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The Morbid Tour LbNA #8438 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:May 31, 2004
Location:
City:Los Angeles
County:Los Angeles
State:California
Boxes:5
Planted by:Q
Found by: masterpiece
Last found:Jan 14, 2005
Status:FFFFa
Last edited:May 31, 2004
***All of these are missing. :( One of these days I will replace all of these...***

Welcome to the Morbid Tour, a series of letterboxes that takes you on a ghoulish journey to the places where some of my favorite celebrities met their demise. These boxes are very urban - access is fairly easy, but you will have to be crafty. Please be discreet and feel free to contact me if a box has gone missing. I will add to this series in the future. I don't expect these boxes to last long, but I thought it would be fun anyway!

The Janis Letterbox
7047 Franklin Ave. #105
Los Angeles
Planted 5/31/04
Status: Pulled for maintenance 10/26/05

The Highland Gardens is the modest motel formerly known as the Landmark, and it is the place where Janis Joplin overdosed on heroin. I read somewhere that you can request room 105 if you want to stay in the room where she died. Anyway, the two closest major cross streets are Highland and La Brea, and if you are heading west on Franklin, the motel is on the right and has a bunch of foreign flags out front. The toughest part about grabbing this box is the parking, because you can't park on Franklin, and most of the side streets are either no parking or will be full. You could just be bold and park in the very small tenant parking only lot of the motel while you grab it. Or, if you happen to be sight-seeing on Hollywood Blvd, just walk north to Franklin. Facing the motel, you will see at the right side of the building the driveway into the gated parking garage. To the right of the driveway are the stumps of 3 palm trees that seem to grow out of the same spot. Face the trees with the parking garage gate to your back, and look just to the left of the trees where a cement wall starts. This wall was as tall as my shoulders (I'm 5'7"). Reach into the ivy that is planted behind the wall just to the left of the palm tree trunks. The Janis Letterbox should be hidden in the ivy, next to the wall.

Stamp in, listen to Me & Bobby McGee if you like, and remember Janis Joplin, 1/19/43-10/3/70.


The Divine Letterbox
7940 Hollywood Blvd. #261
Los Angeles
Planted 2/27/05
Status: Confirmed missing on 10/26/05

From the Janis box, head west on Franklin and turn left onto La Brea. Turn right on Hollywood Blvd. The Regency Hotel, where Divine died of heart failure, is now an apartment building and it is just past Fairfax on the left. Find street parking and stand facing the building. On your left is the Hollywood Regency sign in a large block of ivy. Follow the left edge of this ivy up the small walkway to where it meets the left edge of the building. Dig into the ivy in this corner to find the Divine letterbox. And let me apologize for not giving Divine any hair in the stamp, but let's face it, a stamp can only be so big ;)
Divine, 10/19/45-3/7/88.


The John Letterbox
8221 Sunset Blvd. #3
Los Angeles
Planted 5/31/04, Replanted 2/27/05
Status: Confirmed missing on 3/30/05

From the Divine letterbox, return to Fairfax and turn right (south). Turn right on Sunset Blvd. Ahead you will see a hillside covered with homes and at the bottom a very large bottle-shaped advertisement. (On 2/27/05 it was an Absolut Raspberry add.) At the bottle, Sunset will curve to the left, and a small street will head up the hill to the right. You want to try to park on the right before the bottle. If there is no parking before the bottle, then stay with Sunset to find parking, then just walk back. On the little street going up the hill is the Chateau Marmont, where John Belushi died of a drug overdose. Pass the garage entrance and walk along the sidewalk up the hill, next to a wall covered in ivy. Just as you round the curve to the right, there is a palm tree with a vent low to the ground behind it. This palm tree is hidden from the view of the parking garage and valet down below, but you may hear people dining on the patio just above you, so should still be stealthy. At the base of this palm, stick your hand behind on the right side to find the John letterbox, in honor of John Belushi, 1/24/49-3/5/82.


The River Letterbox
8852 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles
Planted 5/31/04, Replanted 2/27/05
Status: Confirmed missing on 10/26/05

From the John Letterbox, continue west on Sunset. When you pass Tower Records, start looking for parking. The Viper Room is the club that is painted black on the south side of the street, just west of Larrabee. It is owned by Johnny Depp, and River Phoenix died of a drug overdose on the sidewalk in front. Facing the club you will see the Sun Bee grocery, with a double phone booth in front of it. The phone booths where River's brother Joaquin made his 911 call was probably in the vicinity, but have been replaced with these. Stand at the right phone. There is a metal bar that runs along the top of the two phones, and the letterbox is in it, just above the right phone. Although the letterbox is black and should blend in well, it occurred to me that a tall person would actually be able to see it in there. If you hunt this box and actually are tall enough to see it sitting there, would you please be kind enough to let me know so I can move it? Thanks!
River Phoenix. 8/23/70-10/31/93.


The Sharon Letterbox
7312 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles
Planted 5/31/04
Status: Missing

From the River Letterbox, continue west on Sunset to Doheny and turn left. At Beverly Blvd, turn left. The El Coyote Spanish Cafe will be on your right, just past Fuller Ave. If you don't want to dine, you could park on any of the side streets and walk back. Trying to get this letterbox after 4pm on any day might be difficult, as the parking is valet only and usually full of people. They open at 11am every day, so it might be easiest to grab this box before that.

Ok, so Sharon Tate didn't die here. She and her unfortunate group of friends died at 10050 Cielo Dr. (currently 10066 Cielo Dr.) at the hands of the Manson family, but the house has been torn down and rebuilt. They had their last meal at El Coyote, and almost 35 years later, despite a long-standing reputation for bad food, the place stills exists. Their margaritas are supposed to be the best in the city, and the place has an interesting atmosphere. I've heard that in the past few years the food has become delicious. Anyway, find the fence in the parking lot with ivy that says "Valet parking after 4pm." Follow this fence to the right, toward Fuller. Almost at Fuller, past the telephone pole, is a tree. Dig into the ivy at the base of this tree to find the Sharon Letterbox. If you are facing the tree with the telephone pole to your left dig on the right side of the base of the tree. Many people can't find this box, as she tends to move, but keep digging, you'll find her. Sharon Tate, 1/24/43-8/9/69.


Check out the Morbid Tour #2 for a South Pasadena stamp.