Arcadia’s historic Rod’s Grill, which famously appeared in Mad Men, has closed. You can read about the sad shuttering over at Dirt.
The Derby from “Book Club”
They say that laughter is the best medicine. For me, it’s laughter coupled with stalking. While recovering from a minor surgery last October, I hunkered down in bed for a couple of days watching movies. The flick that brought the most healing was easily Book Club thanks to both its humor and the fact that it was lensed in Los Angeles. As such, I paused the 2018 romcom countless times throughout my viewing in order to research its locations, much to the Grim Cheaper’s chagrin. A few I was thrilled to recognize from the outset, including Hummingbird Nest Ranch, which I blogged about in March, and The Derby, one of Arcadia’s most historic and popular restaurants where Sharon Meyers (Candice Bergen) goes on a blind date with a man she meets though a dating app in the film. Though I dedicated a post to the eatery back in 2013, I figured it was worthy of a re-do.
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The Derby was originally opened as Proctor’s Tavern, a small steakhouse established by Arcadia Rotary Club charter member Hudson M. Proctor on Foothill Boulevard near Santa Anita Park in 1922.
It was moved to its current home, a sprawling brick building at 233 East Huntington Drive, in October 1931.
The restaurant did not become The Derby until December 1938 when it was purchased by Bill Peterson and his business partner, famed jockey George “The Iceman” Woolf, who rode such stallions as Seabiscuit and Azucar to victory.
Woolf filled the intimate, dimly-lit interior with memorabilia and bric-a-brac from his illustrious racing career, most of which is still on display today.
The Derby was hit by tragedy on January 4th, 1946 when George was killed during a race at the tender age of 35, shocking the equestrian community, the city of Arcadia, and the restaurant’s longtime patrons. Though his widow, Genevieve, continued to run the place for several years, she wound up selling it to Dominic and Lorene Sturniolo in 1951.
The Sturniolo family enjoyed a 50+-year tenure at The Derby until they, too, sold to the restaurant’s current owners, Dustin Nicolarsen and Michael Thomas, in 2007.
Today, the place is still going strong, almost one hundred years after its inception! In fact, it is one of my and the GC’s favorite Pasadena-area spots. Though it is on the pricey side, its happy hour can’t be beat!
In Book Club, The Derby is where Sharon meets up with her Bumble date, “bald tax attorney” George (Richard Dreyfuss).
In the scene, the two sit in the restaurant’s main dining room, which in the Proctor’s Tavern days was known as the “Spanish Room.”
After their date, Sharon and George head outside to The Derby’s parking lot where things get a bit – ahem – amorous.
The Derby was also the site of Derek’s (Adam Scott) birthday party in the 2008 comedy Step Brothers.
Though Seabiscuit did not do any filming on the premises, costume designer Judianna Makovsky spent time at the restaurant researching Woolf’s former racing uniforms. As she told the Los Angeles Times in a 2003 article, the experience was “completely invaluable.” Dominic and Lorene Sturniolo’s son, Charles, who was running the eatery at the time “even let us come over and dig through boxes and scrapbooks. In racing museums, they save the shirts and hats but not what’s underneath. Nobody had the britches or shoes. People just didn’t save it. We were thrilled to find The Derby. It brought to mind that George Woolf was a real man, not just a character in a story.”
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: The Derby, from Book Club, is located at 233 East Huntington Drive in Arcadia. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.
Hilton Garden Inn Arcadia from “Veep”
It has been said that everyone has their own special superpower. I don’t know if that is true or not, but if so, mine is definitely my brain’s ability to take note of small, seemingly insignificant and rather trivial details, and commit them to memory, completely of its own volition. Case in point – I have stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Arcadia on a couple of occasions over the years. Though I did not spend much time on the premises during either of my visits (typically when in L.A., I am out and about stalking during all waking hours), last year, while watching the closing scene of Veep’s Season 5 premiere, “Morning After,” in which Jonah Ryan (Timothy Simon) attempts to check into a very crowded “Carson City” hotel, I immediately recognized the orange and pink ombré curtains visible behind him as those of the Garden Inn. Had I scrutinized or taken particular note of the hotel’s lobby area during my stay? No, not at all. In fact, prior to viewing the episode, had you asked me about the HGIA’s curtains, I probably would not have been able to recall them. But as soon as the draperies entered my eye-line during Veep, something in my brain clicked and I knew immediately where filming had taken place. Because I had failed to snap any photos of the hotel on my visits and because it is one of the series’ more minor locations, I never blogged about it. But when the Grim Cheaper happened to book us another stay there a few weeks back, I decided it was finally time I do so.
