Vaccination Vacation, Part 2: San Marino and Other Nearby Cities

APRIL 29: So after a few hours of flying I find myself at LAX, my first California visit since August 2019. Collin picked me up from the airport and we went right on over to Brother Cousins for some wonderful, wonderful tacos.

sometimes I see pictures of when my hair was still long and think: wow I looked like kind of a cool dude

APRIL 30th: Woke up and met Blair. Then she took me around the neighborhood and I met some of her favorite traffic cones and parking meters.

A little bit later I went with Collin to Santa Monica for a breakfast of Sidecar Donuts and a Santa Monica walk-around. Do you see that chubby squirrel? I kicked him.

Saw Moulin Rouge inside this theater many years ago

Then our day on the town really began to swerve about. Went to Brentwood Mart to try on a suit, went to Petit Trois for oooh boy what a meal and what a burger, drove about some more, took some calls, ate Sichuan hot chicken in Silverlake, and made it to Grandma’s. We all had Yang Chow.

After Yang Chow, a birthday cake! For me! Thanks, Grandma! What a wonderful birthday I had.

MAY 1: Ok, a new day in San Marino. First things first, gotta walk over to CalTech and check on the turtles!

For lunch we picked up burgers from Goldburgers in Highland Park. And after lunch I went and got my haircut for the first time since early February, 2020. Then I drove to see the gates of Phil Spector’s castle and picked up a hitchhiker on my way back to Grandma’s house. Later that night I’d enjoy some tacos at Ditroit, Enrique Olvera’s new taco stand, but I only have a picture of the ample parking situation at that establishment.

MAY 2: Big big day! Blair came over to Grandma’s for dinner and boy did they hit it off.

Then it was time to…you guessed it…check on the turtles!

Back at the house, eventually we had to all say goodbye.

But Sunday wasn’t even over yet! Because Grandma brought me to game night and Wow did I have a fun time with Helen and Lucy and their Apple Watches.

MAY 3: Started the day with a turtle pond visit, of course, and boy those guys were out! Saw at least 100 sunning themselves and roaming the grounds. New world record!

Then Grandma took me to lunch at the Guidados they have in Pasadena now. I hadn’t had Guisados in…seven years? Lucy’s neighbor is the owner, so that crew all has an interest in what’s going on at this taco shop now. I had a ceviche tostada, a potato and chorizo taco, AND a Level 10 spicy Cochinita Pibil taco. Level 10 put up a fight but I think I could handle a Level 13, at least.

Then we went over to Alhambra to see Louise and learn about reinforcing apartment buildings for earthquakes.

Making a stop at Dinosaur Park first, I picked Grandma up some Korean fried chicken for FHE dinner before heading to the westside myself.

At the remodeled home of Keith and Leslie I saw Gwendolyn for the first time in, I don’t know, 15 years? Nothing’s changed! Then Keith, Collin and I went to Top Round, which I’ve been dreaming of getting back to for not quite 15 years but it’s been a bit.

MAY 4: Surprise! Did NOT go to CalTech this morning but Lacy Park, instead.

an all-time favorite San Marino home

Had a bit of an LA afternoon, beginning with a couple shrimp tacos from Mariscos Jalisco before meeting up with Broek for Sonoratown.

Then we went over to Lucy’s to have a look at her garden. Grandma brought sheer gifts for the gardeners.

And then…how’s this for a surprise? Dim sum dinner with Greg! Followed by an inspection of local construction.

MAY 5: Up very very early to secure the only Uber in Los Angeles for a ride to the Burbank airport. Where would I fly to next? I bet you can guess!

Vaccination Vacation, Part 1: Chicago!

Bad news, for at least the next three posts, I won’t have any pictures of walks through Inwood Hill Park. That’s because I took a big Vaccination Vacation visiting people all over the country. As I keep telling you, I stayed totally put for the pandemic, but, with my vaccine fully kicked in and my most recent gig wrapped up, it seemed like it was finally time to go see some people.

So on APRIL 23 I caught an early flight from the shiny new LaGuardia home to Chicago where Dad picked me up at Midway and I met the neighbor’s new dog, enjoyed a few Welcome Home Cheez-Its, and when Mom got home from the Dentist “helped” my folks go buy our first new TV in 15 years. What an exciting start to the trip!

Then I went to the grocery store with Mom and that evening we all went downtown and had some nice Mexican food and then took a walk on the thing in Chicago that’s like the Highline, but has rude bicyclists on it.

APRIL 24: Sundays certainly are Sundays, aren’t they? After dinner we took a walk to one of the Oak Park parks.

APRIL 26: Big day! Went downtown to have a look at the big Monet exhibit at the Art Institute (along with other arts), walked up Michigan Avenue, had ramen for lunch, dipped into the Field Museum to check on the t-rex named Sue, and took Mom and Dad to H Mart.

APRIL 27: I know you’ve been waiting and wondering when you’d see this, but that Tuesday I got Johnnie’s with Mom! And she told me an Elmwood Park park with permanent cornhole holes and bacci ball courts. I’m not going to share a picture of a combo juicy hot w/ ice, no cap and a hotdog w/ fries. But probably you know what they look like? I am including a picture of the Minion birdhouse I painted on our Michigan trip in 2019, though, since it’s on display in the kitchen. At night we took a walk and Mom and I got our picture together.

APRIL 28: For lunch I tried the Hot Chicken sandwich from a new place nearby called Chubby’s, it was great! And Mom tried the Popeye’s chicken sandwich for the first time. I’m a little mixed up on dates, today might be the day I went to the dentist. Or it was the day before.

APRIL 29: I took Mom and Dad to the airport in the morning so they could go check on everyone in Utah. I had seen on the internet that extremely formative restaurant of my teenage years (and thereafter) El Gallo de Oro had closed, so I drove over to pay my respects. Then I came home, went to the mall, asked myself why I went to the mall, drove back home, got an Alpine sandwich for my flight that afternoon, wound up having Johnnie’s again, and then caught my flight to the next destination of my Vaccination Vacation.

March 2021

Here we go, a few things that happened in March!

March 6 & 7: On Saturday I passed by Ethel Tenenbaum’s place for the first time in ages and on Sunday I had the privilege of participating in assisting in the ordination of Priest Oscar to Elder Oscar.

March 11: Went down to Soho to return a suit, had a nice Soho walk around, got a pork pancake from Spicy Village, and took in the Grief and Grievance show at the New Museum. Fine show, some nice Kerry James Marshall paintings on display.

March 13: Big day! My second car ride since March 2020. Went with Ned to have a look at our friends Slade and Andrea’s new property outside the city. Where, exactly? Oh I’m not sure, it was a two hour drive and there was lots of snow on the ground. We investigated the facilities of this former Boy Scout campground, Ned chopped some things down (seems he has competition with local beavers), on the way back the Dug Out hadn’t opened for the season yet, and then I used the bathroom at the Bear Mountain Inn on the way back to the city.

March 27: Nice day for a long walk through Inwood Hill Park and back. Recently I’ve learned there’s a whole bunch of park on the west side of hill that I didn’t realize was there before.