Chapter 32: Seeing Stars

December 21, 1981

Mom called about 8am. “Hey, you kids up?”

We were. After all, this was 10am at home. We were used to 6am. We’d gotten up and just snuggled and dozed and enjoyed the quiet morning.

“Yeah, Mom, we’re up. Not all that up, but up.”

“Well, get moving, Half an hour and we’re starting breakfast without you.”

Twenty-five minutes later we’d showered and dressed. Mom answered our knock on their door. “Good timing. We were just getting ready to head down.”

Breakfast was in the hotel restaurant. After we all ordered, Angie looked at Dad. “So, what are we up to today?”

“Today’s easy. Almost like yesterday, but obviously not the same, too. We’re spending the day, or most of it, doing one of those tour-bus things. We can get off anytime we want, see things, catch the next bus. We should be able to see a lot that way.”

“Cool!” “Fun!”

We discussed things we wanted to see. Angie and Mom both wanted to window-shop on Rodeo Drive; no surprise there. We all wanted to see the Walk of Fame. Mom liked the idea of seeing celebrities’ homes; Angie was more curious about the architecture. Both Dad and Mom felt a bit nostalgic; this was their first return together since moving away from the L.A. area sixteen years ago.

Breakfast arrived, and I asked a question I’d never asked before in either go-round. I’m pretty sure Angie hadn’t either, from the look of curiosity on her face. “So, why did you move here, and why did you move away?”

Dad smiled. “I had a good job offer out here. Then I got a better job offer in Houston.”

Mom laughed. “That’s not all of it. I didn’t really like it out here. At the time Houston was much smaller and we could afford a much nicer place. Even with the growth, that really hasn’t changed. And I thought people here weren’t all that friendly, at least where we were living. If we’d liked it here, the job was good enough.”

“My first job in Houston was better, though. It’s still a shame that fell apart.” I knew Dad had lost an excellent position when I was about four or five. I’d never gotten the details, and I wasn’t sure if I ever would. It’d hurt him quite a bit, and the memories were still painful. What little I knew was that someone he’d considered a friend had stabbed him in the back. He’d recovered, work-wise, but never quite at the level he’d been at.

Breakfast arrived, and we dug in. Angie smiled after a bit, thinking of something. Dad asked, “Hey, what’s up?”

“I was just thinking it’s a shame we’re going back when we are, or we could see the Rose Parade.”

Mom shook her head. “I’ve been to it. Once. It’s just too crowded for me! I didn’t like it very much.”

I hadn’t realized she disliked crowds that much. “Will Disneyland be fine? That’s really crowded, too, and especially at Christmas.”

She smiled. “I can always go over to a bench or something, there. And people only really pack together for a few things. People will crowd up for parades there, but only for perhaps half an hour. Not hours on end, like the Rose Parade.”

Dad smiled. “We’ll avoid that.”

“But I want to see the parades, Sam. I’ll be fine. Just not right up in the crowd.”

“Right. Sorry, Helen! That’s what I meant, not that we’d avoid going at all.”

Once we’d finished breakfast, we simply had to walk a few blocks to reach one of the pick-up points for the tour. We could buy tickets on the spot. Shortly, a double-decker tour trolley arrived. People packed the top deck, so we opted for the bottom. We arrived at Rodeo Drive ten minutes later, and hopped off and began window-shopping.

I only have so much patience for this sort of thing, and Dad has even less, but we managed. It helped that there are only so many hours in the day and we had plenty of other things we wanted to see.

From there, we visited a bunch of other tourist spots. The La Brea Tar Pits are a pretty interesting stop; one doesn’t expect something like that in the middle of an urban area. We hit the Walk of Fame, and had lunch nearby, talking about the stars. Mom and Dad had a different perspective, having grown up in the golden age of the studio system.

We got a glimpse of the Hollywood sign next; then the tour next went by several celebrities’ residences. Those turned out to be less interesting than Mom and Angie had hoped; many looked like a wall and some trees. Only a few showed enough of the actual residence to be really interesting to either of them, and we didn’t see any actual celebrities at all.

