I got to go to the Playboy Mansion! Every year, Playboy magazine hosts a jazz festival and we got invited to the mansion for the announcement of the festival's lineup. There were, of course, about a hundred journalists going too, so it's not like this was a unique experience, but honestly, how many people at our social level get to go there? It was pretty exciting! What was really funny was that when my mom told my great uncle that I was going to the Playboy Mansion, he got very quiet, and then tersely asked, "Is somebody going with her?" It's funny to think of anyone being concerned about a woman's virtue these days!
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Photo 1: The grotto at the mansion. This is part of the swimming pool, but it's built like a cave. It was dark and smelled of concentrated chlorine. I can't imagine the number of people who must crowd in there before it stops smelling like chlorine.
Photo 2: A peacock in a tree on the grounds. It was HUGE! And the photo doesn't do the colors justice. Amazing to see this creature just roaming around.
Photo 3: Two peahens just hanging out.
Photo 4: Hugh Hefner giving an interview. Bizarre seeing him in person. Like with most celebrities, he's shorter and frailer looking in person than his virile reputation and pictures would lead you to believe. Very funny: Women at the place posturing in front of Hef, like they were going to be "discovered" at this press conference. One woman in particular kept walking into his line of sight and tossing her hair.
Photo 5: A parrot on the grounds. Hefner has several cages FULL of animals, and had his animal keepers there the day we were there, probably to keep us entertained! (Journalists are such an unruly bunch!) In addition to the parrots and the peacocks, Hefner has monkeys, rabbits, flamingos and birds I didn't recognize! The back yard also had a trampoline, but it was covered with a tarp. At first, I thought it was to cover it so people wouldn't think that the Playboy Mansion was the type of place that had a trampoline in the back yard. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it was actually covered so that we wouldn't get on it and play around.

KWW