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All of these pictures
link to bigger pictures when you click
on them.
When
it was announced in early September
that The Paley Center for Media
in Beverly Hills would be having
a Monk event in December ("Monk:
100 Episodes and Counting"),
I immediately jumped at the chance
and bought a membership and a
ticket. I figured I'd just worry
about all the details, like where
to stay and how to afford it,
later. A few months passed and
what might have been a one day
trip turned into a full scale
five day Monk themed vacation.
I rented a car, so I could play
chauffeur/tour guide for some
of my fellow Monk fans, and talked
my buddy ToNy into going along
for the ride. If you'd like to
skip right to the glittery celebrity
stuff click
here.
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After
stocking up on Diet Dr. Pepper
and securing Monk in his bobblehead
car seat, we left San Francisco
at 8:00am on Saturday morning
and drove down the coast heading
for Hollywood.
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Our first stop
was lunch at The Madonna Inn in
San Luis Obispo. |
This is the Madonna
Inn main building. |
Above is
our videographer and trip navigator,
ToNy Anderson at the Copper Cafe…. |
...and The Monk
Fun Page editor and chief, me.
|
This is the
wishing well statue outside of the
restaurant at the Madonna Inn…
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...and the lovely
holiday poinsettias. |
If you would like to learn more
about the Madonna Inn (which was
featured in the 1987 film Aria),
check out their website. |
This is my Aunt
Donna. We spent the night at her
house in Newbury Park. Donna is
a Monk fan, too! |
Late
on Sunday morning the Monk fans
invaded LAX. ToNy, Bobblehead Monk
and I were the official welcoming
committee. |
The first arrival,
all the way from Minnesota, was
Deb (Aldebaran)... |
followed by
Amy (Raven) who had just flown in
from Wisconsin. |
We had a photo
op in terminal four. |
Bobblehead Monk
waited for Kim (fan4sure) at Terminal
One, baggage carousel 3... |
and so did ToNy
while Deb made a call. |
Still waiting…
because Kim was at carousel 1, not
carousel 3… |
But she couldn’t
fool us… we found her anyway. |
Next we checked
into our hotel. |
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|
Monk checked
out the lobby (lobby, lobby)… |
and the gift
shop… |
and the balcony. |
First things
first: ToNy got the computer revved
up… |
And Kim got
her bobblehead Monk unpacked. |
The gang was
psyched and ready for the first
sightseeing trip… |
|
It was Sunday,
so no one was home except security
and it was quiet enough for a little
photo shoot. |
The Melrose
Gate was decked for the holiday. |
The two Monks… |
...are ready
for their close-ups. |
Bobblehead Monk
1… |
…and 2.
You can tell Kim’s bobblehead
Monk has been working on his tan. |
It was getting
a little dark, so they turned the
lights on for us. |
We walked over
to the Bronson gate… |
and took a few
more pictures… |
at twilight.
|
That's the Paramount
Christmas tree in the background. |
...and Monk Fans
at the Bronson Gate. |
We had planned
to eat at Miceli’s (“Godfather”),
but there was a Christmas parade
in the way so we settled on Astro
Family Restaurant (“Kid”). |
Monk is in front
of the gas station also featured
in “Mr. Monk and the Kid”. |
We took another
charming group shot while we waited
for the rest of the Monk gang. |
Interior Astro
Family Restaurant. “The Monk
Booth” is three booths in.
Two old guys got there before us…
and seemed pretty comfortable…
for hours! |
So we took a seat
in the back room and every one felt
very safe... |
...since the
adjacent table was filled with police
officers. |
The rest of
our party arrived: Jeff (Two Wolves),
Barb (BfloGal), Rob (Bfloguy) and
Tami (not in this picture). |
We took our
time and eventually the old guys
(totally unaware of our withering
glances) left the “Monk booth”
and we moved in for some pictures.
|
Me, Barb and
Mr. Monk… |
...and from
another perspective. |
The Monk gang:
L to R Kim, Amy, Teresa, Barb, Deb
and Tami |
The Monk photographers:
Tony and Jeff |
A few screen
grabs from “Mr. Monk and the
Kid” |
|
Our
big plans for Monday included Universal
Studios and the rescheduled Miceli's
in Hollywood for dinner. We also
manged to work in a unexpected tour
of Sunset Boulevard including a
bonus Monk location. We started
with the buffet breakfast at the
Hollywood Hotel. In November 2007
when Kim and I flew in for a set
visit, we stayed at the same
hotel and got (inedible) square
eggs for breakfast. The 2008 eggs
didn't taste much better, but of
course Monk would have preferred
it if they were square. |
Monk had no interest in the round
eggs... |
...or the round
waffles |
Monk checks
out the Universal Studios directory |
Between Universal
Studios and the Curious George parking
lot is Citywalk... |
...including the Hard Rock Cafe. |
Deb, Amy, Bobblehead
Monk,
Kim and me. |
Deb, Amy and
Kim |
Monk with King
Kong in the background |
|
|
Deb couldn't resist
the opportunity for a picture on the Bubba
Gump bench. |
Neither could Monk.
