Twilight Zone, Hotel California in Google Street View

To got

Look for 7th st at valencia, los angeles, ca

Click the street view button.

Click-drag the man a little bit eastward on 7th (to the right).

The street view will open up. Use the square counter-clockwise button to orient your view so you're looking westward, down the street.

Start clicking on the forward pointing arrow. You'll "drive" down the street. It's a really cool effect.

You'll eventually get to an old looking building with flags. That's the Mayfair Hotel.

You'll notice that, right after you pass Valencia, clicking forward won't move you forward anymore. You're stuck in a "trap"!

There are some other weird errors. If you go eastward down 7th, you sometimes end up skipping entire blocks.

Twilight Zone, Hotel

I "walked" to the corner of Wilshire and Union.  Guess what's at the corner? 


A Starbuck's!  Well, it looks an awful lot like a Starbuck's, but with the logo fuzzed out.  Of course, that would be the safe answer for virtually (pun) any corner in the nation. :D

Twilight Zone, Hotel

I wanted to try this google trick in our part of town, but they haven't photograph much in the San Gabriel Valley.  I think Colorado Blvd is about it.

They've got a lot of streets covered on the westside, though.  So I also "walked" down Sawtelle, looking for my father-in-law.  Guess he wasn't out walking when the google truck drove by!

Yeah, there's been one there a while.

It opened up along with the McDonalds, Home Depot, Rite Aid, and Food 4 Less. A little bit of big-box suburbia in the middle of Pico-Union. That area's still kind of sketchy at night, though. There's still lots of dudes hanging out, and little drug deals and stuff happening.

The area's calmed down a bit. I used to sometimes work there at night, and by 9 or 10, there was all this gunfire, and then choppers and spotlights. Lately, I've been working at night nearby, and it's relatively quiet.