Max, did you ever hear the Eliott Nest story in Rochester way back then? That's how I'm starting the 1st chapter in my "The Wacked Out History of Bodybuilding" once Peter says, "Do it!".
No, Kieith, I did not go to Alan and Judy's wedding cause I was in Las Vegas at the time but I was with you and that damn fart machine in some Waikiki elevators a couple of times. Shit, I get embarrassed when I burp in private but your "ventriloquism" farts are definitely worth an endless laugh. You did that to an elderly Asian couple in the elevator once. I bust a gut once they got off.
Just finished taking some photos of the present spots where the old BB places were located ........ Original Golds on Ocean Ave, Pete's Gold's on 2nd, present day Golds, Guido street crossing sign, the original World Gym, the second Worlds Gym (now a gymnastics school), The Pit, Zucky's, The German's, Joe Weider's original California office on 5th Ave, etc.
If I can't figure this out, I'll send them to Only and ask him to post them with some of the comments I add.
Could not find the original DUNGEON, nor the Smorgasboard Restaurant, I think that they were in the location where the huge shopping center is presently located.
Santa Monica has changed a hell of a lot ........ Many more cars than those olden days. More crowded and trendy. A relatively new outdoor mall on 3rd.
In them old days you never had a problem parking within a block of Gold's in Santa Monica and I don't even think that they had parking meters back then.
And on weekends when it got a bit crowded, there were always two city parking structures which offered unlimited free parking.
The old dump of a hotel across from Gold's on 2nd in Santa Monica is now a very fancy and trendy place to stay with a lot of fine dining places built all around it.
The old neighborhood bars are now fancy martini places or Starbucks and I didn't see too many drunks or panhandlers this time either.
That town has definitley sobered up a bit.
ANd all the muscleherz have moved further south into Venice and even further south to San Diego. Or east to Las Vegas where brand hew homes have finally hit the $300,000 mark. A couple of years ago they were in the $120,000 - $150,000 range.
I had friends looking at $1,000,000 one bedroom, condo apartments in the MGM Grand but they finally ended up buying a couple of homes right off the Strip in South Las Vegas - the fastest growing spot in the entire valley.
Keith, the South Coast is going up pretty fast so I guess you'll be there the next time you visit LV. That whole area on south of Silverton is booming with homes and businesses and it looks to me that the Strip will be stretching down that far within the next ten years.
I bet a new Gold's or 24 opens there within the next few months.