Originally Posted By EighthDwarf dshyates, you ever have a Trader Vic's mai tai? They're not very good. Yes, they invented the drink, but they certainly didn't perfect it. The Cove Bar, on the other hand, makes a great one.
Originally Posted By xrayvision >>There is an urban legend that Interstates were originally designed such that a plane could land on them in an emergency. That was part of the national defense concept of them. This is not true.<< Well, that "urban legend" has been maintained for decades as I was told 20 years ago, as a Anaheim Resort hotel manager at the beginning of the DLR expansion, that Harbor Blvd by Disneyland was to remain open as emergency landing strip. This was why some original DLR expansion designs were nixed that connected a new parking lot on the old Grand Hotel property via the use of skywalks and peoplemovers by cross Harbor Blvd. Other reasons that the design was nixed was due to cost and from complaints from nearby Odetics that the new lot was too close to their aerospace engineering lab. There are actually strips of land in nearby Los Angeles county that are located inside the city limits of several cities, yet owned by City of Los Angeles, that were purchased long ago in case LAX were to expand and they needed to create a new thoroughfare and emergency landing strips leading directly to LAX. I lived on one these strips that LA County allowed for developers to use the land for new tract housing....under the condition that LA could take back the land if needed for LAX future development. Although everyone all completely around me lived within another city limit, all the new houses built within the LAX land strip were LA City's jurisdiction and city limit.
Originally Posted By dshyates See, I personally like Trader Vic's Mia Tia's. Had one about a month ago at Trader Vic's Atlanta. You can actually taste the rum. Most Mia Tias are very sweet and syrupy. Not too good. I also love the Kava Bowl and the Samoan Fog Cutters. I also prefer Pat O'Brian's Hurricanes. They don't taste like any others. And the original Rumrunner from the Tiki Bar at Holiday Isle Resort in Islamorada in the Florida Keys. I'm a amature mixologist and feel that the original is how its supposed to taste. What they serve at places like the Hard Rock Cafe aren't Mia Tias and Hurricanes. They are good fruity rum drinks but don't taste anything like the originals.
Originally Posted By jonvn Yes, the urban legend about the interstates has gone on for years. Harbor Blvd simply can't be used as any sort of practical landing strip. Can you imagine a crippled plane trying to land there? Oops, landed on space mountain intead.... I don't think so. Oh, if you go to trader vic's ask for the mai tai "san francisco style" and you will have it made according to the real original recipe, and not from their mix. It's much better that way.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Aren't there also street lights that come out of the median on Harbor? I imagine that those would be tough to miss since they are usually pretty close together.
Originally Posted By jonvn You know, I have not driven down Harbor Blvd in years. The power lines alone, though, make this a not true story. I think the simplest and most likely reason they don't have a walkway over to that side is because there was nothing over on that side to walk to.
Originally Posted By dshyates "Oh, if you go to trader vic's ask for the mai tai "san francisco style" and you will have it made according to the real original recipe, and not from their mix. It's much better that way." I've never heard of it called SF style. I was told to ask for an "Original" Mia Tia (then I always like a goof, say that means not to use the mix, Right?). Back in the day, they never used the mix in the restaurants. They started in the early 90's. I asked in Atlanta last month and the bar tender said he never uses the mix. And a lot of the others don't either. It dependes on who mixing and how slammed they are. So its a crap shoot if you don't specify.
Originally Posted By bean "I have a hard time believing that. There is an urban legend that Interstates were originally designed such that a plane could land on them in an emergency. That was part of the national defense concept of them. This is not true. There is absolutely no way a plane of any but the smallest size could safely land on harbor blvd. And even then, a plane would likely crash into vehicles, or whatever is down the median. " I agree, seems to unreal for it to be true. The only reason I accepted the idea is because supposedly the Harbor emergency landing tactic has been around for many years before the area really became what it is today. I am sure that traffic was not an issue then
Originally Posted By jonvn Maybe. Isn't it a state traffic route? But I have a hard time believing any kind of story like this. Prior to Disneyland, this was literally a farm community. There was nothing there but orchards. There would be no reason to make this area a landing strip any more so than any other place. In fact, the power lines that are there now were there, then, as Disney had to pay to relocate them into where the parking lot was going to be. So those power lines had been there previously. So, there is that, then you have in the 50s and 60s the place going into complete explosive growth. People used to cruise up and down the street. Hotels and motels were being built. Lots of cars. I think this is just another urban legend. I mean, it may be true, but there are a ton of reasons to think it never was.
Originally Posted By Nobody "Maybe. Isn't it a state traffic route?" I don't think so. Beach Blvd. is actually Hwy. 39, but I don't believe that Harbor blvd. ever had that type of designation.
