9.13.2010

haunted l.a.

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i've been fascinated with the colorado street bridge for a number of years and yet, i've never been. built in 1913 by the firm waddell and hardesty (responsible for other bridges such as the niagara falls rainbow bridge and the bronx-whitestone bridge) it's an arch bridge that spans 447.44 meters.

maybe it's the haunted stories i've heard since i was a kid, the first was at my elementary school in the atwater village area. after school, my best friend and i would often walk along the l.a. river, singing madonna songs. once after a rousing chorus, she got serious, looked me dead in the face and asked if i knew about suicide bridge.

me: (with morbid fascination and wide eyes) no!
friend: well you should...'cause it's haunted.
me: (barely able to contain my glee) how do you know it's haunted?
friend: (long dramatic pause) one of my cousins told me.
me: well what did he say?!
friend: that he was up there with his friends and saw a woman in a robe jump over. when they ran to look where she landed, she wasn't there.
me: (silent and stunned)
friend: my cousin said when they called out to her, she didn't answer. they got scared and left.
me: damn.

at this point, the conversation turned elsewhere but i'd already made a note in my mental rolodex to go to this so-called "suicide bridge" and see these damn ghosts for myself.

fast forward to middle school and the second time i heard about the bridge:

a classmate of mine commuted from pasadena with her mother who worked in the area. one day after school we were sitting and talking about being a little scared to walk in the hallways since nightmare on elm street was filmed there and could freddie krueger be real?
friend: are you scared of ghosts?
me: i mean, i don't want to see them but i'm not automatically scared of them, they don't fuck with me (yes, i was beginning to relish in cursing unnecessarily, at that point) and some are nice. if anything, i feel sorry for them 'cause they're stuck here.
friend: yeah, they are stuck, like on that bridge on colorado.
me: colorado? where's that?
friend: in pasadena.
me: oh! you mean the suicide bridge? have you been?
friend: yeah, i go with my parents all the time. it's actually beautiful up there.
me: wow. i've always wanted to go. the golden gate bridge is like that too, lotsa' suicides but it's amazing and really pretty.
friend: i've never seen anything, neither have my parents.
me: never heard anything either?
friend: i didn't say that.

she then got up and left me hanging, on purpose.

third time i heard about the bridge was in a photography course i took. one of our assignments was to take a field trip--at night!--and photograph a bridge. a classmate suggested the colorado street bridge and after telling a haunting urban legend about it, most of the class was down to explore. unfortunately, i wasn't able to complete the course. at least i found a picture...
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why am i telling you all of this? i still want to go, badly. "visit the bridge" is on mt bucket list. i pass it whenever i go out to lovely pasadena and i can hear every damned scary story whenever i glance from the 134. in fact, if you're in the car with me, i'll feel compelled to share that it's known for suicides and haunted, just as i am now.

maybe you're down for a field trip one of these days? afterwards, we can head over to the best forever 21 in the city and grub at the pasadena roscoe's! maybe?

if you're a tad morbid/curious like myself, check out the bridge. it's a really good and eerie documentary about suicide and the golden gate bridge, including interviews with survivors.

more links:
friends of the l.a. river
is colorado street bridge really haunted?
l.a.'s greatest landmarks
suicide bridge (legends of america)
suicide bridge (weird california)

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