I emerged from the womb—to a certain extent, how to read peoples' minds, or at least grasp their true intentions, despite what they might say or do. I had a natural knack for mimicry—which made me a fast learner, and a deft impersonator. I naturally had a musical sense, which my Grammy praised during our piano lessons—but then I learned how to read music and play it on keyboard, horn, and voice.

But there are certain things I came out of the birth canal not knowing—and, having never been taught those things by my parents, I never learned them.