Some pics from Fantasy Island (sort of)

[WonkaKid]

Today was “free day” at the LA Arboretum, which is in Arcadia, just east of Pasadena. I booked my reservation two or three weeks ago with the aim of starting my day with a two-mile(ish) stroll through the grounds. It’s very pretty there and is also where the house used as Mr. Roarke’s pad is located from the awesome ‘70s show “Fantasy Island.” It’s also the house at which his assistant Tattoo would climb into the bell tower, ring the bell and call out “De plane! De plane!!” as that week’s guests arrived and their seaplane taxied to shore. I thought perhaps you’d all appreciate a few pics.

Side note: my brother and I would often watch The Love Boat and Fantasy Island back-to-back on Saturday nights when we were kids. We enjoyed the shows, in part because I think it made us feel smart and grown-up since we could appreciate a show meant for adults. I’d often make the one-mile bike ride to the Osco Drug and score candy for the evening’s entertainment.


Mr. Roarke's crash pad.


Tattoo's belfry. Pretty sure that’s a light, though, and not a bell :-(.




I believe that this is where the seaplane taxied up to FI .

 

[kirstyfly]

Wow that is cool, a blast from the past.

I used to watch this show in New Zealand when I was a young girl.

I always thought this place was in Hawaii or somewhere tropical lol .

 

[deejdigsdis]

I always pictured tropical too. I have memories of that Saturday night line up as well. After my bath my older sister would plop me in front of the TV while she rolled my hair in brush curlers. I remember being confused when Jan Brady was a guest on Love Boat. "Why is she so much older on Love Boat? She was just a young girl with a fake boyfriend named George Glass in the episode I watched yesterday."

 

[WonkaKid]

I always thought this place was in Hawaii or somewhere tropical lol .

So did I! The actual island, of course, is in Hawaii - Kauai, to be precise. But the LA Arboretum is about half a mile south of the 210 freeway in Arcadia.