We make fun

We attacked Los Angeles yesterday morning. Arriving at Union Station on the Metrolink we hit the ground running, literally; I had to find a rest room. The usually clean facility on the train had passed the "use by" date and a dash through the train station looking for another relief station wasn't of much help. Standing in line for a marginally clean stall I decided we'd catch a Dash Bus to our first stop and I'd turn off that section of my brain.

After a few false starts we found the correct bus and headed to Clifton's Cafeteria for a quick bite of breakfast and a bit of reminiscing. Sister Doodles had eaten there when she was enrolled in Beauty College a few blocks away but this was my first visit to this location. Both of us, as kids, often were taken to the Clifton's on Crenshaw. It was a Friday night ritual and we laughed and speculated that maybe the food wasn't as good as we thought. Our breakfast was just a snack to hold us for lunch and finally; whew, a clean restroom.

Back on the bus and over to the Garment District, an area selling fabrics, notions, and beads. Doodles was bitten by the necklace making bug after our own Lil Bird reintroduced us to this area. You see, our mom, Lorna had frequented these streets when she had a bridal shop. She made custom bridal/formal wear and since she didn't drive, I accompanied her downtown. We'd also drag the poor lil bird and when Doodles was in town, she'd come, too. These trips were always a treat and full of laughs and lunch.

It was like necklace making heaven and bought enough supplies to keep my sister busy all winter. She has a very good "eye" when it comes to colors and design so I bought some stones and handed them over to her. I'll get a necklace or two back. Nothing like custom made anything.

We were getting a bit hungry and had pretty much run through all our money so it was back on the Dash Bus to an ATM and then the Metro for a trip to Langer's Deli for lunch. I love the public transportation in Los Angeles. After the ATM it was down stairs to the Red Line and over one stop to 7th and Alverado. I did get a bit turned around in the Metro Center Station, we entered from a different area, but some nice gentlemen pointed us in the right direction and we were on our way.

Langer's was everything we wanted or needed. The #44 is a Hot Pastrami on rye with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and Russian dressing on the side. We shared this as they are huge sandwiches. The waitress gave us two pickles, what a doll. After this fantastic lunch, and a discussion about how to pronounce "Philippe's" with the table next to us, we were back on the train and headed for Little Tokyo.

Our trip to the Japanese section of LA was short. We were both running out of steam and felt heading back towards Union Station to be our best bet. Plus we'd been dragging bags of merchandise all this time. When purchased who knew how heavy twelve long-sleeved t-shirts would get. We HAD to stop at Olvera Street and, though we couldn't eat another bite, darling Doodles bought some sweets from a vendor; I enjoyed my Alfajor this morning with my coffee.

Union Station is a short five minute walk across the street from the Calle and we sat in the beautiful waiting area for a few minutes. We are both marveled by the architecture. On to the platform and the hour-long train ride home. Love the Metrolink for it's comfort and cleanliness and at 5:20 pm we pulled into Simi Station. A lovely day and we really laughed a lot. Can't ask for much more than that.