
So, yesterday, in 100 plus degree heat, I found myself at the simple brown gates of Neverland Ranch. The white rose wreath which had so publicly been placed on the gates had been stripped bare of its flowers. I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I felt like a ghoul, especially when surrounded by dead-person-merchandise displayed on car hoods and makeshift tables by those looking to make a little profit off a death. When one strange woman approached me holding a piece of cardboard with MJ buttons attached and a "buy three for $10" sales pitch, I actually found myself at a loss for words. I just didn't know how to respond to her, so I smiled vaguely at her, went on text messaging the person I was texting, and said nary a word. I just couldn't be bothered to dignify the sucker with a reply. Shortly after that, I left for Solvang...
Yep, curiosity got the better of me and I had to see MJ's ranch, but I also wanted to make the effort to show up there to say a brief and silent goodbye to a pop star whose music and moves I truly admired. How the young man I've seen in photos from 1979 to 1985 in particular wound up mired in such tragic circumstances defies an explanation to me, an outsider. I have no idea what MJ was like in private or what sort of a demanding personality he may have been but somewhere along the line he stopped being that handsome, endearing talent of his youth and became someone else, another person entirely. I find that metamorphosis to be the saddest element of this entire story.
Neverland Ranch is situated miles away from the main drag. One would never know where it was located unless one was specifically trying to find it. The ranch is located among acres and acres of rolling countryside dotted with live oaks. Many within MJ's circle have blamed the ranch's isolated location as being instrumental to his self imposed exile. As I stood at the gate looking in, I was unable to see the house from my vantage point although I think it may be seen from the 'back' roads. Or maybe we were standing on the back road and the roads to the front of the house had been roped off? Not sure. Those roads had been roped off by police and no one was allowed to drive past a certain point. I'm not quite sure how the ranch was set up ~ I thought the house faced a main road and maybe it does. Maybe it faces one of the roped off roads which would account for the road block. Anyway, we couldn't see the house, the lakes or the grounds on which the amusement park once stood.
Neverland must've been one heck of a set up in its hey day and it must've cost an absolute fortune to maintain. Hard to imagine MJ losing the place to foreclosure although that almost happened twice. An investment capital group stepped in at the eleventh hour before the last slated foreclosure auction and purchased the defaulting loan. They then entered into a joint ownership agreement with MJ over the $25 million mortgage. That is one heck of a monthly debt service right there.
I only stayed at Neverland a short time. Some of the people milling around there were making me wonder about my own motives ... talk about crazies. I then drove a short distance to Solvang, a danish themed tourist town I've been to several times already, for lunch with the clan. I paid for lunch. *rolling eyes*
After that, we went to a local vineyard and sampled some of the alcoholic fruits of their labors. I paid for that too. *rolling eyes X2*
It was a nice day spent in the company of my favorite people.
After that, I drove home and, on the way, discovered quite by chance that Debbie Rowe lives within a certain mileage radius of my ex-custom home and has done for a long time. I was in the area to drop something off to someone I know and decided to take a quick drive by my old home to see if the new buyers had moved in yet. On the way, I passed numerous police cars and TV cameras parked out front of a big house which made me go, 'hmmmmm'...... One phone call later, and my hunch was confirmed. I wonder if MJ was ever right down the street from me at any time visiting his ex? I'd like to think he was in my old neighborhood at some point, enjoying a relaxing afternoon and sipping ice tea under the shade of a pepper tree.