One bright spot in my weekend was that I explored new a Secret Stairs walk. If you've been reading this blog, you know I'm a huge fan of the book, Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles by my friend Charles Fleming. It just happened to be Chaz's birthday on Sunday, so completing Walk #35 was nice little bit of harmonic convergence.
Chaz recently released his new book, Secret Walks: A Walking Guide to the hidden Trails of Los Angeles. I--and my dog--are so excited about this! A whole new book filled with little-known places in the city to discover. Yea!
FYI--Walk #35 is a tour of the many spiritual sites in the Eastern part of the Hollywood Hills. It begins at Franklin and Vine, right alongside the 101 Freeway. First stop is the Vedanta Society, a meditation center and monastery founded by Swami Prabhavananda, a disciple of the Indian ascetic Ramakrishna.
It was actually my second time visiting the temple--the first was when I took Esotouric Bus Adventures' Maja's Mysteries Tour (all of their unique L.A. tours are highly recommended) led by my friend Maja the White Witch. If you've never caught one of Maja's Magic School lectures, covering different topics of the occult and magick arts, I recommend those, too. She hosts her series at another one of the Hill's spiritual sites, the Annie Besant Lodge on Beachwood Drive.
There's a lot of spiritual energy in them Hills. But I digress--let's continue with the walk. The main site on the walk is the Krotona Society, once a center for Madame Blavatsky's Theosophical Society, now a community of apartments. If you're subtle about it, you can go check out the tranquil courtyard with koi pond. It's a lovely oasis.
Another of my favorite sites on this walk is Hollymont Castle, the former mansion of Barbara Stanwyck, rumored to be haunted. It's now occupied by pianist Dexter Grey and surrounded by a bunch of funky statues. You will be mine one day, crazy haunted mansion.
I passed more classic homes once owned Hollywood stars like Jeanette MacDonald and Hopalong Cassidy, along with the most stunning Moorcrest Estate, originally home to Mary Astor and Charlie Chaplin, now to Andy Samberg and Joanna Newsom.
Former home of the awesome Barbara Stanwyck, soon to be mine (insert evil laugh)
Driving home, I decided to wind through the Hills and discovered a new entrance to the Hollywood Reservoir off Deep Dell Place (well, new to me--there were lots of other people there). Really want to check this out some day. Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed in this part of the Hills.
It always amazes me that this is smack dab in the middle of the city
A couple more things to love:
This article on Russell the Cat who was horribly burned in a house fire and now provides love therapy to other animals at an Animal Emergency and Urgent Care Clinic captured my heart. Like 99.8% of the world's population, I am a sucker for different species of animals gettin' all snuggly with each other.
Photo via My Modern Metropolis
And since I've been remiss for the past couple of weeks, here's your Dog of the Week...it's Sandra Dee! Pretty Sandy is a one-year-old, 10-pound terrier/chihuahua mix. She's not yappy like most chis, but she's still in the play biting stage and will need a little training. She loves to eat and play and snuggle and is just fine in her crate. If you're interested in opening your home to this little love muffin, she's available to adopt at Dogs Without Borders today.
Photos (c) Dogs Without Borders
That's all for now, but I have lots more to share with you this week. Love, Lexa.
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