Travel

That Time I Visited Some MCU Filming Locations

April 10, 2020 B 3 Comments

Let’s face it, no one is doing any traveling anytime soon. I’m pretty sure any Summer vacation plans I had are now off. That means now is the perfect time to revisit some past trips! If you know me, you know I love the MCU. That’s why back in April of 2015 I headed over to London to visit Katy with plans to visit numerous Marvel filming locations, and to hopefully take part in some “Avengers: Age of Ultron” premiere events. I’m going to break everything down by movie to make it a little easier and make the post flow better.

Thor: The Dark World: Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, London

One of the first spots were checked out was the Old Royal Navel College in Greenwich. It’s where the big battle takes place in the movie. It was really exciting to see how movie magic was used and to imagine Dark Elves and Thor battling it out everywhere. I even took the time to stare out a window in the Painted Hall just like those dummies did in the movie. I mean, would your rather flee for safety or stick around and watch Thor fight? It’s an easy choice in my mind. We really lucked with perfect weather that day. Plenty of people were out and about. Remember when people would go out? And were allowed to be in groups? Ah, it feels like many moons ago.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Millennium Bridge, London

This bridge has been in a number of movies but you’ll recognize it as the bridge located on Xandar in “Guardians of the Galaxy.” You’ll really notice it during the large battle near the end of the movie where everyone is rushing to safety. If you search online you’ll find tons of filming photos which are really fun to see. It’s an interesting pedestrian bridge and if you find yourself in that area, I’d check it out.

Captain America: The First Avenger: Liverpool & Manchester & London

I could honestly write an entire post just about these locations. They were at the top of our list where where we spent most of our time. It’s a really weird and amazing feeling to see a place and just know. The interesting part of this is how far apart the two locations are in real life, but how in the movie they made them seem like they were just down the street from each other. Movie magic really is movie magic. The stretch of Dale Street between Port Street and Lena Street in Manchester were dressed (and re-dressed) for the car chase that then ended in Liverpool at Stanley Dock, which is now home to the Titanic Liverpool Hotel. That’s where we stayed during our trip but at the time of filming, there was no hotel there. And I must add it was a great stay and I highly recommend it! Our room was fantastic and of course we requested a view of the bridge. I’m sure people thought it was weird to watch two women randomly take photos of alleyways and a bridge. Manchester was just a day trip where we checked out the “store fronts.” It was hilarious to run around and try to match up the exact spots with screecaps from the movie. Luckily there wasn’t much traffic that day and it was easy to just randomly run from one location to the next.

Another spot that we checked out was the pub where Steve recruits the Howling Commandos. Now, it’s pretty easy to find if you search online but I’m not sharing it. I know, it’s weird. But I feel like this little spot belongs to myself and Katy. It’s changed owners and styles a few times. We’ve actually been there twice and our second visit was probably a more comfortable or better visit. We did talk the manager into giving us a little tour of the place the first time in order to see more of the pub. The second time around they had more of the bar open and we could sit anywhere we wanted. Of course that means we sat in the same spot that Bucky and Steve chatted and where Peggy made her appearance in her red dress. The drinks were pretty amazing and the bartenders were really nice. But that was a few years ago. It could be under new ownership again for all I know!

The funny thing is, when I started writing this I had no idea that when I would publish this post, it would fall on the 5 year anniversary of this trip. It was such a fun time and Katy did such a fantastic job of planning everything. She created an entire S.H.I.E.L.D file called OperationMAIL that included clues of where we were going, recommendations on what to wear. She really outdid herself. It’s just one of the reasons I love her and why she’s one of a kind. The Steve to my Bucky! I can’t wait to visit her again once everything is back to “normal” and we can make another trip to “our pub” and maybe try and see some new locations. There are still a few spots we missed out on the last time around and I know she’s been planning and scheming, trying to figure out ways to gain access to some of the locations.

Have you visited any filming locations for movies or TV? Let me know if you have!

San Diego, The Queen Mary, And Disney!

January 7, 2020 B 3 Comments

That’s my summer plans summed up! I’m finally making my way back to San Diego Comic Con after taking a leave of absence for a few years. I’m very curious to see how things have changed. I lucked out and managed to score 5 day badges, and we’ve had our hotel situation taken care of for a few months now. I finally booked part of my flights as well. Slowly but surely it’s coming together. I might try and get back to the Zoo since it’s been a few years since I’ve been there. I know a lot of places have come and gone since my list trip out there, so I’ll have to sit down and see if there’s any new bars or restaurants I want to try. I always give myself a few extra days in town before SDCC starts to enjoy things like that. Once the crowds hit, it’s every man for themselves when it comes to finding a place to eat that doesn’t have hours long of a wait.

What I’m extra excited about though is driving up to Long Beach and staying a night on The Queen Mary. If there’s one thing I love, it’s spooky shit and it doesn’t get much spookier than this. The Queen Mary has been featured on numerous ghost/paranormal shows including Ghost Adventures and Ghost Hunters. There are plenty of stories out there about things going bump in the night, spirits wandering the halls, and other interesting encounters. Will I actually sleep when we stay there? Tune in later this summer to find out! But in all seriousness, I’m excited to stay somewhere new and scratch a place off my Bucket List. Plus I’m a sucker for boats/ships. I always find myself either touring some old war ship, or taking some sort of harbor boat tours when on vacation. We might check out Catalina Island too but we have plenty of time to figure out the details.

