Lagonita Lodge offers a 90 minute pontoon boat tour for $8 for adults. Aaron, our tour guide, took us on a great tour of the lake and showed us the weekend homes of the rich and famous. We saw the homes of Kevin Costner, Lana Turner, Mel Blanc, Goldie Hawn, Britney Spears, Shirley Jones, and Chuck Barris (of Gong Show fame). Aaron also pointed out homes used in the filming of Dr. Doolittle (the one with Eddie Murphy) and War Games. We also saw the remnants of the concrete lab structure used in the 1931 Frankenstein movie!
Apparently, the most desirable job for locals is housesitter for the rich and famous. Aaron regaled us with all sorts of stories including a smashed Kirstie Allie falling down the stairs at a local bar and Ron Howard bragging at a marina about all the fish he caught.
We also got a kick out of the floating outhouses called the "SS Relief"!
You can take tours at the marinas on a phony paddle wheeler (unlike the boats on Lake Tahoe, the paddle wheels are just for show) or a replica pirate ship. I doubt you get as interesting a tour as we got!
** UPDATE! ** We went on a boat tour on the Big Bear Queen (see separate journal entry) and our guide confirmed several of the star's homes but also said the houses that had been pointed out to us previously as belonging to Britney Spears and Goldie Hawn in fact belonged to non-celebrities.