They've got one of these at Parmount Studios,
too (and at every other Bubba Gump restaurant)
|
Monk met some fellow
superheroes at the Citywalk gift shop. |
What's the opposite
of Batman? |
Unfortunately Wonder
Woman was
a little bit naked-ish. |
Mr. Monk also met his honor
the Govenator... |
...and
confronted a couple of super villains.
|
Yikes! |
Mr. Monk and an old
man bobbling on a commode. Yikes again! |
No Golden Globe this
year, but we managed to get him an Oscar. |
While we waited for
Blfogal and Bfloguy we all had to have a
picture taken in front of the Universal
Globe. |
Let's say this Universal
Globe represents the earth. |
That's right. It's a
globe.
It does represent the earth. |
Deb (Aldebaran) |
Amy (Raven) |
Kim (Fan4sure) |
Teresa (Teresa1643)
|
Barb (Bflogal) arrived
and Bfloguy wasn't far behind. |
Monk in front of the
Universal red carpet entrance. |
This young man was demonstrating
how to sashay down the red carpet. |
Monk got his ticket.
|
Deb, Amy and Kim got
theirs. |
Tony, Rob and Barb |
Shrek was waiting to
greet us when we finally got in. |
The Curious George attraction...
|
... will have a bigger
part in this story later. |
Curious George was also
waiting to greet us. |
It's hard to tell on
the unenlarged photo, but George is not
making a rude gesture. |
He's got his finger in his mouth (a nervous
habit apparently)
|
So Deb, did you notice
Curious George was missing something? That's
right: a tail. |
Mr. Monk Goes Fishing |
If sharks weren't on
Monk's phobia list... |
...I'm sure they are now.
|
Monk in front of the
fake Hollywood backdrop |
Deb gave Monk a boost up
to look at the real thing. |
Monk in front of the
real Hollywood backdrop. |
Amy, ready for the Universal
Studios Tour |
The Monk gang comes
down the escalator. |
Barb on the escalator
|
Monk in line for the
tour |
Monk waited for the
tram... |
...and stood on his
number as requested. |
The tram arrived...
|
...and Monk took his
seat. |
Barb seemed pretty happy
to be there. |
ToNy usually had at
least two cameras going. |
Scooby Doo's Mystery
Machine was apparently delivering scooby
snacks. |
One of many backlot
bungalows. This was once Alfred Hitchcock's
production office. |
The bridge collapsed
right after we drove over it (and then promptly
uncollapsed.) |
Mr. Monk and the DeLorean |
Monk and one of the locations
from
"Mr. Monk Goes to Mexico"
|
Deb and another location
from "Mexico" |
Deb and the backlot |
The waters parted just
for us. |
Another shark. This
one is in what used to pass for Cabot Cove
on Murder She Wrote. |
The Chicken Ranch |
Wisteria Lane (Colonial
Street) was a
"closed set" for the day. |
Mr. Monk Goes to Whoville |
Just north of Whoville is
the Bates Motel. |
Norman Bates was home,
disposing of a body... |
...and trying to eliminate
possible witnesses. |
Monk might have solved
the crime
if the tram had stopped. |
We enjoyed it, but the
tour was a little short because last year's
fire had damaged the King
Kong attraction. |
Bobblehead Monk rode
the escalator back up from the studio tour
all by himself. Video footage still to come. |
Next stop: The Animal Actors
Show |
Everyone found a seat. |
The Monkey got the show
rolling. |
The host arrived with
some kind of parrot. |
The star of the show
|
The dog from the Bush's
Baked Beans commercials |
This dog co-starred
in
Beverly Hills Chihauhau. |
Ain't she sweet?
