It was GREAT!! I can't even tell you how fascinating it was to meet the Boags, stay in their home, and have a chance to see all of their wonderful memorabilia, which included not just a ton of DL stuff but old family artifacts dating back to the 15th century! The house itself is a historical gem. It was built by Laurence's...gosh, now I can't remember, but I'm pretty sure it was his uncle...in 1920 and has been in the family all this time. They have some great pictures of the early days of the house, when his uncle worked in movies and had some pretty flamboyant tastes. The backyard had a big pond with flamingoes, for instance. There are pictures of his uncle in front of the house in the 30s with his Bentleys and I'm-not-sure-what-all kind of fancy cars.
But to begin...Kelsey and I arrived Thurs and had fun finding Wally Boag's window on Main St. If you'd like to see it, it is right over the Blue Ribbon Bakery. That was his apartment when he worked there. We also took a picture of Jose the parrot in the Tiki Room, which has Wally's voice.
The next day we spent a leisurely morning in DL, riding a few things but mostly enjoying the atmosphere, eating, and picking out gifts. We then headed back to Hojos to pack the car and meet the others who would be driving with us to the Boags'. We had 3 cars and thanks to Mary Jo's excellent directions, even I was able to get to Santa Monica and find the house with no trouble.
We arrived late afternoon on Friday the 23rd. I had called Laurence in the morning to tell him our approximate arrival time and he said that his dad had gotten up early, gotten all dressed up and was ready
. He later told me that his dad kept asking about it all day. When we got there, Wally looked great and just lit up with a huge smile. He was so excited to have fans come for a visit and you should have seen him pose for pictures!! He did his famous "looks" with the huge eyes and so on but did not spit out any "teeth," LOL. He did a bit of Jose the parrot from the Tiki room. He signed our books and was very determined to write our names in them, though it is very hard for him these days. He refused to sit and stood smiling with us the whole time, happily posing with us for picture after picture.
I have to tell you what I thought was the funniest thing! Wally decided to fool us by saying, "What's the name of the book again?" when we were all gathered around for the signing. He is 89 and forgets things. But then he picks up a book, turns it around and with his big round eyes says, "Ooooooooooh, WALLY BOAG!" while pointing to the title and nodding his head, grinning like crazy. I told Laurence that I think the last thing to go on a man is his ego
After everyone left, Wally went to rest. The day was so wonderful for him but it did wear him out (in a good way). Laurence, Kelsey (my dd) and I went for a walk. The house is only a block away from Palisades Park. On the way, Laurence pointed out interesting sights (homes of famous people, mostly) and told us some of the history of the area. His was one of the founding families of Santa Monica, on his mom's side, so we got to hear some very interesting details. At the park, we looked out on the beautiful vista of ocean and pier.
We walked around a little more and then headed back to clean up. Kelsey and I had gotten some DL treats for Wally and Ellen so we gave them the treats after their dinner. They loved them and were very grateful! We got Mickey gingerbread cookies, Mickey truffles, and a whole thing of turtles. It was hard to figure out what kind of gift to bring and we figured it was hard to go wrong with sweets.
Laurence, Kelsey and I went downtown (the newer part) and had dinner, then watched some fun street entertainers, including a guy who has skateboarding dogs! We had the best time. Laurence was an awesome host and has such fascinating stories, not only about his dad, DL, and historical info, but neat stuff he does himself. He builds boats, and has 2 yachts he built himself. Sailing is a huge thing for him. He said his dad bought him his first sailboat, and 8'-er when he was 8. Then it was something like a 10' boat at 10, 12' at 12, and it either stopped there or at 14.
The next day Laurence gave us the grand tour, from Malibu down to Venice Beach, with so much included about his family history. There are streets named after them. The famous coral trees of Santa Monica were planted by his...uncle? cousin? And there was an uncle (Mom's side) who was hired by Walt Disney to be the landscape architect for DL. He designed and built the early landscaping things at the park. He used an area on a hillside--I think Laurence said it was Brentwood--as an experimental garden to see what plants would work, and there is to this day a big jungle area where he tried out plants for the Jungle Cruise.
We toured the old part of SM and went in a couple of neat stores. There was a fascinating museum full of old movie things but it was closed
. We went to lunch, spent some time wandering around Venice and then went back to the house. Laurence had hired someone to stay with his parents so we could go out, which was nice. After we got back I got to spend some time with his parents and I had a wonderful chat with Ellen, Laurence's mom. She told some fun stories about a monkey, Piccholo, that Wally had given her years before for an anniversary present. The monkey used to go grocery shopping with her, much to the dismay of the store owner. He also loved to go sailing and would scramble up the mast and splay himself against the sail to enjoy the trip. Laurence and his sister would play with him and dress him in little clothes their grandma had made for him.
Wally was still quite tired from the day before so I didn't talk to him too much. However, he would pop in from time to time, always gracious and smiling.
A huge thank you to Leslie, Tina, Marty, Mary Jo, Kelly, and Missy for giving Wally a chance to see fans once again and be "on stage" for a while.
I only had a stupid disposable camera because my good camera broke! I brought my video camera and somehow it got turned on in my suitcase so I didn't get any videos, either. Everyone else had cameras so hopefully I will start getting pictures and I can post them here.
There are a few more things and I do have a couple of pictures from my cell phone, but I will post those later.
I would be soooo excited!!!
