This Memorial Day weekend, enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience as Disney presents A Christmas Carol Train Tour at the Los Angeles Union Station (800 N Alameda St) beginning Friday, May 22nd and continuing through Monday, May 25th. As a special promotion for Disney's A Christmas Carol, set for release in November 2009 and starring Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge, Disney's A Christmas Carol Train Tour takes its visitors on a behind-the-scenes look at the magic of the making of this new Robert Zemeckis film (director of The Polar Express), a sneek peak of the movie in their very own Digital 3D theater, a viewing of the museum artificats in their Charles Dickens Museum, concept art, costumes 
and models from the movie, carolers and so much more. But, it isn't limited to just the Los Angeles area. The Train Tour only begins at the Los Angeles Union Station on Memorial Day weekend. But it is scheduled to stop at various train stations across the United States, eventually making its way to Grand Central Terminal in New York City in November 2009. Disney is making sure that Ebenezer Scrooge has learned his lesson to share with others by offering all of this absolutely free to all visitors. So, check the schedule to see when Disney's A Christmas Carol Train Tour is coming to a train station near you.
Los Angeles Union Station - May 22-25, 2009 Schedule:
Friday, May 22 9am-9pm
Saturday, May 23 9am-9pm
Sunday, May 24 9am-9pm
Monday, May 25 9am-6pm
Heather Chavez - Second Self Virtual Assistance: When There Isn't Enough of You to Go Around!
Photo courtesy of FoxSports.com
Whew! What a race! In typical Darlington fashion, these racecars turned into whirling dervishes on the track. I don't think even one car got away without trading paint with the candy cane striped outer Darlington wall. In the second night race in a row, there were a record 16 cautions and countless single car spins that managed to avoid being "the big one" (like the two we had at Talladega). We even got a fireball rolling down the track thanks to Michael Waltrip in the #55. When he dropped the engine, an oil fire ignited his car into serious flames. Luckily, he walked away unscathed. A few laps later, Clint Bowyer (#33) managed to hit the outside and inside walls pretty hard. It looked like he got shaken a bit, but he also managed to walk away from it.
It was a great race for Team Hendricks. After a valiant effort from Greg Biffle (#16), who really seemed to have THE car to beat, the little jockey Mark Martin won the race, with Jimmy Johnson coming in 2nd, Jeff Gordon taking 5th and Talladega winner Brad Keselowski driving the Hendricks #25 to a 7th place finish. The Stewart-Haas racing team of Tony Stewart (#14) and Ryan Newman (#39), who also had a fantastic car during the majority of the race, had a spectacular finish of 3rd and 4th, respectively. Even little Joey Logano (#20) had a hell of a race, finishing 9th. It was edge of your seat racing, for sure. I was concerned when both Jimmie (who pitted out of sequence with the rest of the field) and Jeff (with a problem tire) went down a lap. Jimmie got the lucky dog pretty soon after and climbed his way back to the top 5 in no time. It took alot longer for Jeff to get his lap back. But, he raced his way to the front pretty quickly as well to retain his points lead in the Sprint Cup race. That's the mark of true champions. This Saturday, May 16th, is the All-Star Race on the Speed Channel at 8:30pm EST. Regular Sprint Cup racing resumes on Sunday, May 24th at Charlotte Motor Speedway at 5pm EST on Fox. See you then!
Photo courtes of FoxSports.com
Top 5 Finishes of the Darlington Southern 500 Presented by GoDaddy.com:
1. Mark Martin (#5)
2. Jimmie Johnson (#48)
3. Tony Stewart (#14)
4. Ryan Newman (#39)
5. Jeff Gordon (#24)
Heather Chavez - Second Self Virtual Assistance: When There Isn't Enough of You to Go Around!
And the win goes to the birthday boy, Kyle Busch. After a brief rain delay, things got underway at Richmond International Raceway for Saturday's night race in NASCAR Sprint Cup's 10th race of the season. My man, Jeff Gordon, looked like he was going to have a pretty strong run at another win until little old Shrub came on like gangbusters with about 40 or so laps to go. Although, Jeff's 8th place finish put him at the top of the leaderboard in the points race again. Yippee! Was it just me or was this another pretty boring race even WITH a dozen cautions thrown in the mix? There wasn't a whole lot to say this week. Maybe I'm just still reeling from Talladega. Who knows. Even though I'm not a fan of Mr. Big-Head Busch, I do have to congratulate him on a well deserved win. Only one other driver has ever won on his birthday: Cale Yarborough. However, Kyle's going to have to win one more time on his birthday to tie Cale Yarborough's record of 2 birthday wins. Join me for another night race on Saturday, May 9th at 7pm EST on Fox. Let's hope Darlington shows us a bit more excitement.
Top 5 Finishers of NASCAR'S Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway on May 2nd, 2009:
1. Kyle Busch (#18)
2. Tony Stewart (#14)
3. Jeff Burton (#31)
4. Ryan Newman (#39)
5. Mark Martin (#5)
When CC Miller first brought his family out to our fair city of Riverside, CA in 1876, there was nothing but orange fields as far as the eye could see. CC Miller built a small, two-story adobe boarding house that he named Glenwood Cottage on the one city block that CC had purchased. He and his family ran the boarding house until 1902, when CC decided that he wanted a change of scenery and moved with his wife out of the area. At that time, CC's son Frank decided to take over running the boarding house.
