“Up With Downey” Tour
Downey’s pop culture legends and landmarks are amazing and I want to share them with you! Join me in Downey, CA, on Saturday, March 27, 2010, for this one-time only “Up With Downey” tour – a 5-hr field trip adventure in “America’s Greatest Space Age Suburbia!” Were even gonna meet Miss Downey!
“Up With Downey” tour attractions include:
POP MUSIC LEGENDS…
See the former home of the pop music’s most successful duo, the Carpenter’s – where they lived and Karen tragically died, plus we’ll see their “Close to You” and “Only Just Begun” apartment buildings named for their first two #1 hits!
CRADLE OF THE APOLLO MISSION…
Tour the former North American Aviation “Space Ship Factory” where the Apollo Command Module, that safely delivered man to and from the moon six times, was designed – we’ll see vintage rocket ship models, memorabilia and a big space age surprise!
FAST FOOD GRANDDADDY…
**No host** lunch at the granddaddy of all fast-food stands, the worlds oldest McDonalds, (1953) plus learn the “McStory” at the McDonalds Museum next door!
HIDDEN GHOST TOWN DISCOVERED…
Experience the spectacular remains of the Los Angeles County “Poor Farm” and early days of Rancho Los Amigos Rehabilitation Center. This is a virtually unknown treasure trove of unique buildings built between the 1890s & 1920s in architecture styles including craftsman, Spanish, Egyptian Revival Moderne and more!
LOCAL MEMORABILIA ON DISPLAY…
At the Downey Historical Society Museum we’ll see a treasure trove of charming vintage local art, artifacts and memorabilia plus tour the city’s oldest house!
GOOGIE MIRACLE…
Finally we celebrate a car culture landmark prevervation/restoration miracle and learn the epic rise- and-fall-and-rise-again story of the greatest drive-in car hop coffee shop ever, (Originally Harvey’s Broiler, later Johnie’s, now Bob’s Big Boy!)
This five-hour driving and bus tour begins and ends at Bob’s Big Boy Broiler located at 7447 Firestone Blvd, Downey, CA 90241. (Free tour parking in Bob’s Big Boy’s auxiliary parking lot) $75.00 ticket includes bus transportation, museums etc. **No host** lunch at world’s oldest McDonald’s. (Sorry, no refunds or exchanges.)
I lived in Downey from July 1997 through March 2009, which were thus far my happiest adult years.
I hope that you give this tour again, and if you do, that you arrange at least a 1/2 hour visit to Rancho Los Amigos’ public corridor, which is lined with poster-sized copies of historic photos. Yes, this was “the County poor farm” – but in some ways, that system was more humane than today’s welfare.
It kept families together and their meals were freshly cooked by the mothers, from produce, milk and animals produced on “the farm.” The fathers worked during daytime wherever they could find a job, and returned each night to sleep in the men’s dorm. The mothers and children slept in a separate dorm, but all the families ate together. It wasn’t fun, but it was a safety net until the family could save enough to afford separate housing.
“Rancho” was also a pioneering hospital during the polio epidemic. One hallway photo shows a room of polio patients in iron lungs, and vividly illustrates the scale of this epidemic.
One Rancho patient, Pat Raming, had developed polio when pregnant, and was in an iron lung when she gave birth to her daughter. Pat never regained
the ability to walk, and her husband divorced her, but she was an intelligent and loving single parent to her three children for many years.
Even today, Rancho is well-known for their work with many polio survivors who struggle with Post-Polio Syndrome. I was lucky to know one survivor through the Downey church we both attended. He was not simply a survivor, but one of Rancho’s patient advocates.
And I learned that this disease is still very active in parts of the world. The 2005 book “Polio: An American Story,” which won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for History, is well-worth reading, to understand the challenges which Rancho met during the polio years.
Please, please, please do this again. My dad, DuShon, had a hair salon there for 3 decades. I would love to experience your tour.
Downey is my hometown and I’m so sorry I missed this! Even though I know and love all these spots, it would have been nice to see them honored this way. I always knew there was something special about Downey, and it’s wonderful to see it appreciated. I have all the local and area spots (Santa Fe Springs, Whittier) in your book flagged to show friends who visit. Thank you so much!!