Wandering into an alternate reality . . .

Oddly I entered both of these alternate (alternative if you’re British) realities in Cambridge Massachusetts. Could there be a portal?

Those of you who read Spenser novels knew that Robert B. Parker's detective, Spenser, often took his girlfriend to the Harvest Restaurant, an actual restaurant in Cambridge Massachusetts. Based on his cover jacket photos, Parker seemed to bear a strong resemblance to his character.  And, based on pictures I'd seen of his wife, although she was not a dead ringer for the dectective's girlfriend Susan, there were certainly similarities.

Simply dining at the Harvest put me in Spenser's world, but I really felt I had crossed the line from reality to fantasy when I looked across the room and saw Parker dining with his wife. It was as if Spenser and Susan had come in for dinner.  I would have found it interesting to run into the Parkers anywhere.  But in that restaurant? Magic.

It didn't hit me at first when Matt Damon walked by me on Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge. I was outside Harvard Yard waiting for a shuttle bus to the Longwood Medical Campus. The night was bitterly cold and he was appropriately dressed in a peacoat and dark wool cap. He passed the bus stop, crossed Mass Ave and headed down the street the name of which I've long forgotten. For years I thought of it as an interesting diversion until I realized he could easily be his character from Good Will Hunting heading out to find Minnie Driver.  How about dem apples?

I don't know why I didn't think of this when I first wrote this. It is kind of a twist on the same topic. I once left a Kurt Russell movie on 23rd Street in New York and walked down to the Tribeca Grill. My friend and I hadn't been seated that long when Kurt Russell walked in wearing the wardrobe from the movie.

It's nice to get away from reality once in a while.

ADDED APRIL 2023

I forgot a somewhat similar incident with James Stewart - although it took me years to confirm it. 

I was walking along Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills when I saw an elderly man in out-dated and ill-fitting clothes standing on the corner looking a bit lost. I recognized Jimmy Stewart but figured it couldn't be the actor because if Jimmy Stewart was in such bad condition, someone would be taking care of him.  But, I never forgot.

Enter the Internet. I found clips of a movie he made with Bette Davis about the problems of the elderly.  There was a scene on a nearby block and Jimmy Stewart was wearing the same clothes. Actually, it took decades and the invention of the Internet to verify this. 

I guess this isn't really the same. It might be better included in a post about film sets I've wandered into. I"ll start a list.

Rocky II

Sex and the City

Michael J. Fox

Miracle on Thirty-Fourth Street

Three Men and a Baby

Wolf

???