Public Spark

Today’s blog was focus on my specific experience at the Magic Castle.

WARNING:

There are spoilers, so if you want to remain curious, you have been warned!

My boyfriend, good friend and I pulled up to the entrance of the Magic Castle in Hollywood, California. It was valet parking only so we gave our car keys to the attendant along with the $8 parking fee. We made our way towards the entrance where we were greeted by the bouncer. We showed our ID’s (as it is 21 and older at night) and made our away into the first hall.

There is no photography allowed inside the castle except in the first hall. We walked straight to the front desk counter, paid the $25 entrance fee and picked up a show schedule. To the right was a small gift store and then to the left was what looked like a bookshelf. There were no visible entrances. There was an owl with lighted eyes and Harry Potter books next to it. “Open sesame” was the code that opened the bookshelf into the main lobby area.

We immediately noticed the classic Victorian style decor and it felt as though we were on an adventure locating secret areas. We turned left into a corridor and stood in line for the 6:30 PM Close-up Gallery show. It is limited to about 30 people so it is recommended that you stand in line for 30 minutes. As we were waiting an employee came by to pass out number cards to limit the amount of people entering at that time. We stood talking in line and noticed that there were different shows at different times. In a sense, we had to organize what we wanted to see so we didn’t miss anything. That night, Tom Ogden was the performing magician. He can make a small card blow up and change the suits of the cards in a blink of the eye. He was very entertaining with a good sense of humor!

We then made our way up toward the Grand Staircase and into the main dining rooms. We told the Maitre’d of our reservation and he seated us right away. The restaurant was upscale. Their menu ranges from seafood to steak, American-style. I had Alaskan King Salmon with mustard buerre blanc sauce. For dessert, we shared the chocolate souffle cake, which was rich and delicious.

Stay tuned on the next blog for the remaining magical experience!