I just (re)watched a Clint Eastwood movie titled "Play Misty For Me." It brings back so many memories of the good old days. I was raised in Monterey CA and know that part of the country really well. At the the beginning of the movie Eastwood is standing on the deck of a house overlooking the ocean. The "Eastwood" house used in the film is located at 162 Spindrift Drive in the Carmel Highlands, just a few miles south of Carmel CA. It's where the road bends to the right and turns back toward Hwy 1. Spindrift Drive is a very narrow tract. Barely wide enough for two cars to pass. But just down the road from the "Eastwood" house there is a small turnout spot on the left overlooking some of the most beautiful ocean coastline to be found anywhere in the world. And that's where the memories lie. A date with your favorite girl. Dinner, a movie, and then off to Spindrift Drive to find that little turnout spot to watch the submarine races for a couple of hours. Sigh...........

The "Eastwood"  house is off the market now. But you can still get the place next door https://timallenproperties.com/properties/164-spindrift-rd-carmel-ca-93923-ml81738322 . (That's Spindrift Drive in the upper left).

Edited November 9, 20214 yr by W2DR
kant spel

When Betty and I used to drive out to California to visit my brother we always drove a route that would take us to Cambria.  We would spend a day there and then drive up Highway 1 to Monterey where we would spend a couple of days.  I could spend a couple days just visiting the aquarium. 

I love to watch movies of places I've lived.  Especially San Francisco.  Bullet is a good example.  It took several days for them to film the famous car chase and it is disjointed as far as locations are concerned.  Going directly from the steep hills down town to the road up Twin Peaks.

I like watching scenes of the crookedest street in the world because I delivered the Shopping News on that street when I was a kid.  The sidewalks just go straight up and down and don't follow the curves of the street.

Noel

Even a single "Pebble" would be out of my range... <sigh>

2 hours ago, birdguy said:

it is disjointed as far as locations are concerned

Play Misty For Me is the same way Noel. Eastwood leaves his house to go to work in Carmel, just a short drive north. The next scene has him driving across the Bixby Creek bridge some 20 miles south. Such is Hollywood. My wife, also Betty, did her nurses training at St. Luke's. I'd drive up from college every weekend and we'd "see" The City. I remember well the first time I saw Lombard St. I could hardly believe people actually lived there.

Bullitt. I love that movie. I go back and watch it again every couple of years. The "Bullitt Mustang" that McQueen drove in the movie mysteriously disappeared for almost 40 years. It reappeared at the North American International Auto Show in 2018. There were actually three 1968 Mustangs on-hand for the movie. But only one was ever actually driven by McQueen. Back in 1999 I had a chance to buy one of the other two. We were on a trip to Egypt and one of the ladies in our group was from Carmel. Her late husband worked in film production in some capacity. I was amazed that she had, in her garage, one of the "other" Bullitt Mustangs. It had sat there for almost 30 years. I thanked her for the offer and turned it down. What a terrible mistake that was. I've regretted it ever since.

Edited November 10, 20214 yr by W2DR
kant spel

My wife and I several years ago spent a lovely weekend at a place callled Tickle Pink Inn .155 Highlands Dr, Carmel-By-The-Sea . Probably the most scenic hotel we have ever stayed in , I highly recommend .

 

Edited November 10, 20214 yr by johnbow72

Absolutely one of the best. Anywhere.   https://www.ticklepinkinn.com/  .

 

Don't forget Big Sur.  My Dad used take my brother and I camping there.

Noel

Back when the 747 operated into SFO I used to do the route a lot.

I’d hire a BMW motorcycle in San Francisco and head south through the Santa Cruz mountains and end up in Carmel for the night.

I loved it down there, I used to stay at a quaint place called Hofsas house , and go out to eat at the village corner bistro and sit near the fire pit.

I love California, I used to spend almost  every weekend there in my 20’s and 30’s doing the LHR-SFO & LAX flights.

