Neverland Ranch

Almost four years ago, when I was 8 months pregnant with Connor, Ian and I were supposed to go see Michael Jackson in London at the concert that ended up leading to his demise. I was never a huge Michael Jackson fan, but was super excited about the concert. I knew it would be a great show and due to hotel points, we were booked at an amazing hotel in London. Alas, Michael Jackson went and died on me. I still remember getting a text from Ian when I was on my way to dinner with a friend, I was totally bummed. Of course, as opposed to those close to MJ, things turned out well for me. We transferred our hotel arrangements to Amsterdam and enjoyed some time there instead.

On our way home from Santa Barbara today, I asked Ian to drive us by Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch. I didn't know what the state of it would be and if I could see anything from the gates. I have to admit, I was shocked that it is literally in the middle of nowhere. You drive down this tiny little desolate road for SIX MILES before you get to it. And you know when you arrive. Everything, I mean everything, around it was brown and dead, then we arrived at this grand entrance covered in lush green grass and beautiful flowers. I totally wasn't expecting it to still be all kept up. There were even a few cars inside the gates, so people obviously are still on the property. I was unable to see anything else from outside the gates, or from driving along side the property. Then I did a little googling and found out Neverland Ranch is more than 3000 acres. Dang!

Though we never saw anyone else while traipsing about, I did notice tons of handwritten notes on the stones in front of the property, so knew other's had been there as well. It's just weird how it is out in the middle of nowhere. And it's kind of weird how well the property is kept up when no one even lives there. But hey, I am kind of weird for driving into the middle of nowhere just to look at a gate!