We didn’t get back until nearly 6pm, by which point we were all a bit tired. The flip side of being awake and full of energy in the morning, because you’re two time zones off, is getting tired early in the evening. Angie and I both attempted to pick things that were more ‘California’ and less midwestern for dinner. Much of what was ‘new’ and ‘exotic’ in the dining options at the Beverly Hilton would be relatively standard American cuisine within a couple of decades.

Following dinner, Angie and I decided on a swim, while Mom and Dad retired early after making plans to meet at 7:30am for breakfast. We had fun meeting other teenagers at the pool.

If we’d needed confirmation that we were attractive, we’d have gotten it from the appreciative looks we both received. Several girls flirted with me; several guys flirted with Angie, one making a fairly serious attempt to pick her up.

By 9pm we were tired and headed up to bed. Angie and I stripped off our suits and hit the shower. Of course, I mean hit the shower together; what else would we do? Avoiding the more interesting parts, in the interests of behaving, we scrubbed and dried each other.

“That was hilarious,” Angie giggled. “You should’ve gone for it! It wouldn’t be cheating.”

“I’ve got the most beautiful girl that was there naked, right now. Hard to do better than that.”

“Flattery will get you ... nowhere. Too tired!”

“Me, too! Another good reason I shouldn’t have gone for it.”

We collapsed in bed. Yes, still naked.

And then we kissed and snuggled up and went to sleep, because ... still us.

December 22, 1981

Mom and Dad got to breakfast just as we did. We spent much of breakfast rehashing yesterday — what we’d seen, whether we’d missed anything, whose house seemed the nicest, what we’d buy if we had Hollywood-star budgets.

Once we finished, we went up to the rooms because Mom and Dad wanted to pick up a few things before we headed out. Mom wound up deciding it was a bit cool and changed. Finally ready, we headed to our first theme park — Universal Studios.

As mentioned, I’ve been there several times, but most things I ‘know’ to be at Universal Studios didn’t exist in 1981. I could barely remember my 1980 visit. It was interesting to see how it functioned ‘back then’. In other words, now. The studio back lot tour was a big part of the fun, but so were the shows. What Universal really did well in 1981 was the shows, and we enjoyed them. Stunt shows, animals, and their screen test show were fun.

Angie got into the screen test show and tried to show off some acting chops. Personally, I just figured they thought having a hot blonde teenager would get some good audience reaction. But she got to be a star, and — hopefully — Dad got photos.

As theme parks go, it was not much compared to what it would become, but we enjoyed it, and it set the stage for bigger and more.

When we got back after the park and dinner, I called Nancy. Her dad answered. “Hello, Gardiner residence.”

“Hi, Mr. Gardiner. This is Steve Marshall. I was calling for Nancy.”

“Oh! Hello, Steve! I hear you’re out here!”

“Yes, Sir. In Beverly Hills right now, and tomorrow night, then we’ll be further south.”

“She’s looking forward to seeing you, I can tell you that. Nancy! Phone!”

After a bit, I heard her pick up the phone. “Hello?”

“Hi!”

“Hi, Steve! Make it out here OK?”

“Yup. We did Hollywood tours yesterday, but I was tired and waited until today to call. We went to see Universal Studios today.”

“Ahh, that’s cool!”

“Magic Mountain tomorrow. I can’t wait. Mom and Dad, well, they’re humoring us on that one. There’s enough for them, but they’re not roller coaster people.”

“We haven’t been yet. I hear it’s good!”

“Me, too.”

“So, when should we get together?”

“The 26^th or the 27^th. I can’t imagine you want to get together Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, and we’re staying downtown on the night of the 28^th.”

“OK. Any idea where?”

“We have a car, if you have someplace good to recommend.”

“Let me think about it. You’ll be at the Disneyland Hotel, right?”

“Yeah.”

“OK. Call me the 24^th, wish me a Merry Christmas, and we’ll make a plan then.”

I laughed. “OK, that’ll work. But I’ll wish you a Merry Christmas now, too.”

“Well, OK, then! Merry Christmas to you, too! Talk to you then!”

I hung up.

“So, she’s indecisive?” Angie asked.

“Yeah. We’ll see what she comes up with.”

“Well, I am not indecisive. We aren’t waiting until way into the trip this time. We are playing strip gin, loser goes first.”