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In “Morning After,” Jonah, Amy Brookheimer (Anna Chlumsky), Dan Egan (Reid Scott), and Richard Splett (Sam Richardson), along with a slew of other staffers from both the Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Bill O’Brien (Brad Leland) presidential campaigns, descend upon Carson City, Nevada to head up a recount in the area. While in town, the group stays at a local unnamed motel. The exterior shown in the episode is a partial view of the Carson City Plaza Hotel and Event Center located at 801 South Carson Street, as well as the small strip mall situated across from it at 711 South Carson. (Though I have actually been to CC, I do not have any photos of those particular spots, so you’ll have to excuse the Google Street View image below.)
All actual filming of the “Morning After” hotel scene, though, took place at the Hilton Garden Inn Arcadia. The view of the curtains in the shot below is what caught my eye while watching.
After viewing the episode, I headed over to Google to pull up images of the hotel to confirm my hunch. One look at pictures of the Hilton Garden Inn’s lobby, with its peachy curtains and uniquely-etched front doors, cinched things for me.
Hilton Garden Inn Arcadia also popped up in the next episode of Veep, titled “Nev-AD-a.” (Confused about that title? This Veep clip should clear things up.) Oddly, a different hotel exterior, that of the Carson Tahoe Hotel at 800 North Carson Street, was utilized for the establishing shot in the episode. (Again, please pardon the Google Street View image below.)
In “Nev-AD-a,” exes Dan and Amy head back to their hotel after their first day of re-counting votes . . .
. . . and are shocked to discover that their rooms are located right across from each other.
In the episode, Dan is staying in Room 129 . . .
. . . while Amy is in 130. Both of these rooms can be found on the Hilton Garden Inn’s first floor, directly off of the lobby.
I am fairly certain that the interior of room 130 (or another of the property’s rooms) was also used in the episode. Like a dolt, I did not take any photos of the room we stayed in, but as you can see in these images from the hotel’s website, the Garden Inn’s bed and lamps match what appeared onscreen.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: Hilton Garden Inn Arcadia, from the “Morning After” and “Nev-AD-a” episodes of Veep, is located at 199 North 2nd Avenue in Arcadia. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.
Anoakia Mansion from “Doppelganger”
There’s no denying that Doppelganger is a pretty horrible movie. But part of the fun of the Halloween season is watching ridiculously terrible horror flicks from years past – and stalking their locations, of course. I had long been on the hunt for the psychiatric institution from the 1993 thriller and was given a tip a couple of years ago that a historic, since-demolished mansion named Anoakia in Arcadia was the right spot. (For the life of me, I cannot remember who gave me the information. To whomever it was, I apologize.) Even though the place is long gone, I figured that it still proved blog-worthy being that several people have asked me about its location over the years.
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Anoakia was originally constructed in 1913 for Anita Baldwin, the daughter of Elias Jackson “Lucky” Baldwin, the founder of Arcadia. The 50-room estate was designed in the Italian Renaissance style and boasted 17,000 square feet of space, a bowling alley, a gym, wood-paneled rooms, etched glass doors, a pool, an aviary, a bee yard, tennis courts and murals painted by artist Maynard Dixon. The 20-acre grounds featured ponds, gardens, stables, a bathhouse and a chapel. Upon Anita’s death in 1939, the property was turned into a boarding school for girls. In 1944, it was purchased by Lowry McCaslin, a former manager of the Baldwin estate. He continued to operate a school on the premises for several decades. Unfortunately, after the Whittier earthquake in 1987, McCaslin was forced to make costly upgrades to the mansion to keep it up to code. Maintaining the site was no longer feasible for the 82-year-old, so he had the school moved and made plans to develop Anoakia’s grounds, keeping the mansion intact.
City officials rejected all of McCaslin’s proposals and Anoakia sat vacant for the next decade and began to dilapidate. In 1999, a developer from Orange County purchased the site from Lowry’s estate (McCaslin passed away in 1995) and came up with a plan to build a gated community of 31 homes on the land. To do this, the Anoakia would need to be demolished. While the developer met with some opposition from preservationists, the city eventually approved of his plans and the historic mansion was leveled in 2000. You can see some pictures of how it looked in its last days here.
