Where am I?
Looks like Main Street, USA, doesn't it? In fact, this is a Main Street, the sleepy principal artery of a nominally speedy municipality in a decidedly noncoastal state with fewer than 1 million residents. This municipality has a two-word name, as does the state in which it resides. Also, see that 10-story building in the background? That's the Hotel Alex Johnson, which went up in 1927-28, about the time a far larger construction project nearby began giving certain politicians very big heads. And now your last clue: In 1958, making "North by Northwest," Alfred Hitchcock apparently stayed here, and even included a few hotel scenes in the film.
Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times