A real shame about missing out on the bullit mustang. The original goldfinger 007 DB5 also went missing, although I read insurance investigators believe they know where it is and it’s being driven around under the disguise of a replica.

I should add I  also love play misty, particularly like the cameo by Don Siegel as the bar tender, The films he and Eastwood did together are among my favourites ever made.

Edited November 10, 20214 yr by jon b

Never been to SF, but I bought the film last year since I'm an Eastwood fan. San Francisco is on my visit list, so If ever get the chance, I'll be out there. 

 

1 hour ago, Jude Bradley said:

I'm an Eastwood fan. San Francisco is on my visit list

As an Eastwood fan you must go, San Francisco city is the other leading character in his classic films, you’ll recognise so much and the feel of the place will be instantly familiar.

We used to stay in the hotel with the pool on the roof which was in the opening scenes of Dirty Harry. There was a bar on the top floor of the Bank of America building (now sadly closed) that was the building where Scorpio fired at the girl swimming in the pool and Clint where finds the shell.

You could sit in that bar and look down at the pool on the roof of the neighbouring hotel with the exact same perspective as those opening scenes, and that massive blue California sky overhead.

A trip to Alcatraz and a walk in the exercise yard with a sit down on those steps is also an amazing experience..’ wolfs coming at ya !”

Edited November 10, 20214 yr by jon b

Don't forget the Top of the Mark.  And the Fairmont Hotel.  A friend of my Dad's ran the print shop there and he would escort my brother and I to the pool where went swimming.

I was on Alcatraz when it was still a prison so I never got to sit on the steps in the yard.  One of my grammar school chum's father was a guard there and on Saturday mornings sometimes I would wait at the dock where the boat landed and he would usher me aboard and we'd play all day in the housing area.  In 1947 there was riot and his father was killed.

I hate the Trans America building.  It is a blot on the skyline.

San Francisco is the city in which I was born and raised through my junior year in high school when we moved across the bay to Marin County.

I also love the Dirty Harry movies.

I also like Hitchcock's The Birds because after we moved to Marin County I spent a lot of time at Stinson Beach and Bodega Bay.  

And the movie Vertigo has a lot memories for me too.  Especially the drive down to San Juan Batista mission near Hollister where I have been several times.

Any movie with San Francisco, especially old San Francisco before the Trans America tower is a keeper for me.

Noel

 

You'd have to pay me to live in California.. Nice place to visit though.  I actually do live on the West coast - of Florida...

8 hours ago, jon b said:

he cameo by Don Siegel as the bar tender

I've spent way too may nights sipping suds at that bar 🙂 (The Sardine Factory). It was started by two guys,  Burt Cutino and Ted Balestreri. Even back when I was in high school with Burt he loved to cook. But who would ever believe that one day Burt-The-Chef would be the co-own a famous restaurant? The food is terrific too. For anyone visiting Monterey it is, IMNSHO, an "must eat there" kind of place.....Doug

15 hours ago, birdguy said:

Don't forget Big Sur.  My Dad used take my brother and I camping there.

Noel

Do you remember the "swimming pool"? It's that shallow spot in the river just behind a very small dam. My family camped there over 70 years ago now but I hope that little pool of water is still there.....Doug

7 hours ago, Jude Bradley said:

Never been to SF, but I bought the film last year since I'm an Eastwood fan. San Francisco is on my visit list, so If ever get the chance, I'll be out there. 

 

I know it may never fit into your plans (I travel a lot too and know how it is) but since you're an Eastwood fan here's something to consider. Clint owns a first-class place called the Mission Ranch just a couple of hours south of SFO in Carmel. If you can spare 48 hours for a drive down and spend a night there I'd really recommend it. If you're lucky, and he's in town, Eastwood himself will probably wander through the dining room just asking folks how they're enjoying their meal. But even if he's not there you'll have a chance to stay in a really nice place..... https://www.missionranchcarmel.com/ .....Doug