Originally Posted By ChurroMonster "I'm a amature mixologist and feel that the original is how its supposed to taste. What they serve at places like the Hard Rock Cafe aren't Mia Tias and Hurricanes. They are good fruity rum drinks but don't taste anything like the originals." I'm a professional mixologist and I can tell you that the public expectation of what a Mai Tai is is totally different from the original recipe. While I appreciate the original Mai Tai for its flavors and uniqueness, the newer, more mass-market, version actually tastes better to me (so long as it is not too sweet). The drink has evolved so much that it's name should be changed and only the original recipe should be called the Mai Tai. The same is true for many of the the classic old rum cocktails.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <I don't think so. Beach Blvd. is actually Hwy. 39, but I don't believe that Harbor blvd. ever had that type of designation.> I think years ago, the southern portion (running to the coast) was highway 73 (now the number of the toll road). I'd have to find an old California map, but I think that's right. But that hasn't been the case for 20 years or more.
Originally Posted By jonvn "I'm a professional mixologist " You know how to mix drinks, too? My god, you're like the perfect person.
Originally Posted By Nobody "I think years ago, the southern portion (running to the coast) was highway 73 (now the number of the toll road). I'd have to find an old California map, but I think that's right. But that hasn't been the case for 20 years or more." If you do happen to find that old map, I'd be interested in what you see. My recollection of around 25 years ago was that Hwy. 73 was the off-shoot of the 405, much as it is today, but instead of turning into a toll road, it ended around the airport or Macarthur / Jamboree area. (I wish my memory was better than it is.)
Originally Posted By TP2000 I remember hearing the old Harbor Blvd = Emergency Landing Strip thing decades ago. I always found it to be suspect because if that was the case they wouldn't have allowed all of those tacky coffee shop signs to go up on the east side of the street, the landscaped medians with palm trees that were installed in the 1970's, and the GIANT Disneyland marquee on the west side of the street. Unless we are talking a small Cessna with a very good pilot who can dodge oncoming traffic, the emergency landing strip thing ranks right up there with the one about your stomach exploding if you drink a Coke after you eat Pop Rocks.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <If you do happen to find that old map, I'd be interested in what you see. My recollection of around 25 years ago was that Hwy. 73 was the off-shoot of the 405, much as it is today, but instead of turning into a toll road, it ended around the airport or Macarthur / Jamboree area.> I DO have that map - it's from the early 80's, and yes I remember when that's what 73 was (we'd use it to get to the beach). I don't know if I have any maps from the 70's or earlier still around. And I could be remembering it wrong. <(I wish my memory was better than it is).> You and me both.
Originally Posted By ArchtMig The way I heard it, the interstate highway system funding was justified in part because the highways were designated evacuation routes out of major population centers in times of national emergency (bomb scare, major natural disaster, etc.). Ground based modes of transportation only. Both sides of the highways and freeways would travel in the same direction out of town and up into the hills, so to speak. Never heard anything regarding the highways being used for landing strips. I agree with Jonvn... seems far fetched, what with all the vehicles on the road. In reality, we have seen these mass exoduses on the highways many times in recent years before impending hurricanes from the gulf states and Florida. We saw it out of New Orleans with Katrina bearing down on them. With regard to strips of land belonging to the City of Los Angeles, I believe this is in reference to the very thin corridor of L.A. City that extends from the main city proper southward to the harbor. L.A. owns and controls its own harbor, (Harbor of Los Angeles) which is adjacent to Long Beach Harbor, but the harbor and surrounding lands could not be legally annexed into the city if there was not a contiguous physical connection to the city limits. So like some sort of sci-fi appendage growing out to latch onto and absorb its prey, the city acquired this tendril of territory to bridge its incorporated area between itself and the harbor. Take a look at a map of Los Angeles City, and you will see a boundary that is the classic example of rampant leapfrog growth. And in Hawaii, I was told that the construction of the newer "outrigger" runway at Honolulu International Airport was funded with federal dollars because this runway, built into the bay on a man made reef which parallels the original runway, is one of the emergency landing strips for the space shuttle. Being that long, it normally is used as the main runway for jumbo jets.
Originally Posted By ChurroMonster jonvn wrote: "'I'm a professional mixologist.' You know how to mix drinks, too? My god, you're like the perfect person." It's true. Spread the word. I'm trying to get a religion started based on myself. I didn't die for your sins but at least I understand them.
Originally Posted By jonvn How long is the runway in Hawaii? If it's about 2 miles long, that's typical for runways.
Originally Posted By Nobody "How long is the runway in Hawaii?" Runways Direction Length Surface ft m 4L/22R 6,952 2,119 Asphalt 4R/22L 9,000 2,743 Asphalt 4W/22W 3,000 914 Water 8L/26R 12,300 3,749 Asphalt 8R/26L 12,000 3,658 Asphalt 8W/26W 5,000 1,524 Water Also, according to the NASA website, the KSC paved runway is 15,000 ft. with 1,000 ft. over-runs on each end. Also, I saw elsewhere that alternate emergency landing sites need to be at least 7,000 ft. (This was in regards to transoceanic landing sites in Europe.) And... Here's a list I found showing emergency landing sites. I don't know how up to date it is. <a href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/facility/sts-els.htm" target="_blank">http://www.globalsecurity.org/ space/facility/sts-els.htm</a>
