Thursday, November 16, 2023

October 19, 2023 – Alhambra, CA – Sunny Skies – Low 80s

The room was relatively quiet - the smokers in the parking lot went in early. To get some fresh air into the room, we cracked the slider a bit (there's a screen).  That really helps.

I went down for the included breakfast at 7 AM when it opened.  Based on the number of cars in the parking lot, there are a lot of people in the hotel as well as a lot of kids.  I am wearing my mask in the elevator as there is a lot of time left on this trip.  The Breakfast room is adjacent to the pool and you have to go outside to get to it. The room itself is small and the tables are close to each other and you are dodging people to get to the food.  I found a nice table outside (it was warm) away from the crowd. It’s a modest menu but I had a waffle and a bowl of frosted flakes along with a couple of cups of coffee.  There are no scrambled eggs so that will do it for breakfast.   Simple but tasty. 

I went back down with Ellen and had some coffee while she had breakfast.  It's nice to be outside; 

The plan today is to pick up Noah and drive to the Pico Robertson area to Lenny’s Casita for Mexican Kosher Food.  When we fist talked about going from Mexican, I thought we were going to go to the restaurant we tried some years ago. This is a different place and Noah has been here before and that was a solid recommendation.  The restaurant is on the North side of Pico close to Robertson and where Marie Callender used to be back in the Jurassic.  There are no paper menus – you scan a QR code on your phone, which brings up a menu and you order from there and pay from your phone as well.  Hello, future.  I had the Crunchwrap (a four tortilla filled with meat and other goodies and then toasted on both sides) - I filled mine with Carne Asada, guacamole and other veggies.  I could only eat half of it and will have the other half for dinner later.  Ellen had some short ribs and Noah had tacos.  Ellen was not happy with her food as it was too spicy - the waiter apologized and gave us the Churro Waffles as a comped dessert.  The food was good and we ate Al Fresco as the weather was perfect.

After lunch, we went looking for a Judaica book store – Noah needed a certain book, which he didn't find after visiting the store he thought carried it.  We then went on a tour of Los Angeles.  We went by my old house at Poinsettia Place and Melrose Ave - Ron Howard and his family lived in an apartment on Melrose across the alley.  Used to see him once in a while when we were living there.  We then went up Poinsettia Place to Poinsettia Park, where I used to spend my evenings playing a game called "over the line" (a batter hits until he flies our or his ground ball is field by a lone infielder) - I would stay up for a long while putting a dozen or more balls over the fence and onto the street.  A superstar in this game that didn't translate well into Hight School Baseball.  We used to play until the park turned out the lights around 10 PM.  When I got home, my mother had an interesting meal waiting for me - a combination of her delicious spaghetti and equally delicious chili.  I mixed them together and it was great.  Miss that for sure.  

We looked for Bancroft Junior High, where I went for Grades 8 and 9 (after being paroled from Virgil Junior High) but it had been replaced by a new a very different looking modern structure.  The houses in that neighborhood were quant with lots of greenery.  I didn't pay that much attention to all that as a kid even though I walked to school.  

From there, we toured Sunset Blvd checking out the new buildings and some of the iconic ones.  We accidentally ran across Emerson College's West Coast Campus - a very large and impressive glass structure. 

We dropped Noah off and then spent the rest of the evening in our room.  Dinner was the leftovers from Lenny's and the Crunchwrap was even better the next day.  

 

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