As you can see from yesterday's photo, Al's Redwood Room is currently a stand-alone establishment and serves American and Thai food along with a full bar (meaning every kind of alcohol, not just beer and wine). The business originated in the ground floor of either the Willits Hotel or the Van Hotel, I don't remember which, further up the street. Al was Al Greenberg, who was friends of Dr. Raymond Babcock and Ridgewood Ranch owner Charles S. Howard, and often served up drinks to Red Pollard, the famous jockey of Seabiscuit, during his recuperative stay in the area. The current establishment retains the ornate carved wood bar from the old hotel days. This sign was recently refurbished, and is presented by request of Palm Axis.
14 comments:
Hey Elaine...
Great blog! Incidentally, do you know where Seabiscuit is buried? I understand it's very close to Willits, and that his gravesite can actually be seen from 101.
On a different note: I corrected my comments regarding King Abdullah on my own blog; I had to look up information about him for an article I wrote for this week's edition of The Independent (Garberville), so I credited you for catching my errors.
Keep taking great pics!
Nice sign.
l'enseigne est belle et elle rend bien avec la tombée du soleil
the sign is beautiful and it makes good with dark sun
Thanks Cristina! Seabiscuit is buried on Ridgewood Ranch, south of Willits, about seen miles or so. For a long time, locals assumed the cross visible on a hillside down in that area was the marker of the horse's grave, but that is NOT true. That cross was placed there long after the Howard family sold the ranch, and the Howards kept the burial place a closely guarded secret. It remains a secret even today, but Seabiscuit's statue can now be seen where it once stood, near the house where Charles S. Howard lived. Visit http://www.seabiscuitheritage.org/ for more information.
Oops. That's "seven" miles.
New avatar!
Love this sign! Better yet was the story of the lounge!
Thank you Elaine.
If I ever visit Willits, I'm going to walk into Al's leading that miniature donkey and then I'm calling you to come join me. It's great to see that the neon is maintained. Even the olive is lit up!
No kidding, Red Pollard used to hang out there?!! Great atmosphering shot!
Palm, let's carpool up! I want to see that ornate carved bar, with friends beside me as I light up like that sign.
Now, wouldn't that be fun! The directions are super easy. Just get on 101 north, and drive about 500 miles. 8^)
Attractive sign!
specially the word "Red" and its coloring!
It seems the manager of this Room is a smart man!
thanks for your comment in my blog,keep in touch!
I love the angle and vibrant color in this photo. It could be a perfect picture postcard. Nice work.
Did you draw your portrait? Very nice!
Lily, a caricaturist at Universal Studios did that when I was about 4 or 5. But it would be a fun skill to have.
Sara, I agree about the color!
You are inspiring me to take some neon photos. I love this one!
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