The Buffy/Angel Tour of the Greater Los Angeles Area

We picked up Dave at LAX with little hitch. The only complaint is that LAX, when renovating to comply with recent laws, forgot to give any comforts to people picking up someone at the airport. We sat on the ground to wait for Dave. But no matter. We packed him into the car and headed out.

First stop was the Buffy House (Buffy’s mom’s house) in Torrance. The house is privately owned and info on it warns not to disturb the occupants. We’re polite people and didn’t intend to. We didn’t expect the owner to be outside chatting with a Roto-Rooter man. So Ken politely asked if we could take some pictures, and the man agreed. Kinda cool!

Next stop was Torrance High School, which subbed for Sunnydale High in the first few seasons. When Anwyn visited, we were able to get into the courtyard where many of the scenes were filmed. Alas, with classes in session, this was not to be. We got pictures of the front of the school, and upon asking inside learned that the campus was open after 3:15 p.m. every day. Something we’ll have to remember for future tours.

We went to a Barnes & Noble and a Crown Books so Dave could look for some Xmas prezzies, and then to Baja Fresh for lunch. Baja Fresh being the best “fast food” restaurant in southern California, and one we feel we must introduce all of our out-of-town friends to. We then went to a Borders Books where Dave did find a prezzie, so all was going well.

We then wandered into the Hollywood Hills to the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Ennis-Brown House, known to “Buffy” fans as Angel’s mansion. This is open for tours, but not while we were there. By this time it was raining hard, but we shot a few pictures before heading on our way to…

…the hotel that houses Angel Investigations in “Angel”, aka the Los Altos Hotel and Apartments. We took pictures in the courtyard and peered inside; the inside doesn’t look like the inside we see on the show, and we’re not sure whether there’s another big lobby or whether the inside shots are a set.

And finally, we cruised by Sony Pictures Plaza, where one of the big office buildings doubles as the law firm of Wolfram & Hart on “Angel”. It was still pouring rain, and the building’s not very convenient for taking pictures, so we simply pointed excitedly and then drove on.

We had some extra time, so we stopped by a mall for a bit and hung out, but didn’t buy anything, and then we took Dave back to the airport. Quite the whirlwind tour! but he enjoyed it, and we enjoyed seeing him, and that’s all well and good.