Our trip to America – Los Angeles – Michael Jackson Tour

On our second day in Los Angeles we rented a car because that’s the best way to get somewhere in L.A. Being huge Michael Jackson fans for years my mom, my sister and I wanted to do a little “MJ Memorial Tour”.
Our first stop was the house that he last lived in and where he died. I still picture the breaking news back in 2009 showing the gateway and an ambulance with Michael on a stretcher…what a horrible day that was. So this was his house we were looking at. If you wanna go there when you’re in L.A. the house is located on 100 N Carolwood Dr. | Holmby Hills, Los Angeles. The house is currently on sale and you can get an insight here. It’s so pretty!

Next stop was Encino. The family home of the Jacksons has been there until late 2011 I think. The house should be renovated so the family (his mother, most of his brothers and their kids and MJ’s kids Prince, Paris and Blanket) moved to another house in Calabasas. I don’t really now where they live nowadays to be honest. However when we were in the City of Angeles we went there. We knew the address from the book Michael’s former manager, Dieter Wiesner, wrote (you can order the German book here). He was a close friend of Michael and his book is one of the best books about MJ I have ever read. He tells so many stories they shared with each other and writes such nice words about the King of Pop. But my favourite book ever is the one that Frank Cascio wrote about him. It’s called “My Friend Michael“. As far as I know this book has only been published in English, but if you are a fan of Michael this is a must read. If English is not your mother tongue it doesn’t matter. I think you can understand most of it too. Let me know if you have read it already or if you will buy it! It’s definitely worth it. Such a wonderful book with such wonderful happy moments Michael and the author had together.

But now back to their family home in Encino. Unfortunately we could only see the gateway but it was great driving to and through Encino exploring a bit more of Greater Los Angeles.

Our last stop was the cemetery where Michael found his final resting place. We knew from the funeral on TV that the “Holly Terrace” door was close to his grave. It felt weird to be so close to him and seeing all the letters and presents from fans all over the world. We sat down on a bench just thinking about being there. It was so quiet and peaceful far away from the noisy road chaos on L.A.’s streets. I was happy to be there but it also made me sad and emotional because the world has lost such an amazing person – such a kind human being, a loving father and an incredibly talented singer and songwriter.
If you want to visit the cemetery you have to go to the Forest Lawn Glendale Cemetery.

There’s just one more Michael Jackson and Los Angeles related story that I wanna tell you guys about. When we picked up the hired car we told the man working there that we wanna see Michael Jackson’s house and the cemetery. He told us that he still has two of the “Thriller” records at home – the ones he bought when they came out in 1982. It was great talking to him because he was such a nice guy. But when he said that he will drive home in his lunch break to grab one of the records and bring it to our hotel we just laughed because we didn’t believe that he would actually do that. But you know what? In the evening we came back to our hotel and asked the receptionist if someone has left something with him for us. He pulled a bag out that contained both (!!) of the records. We couldn’t believe it. This man was the nicest guy ever! He left his address in the bag and when we were back home in Germany we wrote him a postcard. Those lovely Californian people are just awesome – always positive minded, friendly and helpful. This was one of my L.A. memories that I will never forget.

xx

Alissa