Nostalgia (Los Angeles, Long Beach, Anaheim: felony, transfer, private school)

[onlyonejudy]

Originally Posted by nmnita

In Eagle Rock, Highland Park it was Albany or Cleveland, eventually they added Clinton. Albany only had 4 numbers.

And I loved listening in on my Grandmother's phone in Burbank because it was a party line. I grew up in the 40's & 50's in Glendale - first on Garden Street across from Griffith Park - what a great childhood neighborhood it was then.

[treedonkey]

If I could go back to any time and place from my childhood for JUST ONE DAY, it would be to Coronado, CA on a hot summer day in 1984 (I was 14).

Here is what I would do on that day...

6am - 11am: Walk to the beach wearing nothing but swim trunks (no shoes) and bodywomp the waves until the wind picks up
11am - 12:30pm: Put on a t-shirt and sandals and let my wet trunks air dry while I ride my bike (a beach cruiser with newspaper baskets) to Pizza Garden and have lunch with my geeky just-out-of-middle-school buds, and then have a dozen donuts for desert from 'Village Donuts' next door.
12:30-3:00pm: Handle-bar ride and/or tow each other on our skateboards or down the Orange Ave. sidewalk, trying not to get 'busted' by the 'pigs'. We'd stop at Cora-Mart on the way and each buy $5 worth of candy - zots, lemon drops, big league chew, and so on... and then head over to the Supercade to play video games... Donkey Kong, Ms. Pac Man, Zaxxon, Joust, and so on...
3:00pm-5pm: Roam around the Hotel Del, trying not to get yelled at, and find that vending machine where you can stick your arm up into the dispenser slot and get a free pack of mini donuts, then go back to one of our parents' house, tell them we're bored and hungry, and get them to take us to Alpha Beta to stock up on soda, hot dogs and chips for later.
5pm-7pm: Go back to the beach to catch some nice afternoon waves and build a really big sandcastle with a moat around it. Stare at girls in bikinis as they walk by, but, like a dufus, be all covered with sand and too scared to say a word, even if they come up and say hi to me.
7pm-9pm: Flashlight tag with all the kids in the neighborhood.
9pm-midnight: Big Bonfire on the beach with lots of soda, hot dogs, chips and other junk food we stocked up on throughout the day. Night swimming under a full moon. Sneak out and run home in our bathing suits once the cops show up and shine their lights out over the water. Beg to spend the night over at the neighbor kid's house, since his parents have cable, and see if we can catch any 'R' rated movies on Showtime or HBO.

That would really be an absolutely perfect day for me, and I'm certain I would truly appreciate it this time around.

[Fontucky]

That reminds me... I'd like to take the ferry to Coronado once again, like it was before they built that bridge.

[treedonkey]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

That reminds me... I'd like to take the ferry to Coronado once again, like it was before they built that bridge.

Oh yeah, I forgot about:
12am-2am: sneak up under the bridge with a skateboard strapped to my back and take the catwalk up to the top and come out the manhole and skate down the road back into town.

Actually that came years later, in college, but you reminded me of it...

They do have a passenger ferry over to 'nado now but I'm sure it's not the same. The auto ferry was long gone by the time I lived there anyways. i think they built the bridge in the mid 60's, no?

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by onlyonejudy

And I loved listening in on my Grandmother's phone in Burbank because it was a party line. I grew up in the 40's & 50's in Glendale - first on Garden Street across from Griffith Park - what a great childhood neighborhood it was then.

Well I am guessing we are very close to the same age. Yes, we had a party line and I would spend hours trying to figure out who we shared it with. While in high school one of those on our party line was a grandma who's grandson played football for Eagle Rock. I was dieing to know who it was. I never did find out, by the time I was a senior mom and dad got a private line.

Nita

ps Our kids and grandkids just don't know all the fun they have missed..

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by treedonkey

i think they built the bridge in the mid 60's, no?

Opened in the late sixties.

["Bronco Mike"]

Originally Posted by majoun

The Damiano's on Robertson was open well into the '90s. The Damiano's on Pico closed down long, long before that.

BTW, the newsstand's still there on Pico and Robertson, although the Toluca Mart next door went the way of most of L.A.'s other independent supermarkets ages ago. (The market's owner's wife was from Toluca, Mexico, and he named it after her hometown.)

BTW remember Gooey Louie's burgers on Washington at all, right near where Washington Blvd. and Washington Pl. merged?

Yes, I do remember Gooey Louie's. Is that place gone now? It was right near the car wash, and the Stern's Motel. Is Bruno's Italian Restaurant still over there on Centinela(I think it was Centinela, or was it on Inglewood), south of Venice Blvd, in Mar Vista?

[majoun]

Originally Posted by "Bronco Mike"

Yes, I do remember Gooey Louie's. Is that place gone now? It was right near the car wash, and the Stern's Motel. Is Bruno's Italian Restaurant still over there on Centinela(I think it was Centinela, or was it on Inglewood), south of Venice Blvd, in Mar Vista?

Gooey Louie's and Bruno's are both gone.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by treedonkey

Oh yeah, I forgot about:
12am-2am: sneak up under the bridge with a skateboard strapped to my back and take the catwalk up to the top and come out the manhole and skate down the road back into town.

Actually that came years later, in college, but you reminded me of it...

They do have a passenger ferry over to 'nado now but I'm sure it's not the same. The auto ferry was long gone by the time I lived there anyways. i think they built the bridge in the mid 60's, no?

You'd get rolled up by DHS for trying that now! LOL!

I am acquainted with someone who used to bungee from the girders (under the road) of the Golden Gate Bridge.

[LaoTzuMindFu]

Wow. I cant believe Ive never seen this thread. Im sure these were probably already mentioned but here are some things I remember:

The Pike in Long Beach - Have a few pics of me as a little kid on some of the "kiddy" rides.

Busch Gardens - At the Brewery in Van Nuys.

Twin View Drive in in Redondo Beach.

Riding the RTD bus for ten cents downtown to watch Kung Fu movies in the old theaters.

Ray Malavasi and the Rams.

Going to Dodger Stadium was as magical as going to Disneyland. Now its like going to a gang banger meeting.