But, Frank Miller had much grander plans than his father. Frank's vision was to create a beautiful destination hotel, which would eventually become the Mission Inn. At the turn of the century, California was known for its missions that were founded by the Franciscan monks. Frank Miller decided that calling his hotel the "Mission Inn" would help create a certain mystique and aura that would draw people to this tiny out-of-the-way town. If someone thought his hotel was originally a true mission, he wouldn't correct them. He even went so far as to dress like a monk, board the trains that came out to the area and comment about how great the Mission Inn hotel was, handing out oranges to anyone who was interested. When wealthy travelers came out to inspect the Mission Inn that this monk was speaking so highly of, they would stay for weeks at a time (a "season").
While never considered a wealthy man, Frank Miller was quite the visionary. He would travel to Europe, see something he liked in either architecture or even furniture, make a drawing of it (if it wasn't cheap enough for him to be able to buy it) and have it reproduced for his hotel. He would buy pieces he was interested in at yard sales or estate sales as long as they fit his "bargain basement" mentality. At one point, he even let the community know that he was willing to buy up anyone's wrought iron fencing that they were willing to part with. He took these wrought iron pieces, none of which matched by the way, and created a beautiful brick wall that incorporated all the panels.
Frank Miller loved the bells incorporated into other California missions and decided to add his own. He also wanted to honor the local Native Americans in the area by utilizing the dual cross (called the "Rain Cross") in the design. The City of Riverside liked this so much that they offered to buy the rights to the symbol of the dual cross above the bell. Frank, in his very salesman-like way, told the City that they didn't have to buy it. They could use it as much as they wanted to as long as they didn't change it in any way. He figured that whenever anyone saw the symbol, they would think of his Mission Inn. And, this strategy paid off. You can see this symbol on everything from street signs to street lights to City of Riverside stationery, including your electric and trash bill.
Throughout the years, other wings were built in differing styles from the original "U"-shaped Mission Inn, somehow incorporating European, Spanish, Renaissance, Italian, Asian and Turkish influences, among others. While the building itself is technically four stories tall, there are over 20 different levels throughout the entire building.
When Frank Miller purchased a beautiful gold family altar from friends in Mexico, it was too large to put anywhere in the Mission Inn. So, he had a chapel built around the altar. The chapel also contains seven of eight original Tiffany stained glass windows that were given to Frank Miller by Mr. Tiffany himself after the church they were originally housed in was destined to be torn down. Not one to cater only to one theology, Frank's chapel also includes a menorah and representations of other religions.
Many celebrities and dignitaries have graced the halls of the historic Mission Inn, including several presidents (Harrison, McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, Taft, Hoover, JFK, Nixon, Ford, Reagon and George W Bush). Ron and Nancy Reagan spent their honeymoon night at the Mission Inn. Betty Davis got married in the Inn's chapel. Sarah Bernardt, Mary Pickford, Clark Gable, Harry Houdini, Ginger Rogers, Cary Grant and Spencer Tracy are just some of the big stars that have stayed at the Inn over the years. Even current celebrities, like Barbara Streisand, Arnold Swartzenegger, Leonardo DiCaprio, Drew Barrymore and even the Osbournes have spent time at the Inn.
From the day after Thanksgiving to just after the new Year, the Mission Inn is bathed in the brilliance of thousands of Christmas lights to celebrate Riverside's Festival of Lights. This is a sight to behold, believe me!
After Frank Miller died in 1935, his children decided they didn't want to run the hotel. Ownership changed hands several times over the years. At one point, it served as dorms for students attending the University of California at Riverside. One company bought it and went bankrupt just a couple of months before it was set to celebrate its grand re-opening and was boarded up for many years, sitting empty. When some of the Mission Inn was set to be demolished to make way for a parking lot, many people (officially calling themselves the Friends of the Mission Inn) lobbied to have it declared a historic landmark. It now holds the distinction of being a city, state and national landmark and has been reborn as a beautiful, luxurious hotel in downtown Riverside.
The hotel has four different restaurants: the outdoor cafe-style Las Campanas that serves wonderful Mexican food, the Mission Inn Restaurant that has an amazing Sunday brunch to die for, the Bella Trattoria that is a wonderful Italian experience in an outdoor setting and the upscale Duane's Steak House.
It's amazing what can come of one simple man's dream. When you think of Riverside, California, you can't help but think of the Mission Inn.
Heather Chavez - Second Self Virtual Assistance: When There Isn't Enough of You to Go Around!
A shot of the beautiful Shoshone Falls on the Snake River in Idaho. Mother Nature astounds me with the beauty she produces. I think it's very peaceful. I wish I were there now. Waterfalls have always fascinated me. Isn't it gorgeous?
Heather Chavez - Second Self Virtual Assistance: When There Isn't Enough of You to Go Around!
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