(or he? I can't remember which.) |
Mr. Monk and the Orangutan |
The parrot waved goodbye.
|
Mr. Monk on the Blues Brother's
car |
Mr. Monk at 221B Baker
Street |
Kim and Monk and a Royal
Guard |
Mr. Monk in front of
the Hollywood Globe Theater |
Mr. Monk in a phone booth
with no phone... |
...but at least it's
not a public restroom. |
Lucy Ricardo stopped to
have a chat with us and she brought along
Ricky Ricardo. Babaloooo! |
Before we parted she
whispered that she thought I'd been hitting
the Vegavitavegamin, (like I was the only
one carrying a doll. ) |
Mr. Monk meets Chuckie.
|
Mr. Monk meets the Incredible
Hulk... |
and Bobblehead Wolverine...
who he almost adopted. |
Waiting in line for the
Shrek 3D show. |
Mr. Monk did adopt bobblehead
Shrek and Donkey (and Princess Fiona, not
pictured.) |
Kim and Amy made sure that
all the little bobbleheads were properly
aligned. |
Mr. Monk meets the Grinch
|
Mr. Monk meets the Simpsons
|
Monk entered Krustyland...
|
after he met the height
requirement. |
Mr. Monk and the Space Capsule |
Monk was pretty sure none
of these astronauts had committed a murder.
|
So everyone got a picture
with them... |
...except Amy who had to
take a call |
Mr. Monk and another view
of the backlot |
Mr. Monk at the longest
ride in the park... |
...the escalator ride.
|
We had lunch with Beetlejuice
in the lower lot. |
I don't know why he seemed
so
surprised to see Monk... |
...and so happy to see Deb
and Amy... |
...because they weren't
all that
thrilled to see him. |
Mr. Monk joined me and Tony
on The Mummy Ride... |
...and discovered yet another
phobia... |
...pharaohphobia (fear of
mummies). |
Mr. Monk went on the Jurassic
Park ride. |
Just kidding.
Even I won't go on the Jurrasic Park ride.
|
Scooby
and Shaggy |
This is
as close as Monk wanted to get. |
Apparently they came in
the Mystery Machine
|
I had to get a picture
of our Scooby Gang. |
Tony at the Kwik-E-Mart
|
Monk at the Kwik-E-Mart
|
Mr. Monk and 100 Homer Simpsons.
The Kwik-E-Mart clerk tipped us off that
Monk had filmed at Universal the month before
at the Curious George attraction.
|
This one of the most popular
attractions. No, no, no, not Waterworld.
The restrooms, of course. |
They kicked us out at 6:00pm
and
Bflogal & guy called it a night... |
...but the rest of us were
just getting started.
One last shot and we hit Citywalk again.
|
Monk with all the awards
he deserves. |
ToNy... stylin! |
Fan4sure |
Raven |
Tony had to wait for the
women to finish shopping. |
In the last toy store Monk
met Sonny Chow (actually two Sonny Chows,
wrapped in plastic) |
and a gorilla |
and a dinosaur |
and Yoda. |
"Size matters not."
— Yoda |
Citywalk at night |
Amazing Aldebaran |
We
left Universal and headed for Miceli's
in Hollywood. We were going in the right
direction, but I missed the turn off so
we drove up and down Sunset Boulevard
for a while. (I think they call that cruisin'
when you do it on purpose) This turned
out to be fortuitous. On our last time
out Kim and I had spotted the Farm Fresh
Market on Sunset where Monk and Hal met
in "Mr. Monk Makes a Friend".
So we kept our eyes peeled and found it
again. Bad news. It was closed... permanently,
but for our bobblehead photo session purposes
it was just fine.
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We
finally made it to Miceli's for a cozy meal
as well as some piano bar singing. (No,
we weren't singing. They had a professional
doing it.) We finished off the night with
a leisurely stroll down Hollywood Boulevard
to look at the stars on the sidewalk and
the footprints in front of the Chinese Theater.
|
Miceli's |
Amy, Kim, Deb and Tony |
Kim unwinds |
Tony looks at his Universal
pictures |
Deb and Monk |
Monk and Amy |
Enjoying our traditional
Italian meal |
The Monk Gang in front of
Miceli's |
Hollywood Boulevard |
Monk gets his own star along
with the likes of... |
Dean Martin |
Harrison Ford |
Charlie Chaplin |
P Diddy |
Fred Astaire |
and Ekaterina Klenova (No,
she doesn't really have a star yet either,
but she's dreaming big.) |
Tony filming the stars. |
Monk wasn't interested in
Fredericks of Hollywood |
Movie Stars Homes and Crime
Scenes |
Monk found that interesting. |
Grauman's (now Mann's) Chinese
Theater |
Bette Davis |
Roy Rogers and Trigger |
Humphrey Bogart |
Gene Kelly |
Cary Grant |
Arnold Schwarzenegger |
Donald Duck |
Harry Potter |
The Cast of Star Trek |
The Scientology Christmas
Display |
Economic Crisis Special |
ToNy was beat after a long
day |
and so was Monk. |
| Kim provided my
bobblehead Monk with his own sleeping bag/carrying
case as well as a special gift for his then
upcoming Disneyland trip. (Thanks, Kim! He
loves his bag.) |
Click above to read the rest
of the story, or at least what I have so far.
  
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