After a one night stay on the Queen Mary, it’s time for Disney! I’m a Disney Virgin. I’ve never been to the location in Florida or in California before. I’m not a huge Disney nerd like a lot of people out there but I figure why not. Plus Melinda, my travel buddy, is one of those people. You’ll find me looking for all the Marvel and Star Wars stuff, especially anything to do with Baby Yoda. I’m hoping by the time we visit, Avengers Campus will be open. The plan right now is to spend two days there and hoping between the parks. I’m honestly just along for the ride and letting Melinda plan all of the Disney related stuff. We already have our room booked for the stay and I’m getting more excited every second!

I’m really looking forward to having a solid summer vacation. It’ll be nice to combine a few things into one trip and just make the most of it. It’s pretty pricey flying out from the east coast, I need to try and make that money stretch. I have a wedding in the UK next year, which means I’m not sure I’ll have the time/funds and my dad mentioned something about another family vacation in the Fall. We’ll see what happens between now and then!

That Time I Checked Out Some Burn Notice Filming Locations

September 30, 2019 B 1 Comment

I’ve always been That Nerd who’s curious about checking out filming locations. There’s just something about seeing a place from your favorite show or movie in person. Of course it’s funny too because of the movie magic that goes into making something look legit. I enjoy doing the online research as well. It’s fun to see if other fans have had any luck finding spots, or if a location isn’t actually accessible, or maybe there’s a sound stage hiding out at an old expo center.

This trip goes way back to 2009. I’m pretty sure all the photos were taken with a digital camera and not a cell phone. That alone has me feeling old and not in a good way. The TV show “Burn Notice” was enjoying its third season on the USA Network and it was a show I loved. If you’ve never watched it, do yourself a favor and check it out on Amazon Prime Video. I’m doing a rewatch now and I can’t believe I forgot just how perfect this show was. In December of that year I decided I wanted to head to Miami and check out some locations. This wasn’t my first time there, as I had been to the area before for Nsync events. I know, there’s a lot of nostalgia happening in this post. My friends Manda and Mel came along for the ride and we were able to find a few spots pretty easily! Now, like I said, these photos are from 2009 and well, the quality isn’t fantastic.

If I had to pick a location that most fans are familiar with, it’s probably these stairs. You see them in the opening credits and they were in the Pilot episode. The stairs can be found at Bay Front Park in Downtown Miami. And another note, I’m not sure what’s still around and what’s not. I’ll do my best to post updated information about the locations.

Since the show did film on location in Miami/South Beach, a lot of the hotels on the strip show up. The Hotel Victor was in Episode 8 along with The Carlyle. The Beacon Hotel was part of the Pilot episode after he’s dumped in Miami after being burned.

The main location I wanted to find was The Loft. Now, two different locations were used for this. The exterior shots were at one location, and the entrance/stairs at another. The later was filmed at the Coconut Grove Convention Center. The show took over the no longer used spot for their sets and filming. While I wanted to get out of the car and try and explore more, Melinda didn’t think it was a great idea.

I believe the building used for the exterior shots is no longer there. It was demolished and a new building now stands. The convention center was demolished in 2013 to make way for a new park after “Burn Notice” wrapped up their final season. Honestly, they would have probably saved money if they just had let Fiona blow it up with some C4. I have a bunch of photos of some fancy houses from boat tours that were probably used for filming purposes but honestly, that’s way too hard to track down.

So there you have it! One of my first trips into checking out and exploring random filming locations. I honestly wish I could go back and visit some of these locations again and get better photos but that’s not possible. Instead I’ll just remember that time Melinda yelled at me to stay in the car and not climb over a fence into an off limits area. I mean, what could have possibly gone wrong?

It’s Been Two Years Since London

September 18, 2019 B Leave a Comment

I can’t believe it’s been two years already! I went to London back in September 2017 to watch the Baltimore Ravens play. That’s our football team if you’re new here. I booked a package through a travel group that specialized in these trips. It made the entire trip very easy plus took care of things like our game tickets, transportation, and hotel. They offered fun touristy things too like a trip to the London Eye, special events, and a riverboat dinner cruise. If you’re someone who’s thinking about following your team across the pond, I highly recommend looking into something similar. I did book my own flights though since I was going over earlier than needed. I added a few extra days that way I could hang out with Katy and do some stuff away from the group. It was honestly a fantastic time even if my team lost. It was cool being part of something like that and hanging out with a bunch of other fans, even if myself and Melinda were the youngest people on this trip. Plus London really gets into the NFL thing. There were banners up everywhere, special pep rally’s at local pubs, and a really awesome interactive area at the stadium before the game. At the game it was amazing to see jersey’s for every team. That’s not even an exaggeration. Eagles? Check. Colts? Check. Dolphins? Check. Packers? Yup. And some of these jersey’s were old school players! It made me wonder if they were expats, if they traveled over just for football, or if they were locals who just some how became attached to a team. Here are a few photos from the football part of things. I might write another post going into more detail about everything else I did but we’ll see. My memory is crap and it’s been awhile!

Another part that was really nice was walking around London and running into other Ravens fans. The city really was painted purple. It was hilarious how we’d all just do a little head nod in passing. Of course being the person I am, I didn’t talk to any of these random people I came across. Why would I do something like that? But you really did feel like you were part of something special and different. I recommend visiting London either way, but if you can add a football game to it, I recommend it even more! They really know how to throw a party and the largest citywide tailgate I’ve seen.