Neverland tourists descend on a wary Santa Ynez Valley
LOS OLIVOS, Calif. -- Five years after central California's low-key, vineyard-dappled Santa Ynez Valley played a splashy supporting role in the Oscar-winning movie Sideways, the faithful keep coming.
Every week, vacationing oenophiles wander into the Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café to ask where the film's four stars shared their first on-screen toast. Just recently, recalls waitress Laurie Madsen, two New Yorkers planted themselves at the bar, addressed each other as Sideways lead characters Miles and Jack, and exchanged bits of dialogue between swigs of the valley's legendary Pinot Noir.
But Hollywood and vines aren't the only lures around little Los Olivos (pop. 1,000) this summer, and wine lovers aren't its only pilgrims. As Madsen launches into her Sideways story, a young musician from Ohio interrupts for directions. His family's destination, about a 10-minute drive down a narrow two-lane road: Neverland Ranch, the scandal-tinged estate of Michael Jackson, who died unexpectedly June 25.
No matter that Jackson moved away from the 4-square-mile spread in 2005, vowing never to return after his acquittal on child molestation charges. Never mind that the exotic animals, amusement park rides and Disneyland-like railroad were gone long before the entertainer's death, or that curious tourists can't see anything but pastures and oak trees from the closed and guarded entrance gates on Figueroa Mountain Road. Even the name has changed back to its previous one, Sycamore Valley Ranch.
Such setbacks haven't stopped up to hundreds of fans a day from pausing to snap photos at an ad hoc shrine of wilted posies, heartfelt scribblings and stuffed chimpanzees. And though the chances of The Gloved One's former retreat becoming a tourist draw on the scale of Elvis Presley's Graceland appear slim at best, the prospect is churning controversy in the valley Jackson called home for nearly two decades.
"As macabre as it seems, we have seen a blip" in business since the singer's death, says gift store owner Thorn Kinersly. He sells Neverland T-shirts in nearby Solvang, a Danish-themed tourist town better known for faux half-timbers and dirndled waitresses than for Thriller videos. But, Kinersly says, "you can't rewrite history: The ranch will always be associated with Jackson."
They're vocal about liking the quiet
That's just what worries community activists behind Never!. The grassroots coalition, launched last week, opposes "all attempts, including creation of a burial site, to convert the beautiful and secluded former Neverland ranch into a commercial venue or Graceland-like tourist attraction."
"Jackson moved to the Santa Ynez Valley for the seclusion, and almost everyone (about 20,000 residents valley-wide) is here for the same reason," says Never! spokesman Bob Field, who advocates re-creating a version of Neverland in Las Vegas.
Located about 40 miles north of Santa Barbara via an old stagecoach route, this rugged, largely rural area clings to its cowpoke heritage.
Housing subdivisions sprinkle hillsides near the valley's largest municipalities, Solvang and Buellton. A post-Sideways tourism boost has prompted a gaggle of wineries and tasting rooms, and a controversial, Vegas-worthy casino resort built by the native Chumash Indian tribe draws gamblers and music fans to the town of Santa Ynez.
Still, most of the valley remains tagged for agricultural use. Cattle ranches, u-pick-'em orchards and manicured horse farms (Seabiscuit was filmed here, and Monty Roberts of "horse whispering" fame is a local) commingle with vineyards whose strict zoning restrictions preclude on-site, Napa Valley-like hotels and restaurants. One new tour company, Vino Vaqueros, offers wine tastings, picnic lunches, and horseback rides through the vineyards at Fess Parker Winery.
Tour de France cyclist Lance Armstrong used to train on the area's roadways — including Neverland's Figueroa Mountain Road, which winds into the punishingly steep reaches of the Los Padres National Forest. And notwithstanding a new Los Olivos purveyor of wine-infused cupcakes, the most popular item on local menus is "Santa Maria tri-tip," a dry-rub beef barbecue that dates back to the region's 19th-century Spanish cowboys.
No plans for a Jackson 'shrine'
Neverland's owner, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm called Colony Capital, has been officially mum about its future. But this month, says Los Olivos real-estate agent and newspaper columnist William Etling, Colony invited prominent locals for tours and reassured them there were no plans to bury Jackson on the property or to turn the grounds into a Graceland-type museum. Any such move would entail years of legal wrangling, given a lack of infrastructure and past zoning battles, he adds.
"Can you imagine 100,000 or more devoted fans visiting such a shrine, then dashing over to Los Olivos to find a restroom? We can't imagine it. We can't imagine that county government could imagine it. It just won't happen," Thursday's editorial in the Santa Ynez Valley News noted
But while many valley residents want Jackson pilgrims to just beat it, some see their presence as a potential boon in an era when sales of $14-a-glass Pinot Noir are slipping.
And, even with nothing more to ponder than a few crumpled balloons and a "You're Singing With the Angels Now" banner, Neverland continues to draw visitors — including 23-year-old Ohio musician Brent Jackson and his family, The Jacksons.
As part of a cross-country concert tour, parents Bruce and Brenda and offspring Brent, Brittany, Brook and Bryson have already paid homage at Nashville's Graceland. Now, on their way to San Francisco, they've pulled over on a balmy, star-filled evening to do the same for the King of Pop.
"It feels like something huge happened here," says patriarch Bruce. " And if they ever opened it up, this place would be one amazing destination."