Today, the upscale community is known as Anoakia Estates.
The only part of the original property to remain intact are the perimeter wall and a guard house located in the southeast corner of the grounds (circled in the two aerial views below).
I did not know about the guard house at the time that I stalked the location so I did not take any photographs of it, but you can see what it looks like it via the Google Street View image below.
In Doppelganger, Anoakia stood in for Our Lady of Mercy Psychiatric Institute, where Holly’s (Drew Barrymore) brother, Fred, was institutionalized.
True to life, the institute was said to be located in Arcadia in the movie.
Anoakia showed up a couple of times in Doppelganger.
The real life interior of the mansion was used in the movie, as well.
From what was shown in Doppelganger, it is obvious that Anoakia was an absolutely idyllic estate. What a shame that it is no longer standing!
For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: Anoakia Mansion, aka Our Lady of Mercy Psychiatric Institute from Doppelganger, was formerly located at around 1200 North Baldwin Avenue in Arcadia.
Today’s “L.A.” Mag Post – Walley World from “National Lampoon’s Vacation”
Be sure to check out my latest blog post for Los Angeles magazine today – about the Walley World entrance from National Lampoon’s Vacation – at LAMag.com. My columns typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours.
Santa Anita Park
This weekend, I dragged my fiance out to Santa Anita Park, aka the Santa Anita race track, in Arcadia for some major stalking. Our original plan was to catch a movie at the theatre located next door to the track, but a funny thing happened on the way to the show. 🙂 While driving to the movies, I got an email from fellow stalker Owen who told me that Santa Anita Park stood in for the entrance to Walley World in fave 80s movie National Lampoon’s Vacation. Needless to say, I was absolutely SHOCKED! All this time I’ve lived in L.A. and had no idea that Walley World was literally right in my own backyard. So, I made my poor fiance detour the car and, with Owen’s directions in hand, the two of us headed over towards the racetrack. 🙂
Santa Anita Park first opened its doors on Christmas Day of 1934 and has the distinction of being known as Southern California’s oldest race track. Elias Jackson, aka “Lucky”, Baldwin had originally built a horse racing track on what is now the Arcadia County Golf Course in 1907. Sadly, though, just two years after its opening, the government passed the Walker-Otis bill, which outlawed gambling and forced Lucky to close up shop. Twenty-five years later, after California had legalized parimutuel betting, a company named the Los Angeles Turf Club opened up a race track just a few blocks from the former track’s site. The Los Angeles Turf Club was owned by movie producer Hal Roach and a doctor named Charles H. Strub. Roach and Strub commissioned their new track to be built in the Art Deco style by architect Gordon B. Kaufman, who is most well-known for designing both the Hoover Dam and the L.A. Times Building. The original exterior of the race track building still stands at Santa Anita Park to this day. Santa Anita has hosted a number of memorable competitions over the years, including the equestrian events of the 1984 Olympic Games and Seabiscuit’s big win – and final race – which took place on February 9, 1940. Because of the involvement of movieman Hal Roach, the race track has long been associated with the silver screen. Celebs like Bing Crosby, Louis B. Mayer, Alex Trebek, Errol Flynn, and Spencer Tracy all owned horses that raced at Santa Anita at one time or another. And, of course, the track has also shown up in several Hollywood productions.
I have actually been dying to stalk the race track ever since it appeared in my favorite episode of the television series Las Vegas. In the Season Three episode, entitled “Everything Old Is You Again”, Danny McCoy (played by – sigh – Josh Duhamel) has a flashback of sorts in which he fantasizes about what it would be like to run a 60’s era hotel and casino named the Jubliee. In the episode, the entire cast dons 60’s regalia, uses terms like ” Poindexter” and “It’s a gas”, and dances to the Twist. Everyone, that is, except for poor Danny, who doesn’t quite have the moves to the latest dance craze down yet. He spends pretty much the entire episode begging people to teach him how to do the Twist. I’m telling you, it is SUCH a cute episode! And, it just so happens that the Club House at Santa Anita Park stood in for the Jubliee Hotel and Casino in the episode. My fiance immediately recognized it when we first saw the show a few years back. So, I really could not have been more excited to stalk the place this weekend!! In a lucky twist of fate, while we were snapping some photos out front, an INCREDIBLY nice valet came up and started talking to us. I told him that the Vegas episode that had filmed at the Park was my very favorite and he asked if my fiance and I wanted a tour of the areas used in the episode. IF we wanted a tour???? IF we wanted a tour???? LOL OF COURSE we wanted a tour! 🙂
Both the interior and the exterior of the Club House were used as the Jubilee Hotel and Casino in the “Everything Old Is You Again” episode.
