After Paramount, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up. Then we all piled back into the van and were chauffeured out to Santa Monica by our awesome film professor/tour guide for the weekend, Dr. Horton. We were meeting some of Horton's old friends for a pizza dinner.
At the pizza party were a documentary filmmaker, a screenwriter, a man who works on the Simpsons (putting together their extra things, like books, etc, to sell), and the most adorable old couple in the entire world.
Harriet and Sam (the adorable old couple) are both 89 years old and have been married for over 65 years. They told us the story of how they met, and I literally teared up a little, it was so sweet.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Harriet lived in L.A. at the time and drove up to San Francisco for the weekend to visit a friend. On Saturday, the friend was at some sort of conference, and Harriet went to join her. She was going to go out on a lunch date that day with a sailor that she kinda knew, and they agreed to meet at the conference. While at the conference, Harriet's friend introduced her to Sam. They immediately were attracted to each other and started in an earnest conversation. They were enjoying each other's company so much that when the sailor came to pick up Harriet, she invited Sam to come with them. So two became three.
The way Harriet tells it, lunch was brief and a little awkward. As soon as the checks came, they went "dutch" and the sailor left as soon as possible. Sam stuck around. They spent the entire rest of the day together. In the evening, he walked Harriet to her friend's home where she was staying and then took three different street cars to get back to his home.
The next morning, a Sunday, Sam again took three different street cars to pick Harriet up from her friend's home. Harriet kept stressing the three-street-car part... I guess it took a lot of effort back then to travel across town, and she was flattered. They spent the entire day together again, walking San Francisco's downtown area, riding the trolley, and enjoying each other's company.
That evening Sam proposed. And she said yes.
That all happened in July. They married in November. So basically, they dated for two days, their courtship lasted four months, and they've now been married for over sixty-five years.
They are the sweetest couple you will ever meet. And still so in love. They hold each other's hands, and Sam kissed the top of Harriet's head once when he stood behind her chair.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Overall, it was a really nice evening spent with really nice people. When I got back to live in Los Angeles, I am going to visit Harriet and Sam on a regular basis. They are wonderful.
After the pizza party, we all went back to the hotel, and after a short break, we (the younger set) decided to sample the L.A. night life. On the recommendation of the guy who showed us around Paramount, we went to this little dive bar on Sunset Blvd. Don't remember what it was called, but it was great.
It had a very intimate feel, being narrow and dimly lit, and the drinks were all written up on a chalk board on one wall (a kinda common thing to do in LA, I guess?). This is the place where we had our two celebrity sightings (and another one the next night when we went again... I just can't remember that girl's name). It makes sense too, since the place is very quiet and definitely off the beaten path.
But, even with the swanky atmosphere and high-class patrons, my favorite part of that bar was the bar-back. A bar-back is a guy who keeps the bar stocked with alcohol, ice and lemon wedges for the bartender throughout the night. He's usually the guy carrying the giant ice bucket and chewing on a black straw, towels dangling out both sides of his pants.
Anyway, this particular bar-back was one of the nicest guys ever. When we first got there, we must have looked pretty uncomfortable. I definitely felt like we had the words "Oklahoma" stamped across our foreheads.
But Trevor, as if sensing our pain, came over right away and started chatting with us. Almost like I expected, he's out in L.A., working to be an actor. His name is Trevor Trout, after all. A pretty distinct screen name. And he has already been in a few things too.
For example, he's in the music video, "Hillbilly Deluxe," by Brooks and Dunn.
He's the kid with blond hair sitting in the passenger seat of the big red muscle truck at the beginning.
I hope he gets famous someday. I really do. He was nice.
.... to be continued ....
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