Rubel Casle

 

 Entry gate to Rubelia

We went on our first Atlas Obscura tour a couple of years ago and enjoyed it so much that we register for local trips whenever we can. On Sunday, we visited the Rubel Castle, an amazing handmade "fortress," located in the foothills of Glendora. Our tour guide was Scott Rubel, nephew of his uncle Michael, the mastermind and enduring force behind the castle.

 

 Though he died in 2007, Michael's name still appears

on the castle's mailbox

Built primarily of stones gathered from the surrounding area, construction of the castle began in 1968 and continued until 1984, thanks in large part to the volunteer labor of friends, neighbors, and family. Today the grounds are managed by the Glendora Historical Society, though a few historians and artists also live there. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.

Monument sign at the castle's entrance

A prime example of folk architecture, the castle is an eclectic collection of buildings and mechanical artifacts assembled, over many years, by Michael Rubel. Dusty old mementos include an assortment of early 20th-century cars and ancient farm equipment, as well as a red caboose, which, at one point, was someone's home. Wooden water towers recall a time when water was pumped via a windmill, and there's even an old swing.

 

Red caboose in the backyard

 

One of the many cars Michael collected as a teenager

 

1940s Ford pickup used on the old Rubel farm

 

Stamp machine decorating one of several garages

 

Tim taking a swing

 

Old water towers and windmill

With its turrets, secret passageways, working clock tower, and bottle house, the castle looks like it belongs more on Disneyland's Tom Sawyer Island than in the middle of a mid-century tract-house neighborhood. Every young child's dream home! And all made of scavenged and donated materials.

 

Castle exterior

  

Above the castle's drawbridge--the bucket was used to haul

stones to the top for building

  

Living quarters, looking west from interior courtyard

  

Looking up and east

 

Clock tower--clock rings on the hour

and half-hour

  

Large courtyard

  

Smaller interior courtyard 

 

Upper level of smaller courtyard

 

"Found art" objects

  

Lovely donated door

  

Narrow passageways

  

And even narrower balcony

  

Catwalks from one of the towers (yikes!!)

  

Bottle house exterior

  

And interior--bottles eerily illuminated from outside

 

Escape tunnel from inside the castle

Once inside the castle walls, we were amazed by all the machines and historic memorabilia the Rubels collected: artifacts from Glendora native and fan-dancer Sally Rand, route 66 items, musical instruments, electrical equipment, and more.

 

Old Coke machine

 

Machine shop

  

On-site bar decorations

 

Michael's living quarters, now a museum

    

Michael's former bedroom

 

Tim admiring ancient electrical equipment  

Huell Howser filmed Rubel's Castle twice, calling it one of his favorite Southern California landmarks. And now we know why. We highly recommend that everyone visit at least once!

 

Our intrepid Atlas Obscura group

  

Photo of Michael Rubel (on right) 

Japanese Garden and Reclamation Water Plant

 

 The Japanese Garden

Despite growing up in The Valley and trying to keep up with events "over-the-hill" from us in Culver City, we never knew there's a gorgeous Japanese garden flourishing in the Sepulveda basin. That is until last month, when we took a tour of the grounds with our new friends at Atlas Obscura. Created in the mid-1980s, the garden is an amazing hidden oasis located right next to a water reclamation plant. In fact, the garden was created to demonstrate what can be done with reclaimed water. Plus, the facility, bridging the two areas, looks so futuristic that it's often used as the facade of Star Trek's Starfleet Academy. Highly recommended!

Starfleet Academy!

 

Lotus blossoms

 

Lovely

 

 

Canadian geese repatriated from the L.A. Zoo

 

And just on the other side of the trees: the DC Tillman

Water Reclamation Plant 

 

Brown sludge being turned into clean water

Camp Battleship

 

After serving six years (1968-1974) in the Navy, Tim was none too enthused when I suggested we do adult “battleship camp” with Atlas Obscura, a travel group that specializes in unusual tours. He changed his mind when I explained that I wanted to get a flavor of what it was like when he was a sailor, and so we spent last night on the USS Iowa, the decommissioned WWII battleship that’s now a museum in San Pedro harbor.

 

 USS Iowa

We got to the dock before 5PM. A couple from Nashville and a gal from Great Britain were already there. Once everyone else arrived, the ship historian introduced himself and his volunteer crew and shared the rules of the evening: no smoking and no wandering off on our own. Also, women were to sleep on one of the ship while men slept on the other—a big surprise to us and the other handful of married couples! We then boarded the ship and picked our bunks. I was expecting two beds per bunk, but, no, there were three, leaving very little room for doing anything but sleep.

 

 We were hoping for officers' quarters, but got enlisted

personnel beds instead. We were told in advance to

bring our own bedding: pillows and sleeping bags.

After the flag-lowering ceremony, we went below deck and ate dinner in the mess hall: lasagna, salad and a roll, plus (for some reason) potato chips, followed by dessert (ice cream sandwiches and popsicles). Tim told me later that the Navy food was much better, but I enjoyed our meal anyway.

 

 Dinner in the mess hall

There were 30 of us, so we split into two groups for what ended up being an exhaustive tour of the ship. During its heyday, the Iowa was the lead ship of its class and one of the U.S.’s largest battleships. Needless to say, it was also heavily armed and so we talked about and looked at a lot of turrets and munitions. But the ship’s greatest claim to fame was carrying president Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) to Tehran to meet with Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin during World War II. The Iowa was also stationed at Japan during the war-ending surrender and ultimately served during the Korean War. It opened as a museum in December 2011.

 

 Captain's quarters where FDR stayed

 

Captain's bed

 

Our tour guides showed us everything from the onboard dentist office to the helm to the captain’s quarters, where FDR slept and held court. It was fascinating, but truly exhausting as we finally limped off to our bunks after 10PM. Despite the cramped quarters, I had no trouble falling asleep as soon as the lights went out and slept all the way till 5AM, when I squeezed out my bunk. Reveille was at 6:30AM. No showers, but breakfast (pancakes and bacon) was served in the mess hall before the flag-raising ceremony and group photos. We then all went our separate ways. Truly an unforgettable experience.

 

Turrets (forward deck)

 

 Another view

Dramatic silhouette at sunset

 

The helm

 

Hatches galore—so easy to get lost!

 

Sailor art created during "down time" at sea

 

More sailor art on passageway walls and doors

 

Machinery to load munitions into the turrets

 

Inside tomahawk missile turrets 

 
"Broadway," the ship-long passageway leading to and from
engineering


Starting to look like The Poseidon Adventure

 
"The Morning After"

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