The main entrance to the Club House also served as the main entrance to the Jubilee.
According to the valet, hundreds of casino gaming tables and slot machines were brought in to turn the main room of the Club into the casino’s main floor.
Other areas of the Club where filming took place include the bar where Sam (aka Vanessa Marcil) “worked”, which is, in reality, a cafeteria counter;
the main lobby area;
the Club’s cafe, where Mary worked in the episode . . .
which is also the same area where Mary taught Danny to do the Twist :);
the steps located just outside of the cafe doors, where Danny asks Mary out on a date;
and the Jubliee’s “pool” area. Because Santa Anita Park doesn’t actually have a pool, the Jubilee’s “pool” was in actuality just the Club’s back porch area. Producers simply added some chaise lounges, a handful of bikini-clad women, some wet cement, splashing sounds, a bit of movie magic, and voila – they had themselves a hotel swimming pool! 🙂
At the end of the episode, Danny finds himself in the lobby of the present day Montecito Hotel and Casino, where Chubby Checker just happens to be on hand to entertain the guests . . .
. . . and to lead everyone, including Danny, in a rousing rendition of the Twist. See, I told you it was a cute episode! 🙂
The racetrack was also featured in the Season Two Valentine’s Day episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 entitled “And Baby Makes Five”. In the episode, Andrea finds some luck at the track by betting on horses with names such as Lovesick, Unrequited, and Grand Amour. Notice a theme here? 😉
And, as mentioned in my introduction, the Park was also used in National Lampoon’s Vacation. In the movie, an un-used portion of the track’s parking lot stood in for Walley World’s main entrance. According to IMDB, a painted backdrop was installed behind the above pictured overpass to give the illusion of roller coasters in the foreground. Love how you can still see the yellow divider lines in the road that were used in the filming!!
The racetrack’s GINORMOUS parking lot area stood in for Walley World’s parking lot, where Clark and his family race each other- with “Chariots of Fire” playing in the background – to the theme park’s entrance. Again, a huge painted backdrop was used in this scene to create the illusion of roller coasters.
Walley World’s main entrance – where Clark, upon hearing the news that the park is temporarily closed, punches Walley Moose in the nose – is actually Santa Anita’s South Entrance. The entrance was dressed up quite a bit for the filming, so in person it looks much different than how it appeared onscreen in Vacation. Also adding to the difference in appearance is the fact that the movie was filmed in 1983, long before Santa Anita’s main tower, which you can see in the above photograph, was built. An interesting sidenote – it’s fairly common knowledge among locationites that Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia was used for the filming of the scenes inside of Walley World. So why, you ask, was Magic Mountain’s real entrance not used in the movie? Well, apparently, the original ending of Vacation involved Clark W. Griswold and family leaving the “temporarily closed for repairs” Walley World and heading over to Roy Walley’s house, gun in hand, to demand that he entertain them. When that ending didn’t fare well with test audiences, the finale we all know and love was shot on location at Magic Mountain. Rather than waste money re-shooting the parking lot scenes, producers just used the scenes that had already been filmed at Santa Anita Park. And the rest, as they say, is history!
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Santa Anita Park has also been featured in Seabiscuit, A Day at the Races, The Dark Horse, and the television series Jockeys, Grey’s Anatomy, and The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂
Stalk It: Santa Anita Park is located at 285 West Huntington Drive in Arcadia. Las Vegas was filmed at the Park’s Club House. The entrance to Walley World was really the South Entrance of Santa Anita Park.
The overpass that the Griswold’s drive under when entering the Walley World parking lot is a bit tricky to find. It is located directly off of Huntington Drive, near 659 West Huntington Drive. The overpass leads to Westfield -Santa Anita Shopping Center and runs over one of the un-used areas of the racetrack’s parking lot. You can see its exact location in the above map.