Ah, How the Mighty Have Fallen!

This weekend for my boyfriend’s birthday I took him on a surprise little weekend getaway to Newport Beach. He was especially excited because I wasn’t aware of any filming locations in Newport and hadn’t planned any stalking for the weekend. But fate stepped in! While in our hotel room, I happened to open up a tourist book about Orange County which had a section on – you guessed it! – filming locations! And there was one location I wasn’t leaving Newport without stalking!

While The O.C. supposedly takes place in Newport Beach, none of the show was ever actually filmed anywhere near Orange County. (You can view detailed information on every single O.C. filming location on my fave stalking site Seeing Stars.) But apparently fans of the show come to Newport in droves hoping to spot some of their favorite locales from the show. Thanks to the vast increase in tourism due directly to the show, on October 28, 2004 the mayor of Newport gave several of the cast members keys to the city and proclaimed the day “O.C. Thursday.” The cast members also had their hands immortalized in blocks of cement, for what was to be the beginning of Newport Beach’s very own Walk of Fame.

For some reason, the Walk of Fame idea never took off and the cement blocks sat in the lobby of the Newport Beach Conference Center and Visitors’ Bureau for a few years, but were eventually relocated. In an ironic twist, the handprints of the actors who depicted Newport’s most elite residents can now be found at the local Newport RV park. Yes, you read that right. After visiting the Newport Conference Center today and having no luck spotting the handprints, my boyfriend found this article which lead us to the Newport Dunes RV Resort.

The cement blocks are hanging on a display on a wall in the main office of the RV park. When we arrived the display was actually hidden behind a large sign with a map of the park. The front desk clerk let me move the sign out of the way to take pictures. I asked him how in the heck the handprints had wound up in the rarely trafficked office of an RV park and he replied, “No one else wanted them, so we took them.” lol I can’t believe no one would want the handprints!! Heck, I would have taken them and put them in my room had I known they were up for grabs! 🙂 The front desk clerk did tell us that hundreds of people come by to see the handprints each month, though. I think Newport really missed the ball on this one – how cool would it have been to have a Walk of Fame right on the beach for all of us fans to visit? This is actually one location I wouldn’t really recommend making a special trip to stalk – unfortunately, there just isn’t that much to see. 🙁 I was super excited to be there, though, nonetheless – especially since I got to put my hands in Ben McKenzie‘s handprints. I love me some Ben McKenzie! 🙂

Happy Easter and until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The O.C. handprints are located in the main office of the Newport Dunes RV Resort and Marina, which is located at 1311 Back Bay Drive in Newport Beach, just off Jamboree Road. I suggest parking on Back Bay Drive and walking into the RV park – otherwise you’ll have to pay to enter the area with your car.