I often skip blogging and just send long, detailed emails (filled with photos) to my friends. This is fine and dandy, but it clogs up my available email space -- and probably theirs as well. So, in cleaning out my email, I thought I'd save these sagas here. Here is a recent adventure:
From September 10, 2021:
I am sure I told you, I'm still trying to get ready for my upcoming move. I've been working on my rolled movie posters in tubes. I've been trying to condense them down---from one or a very few posters in a tube to as many as I can safely cram into a larger tube. My recycling can is stuffed full, so this is the pile (which has actually grown since this shot was taken) of empty poster tubes and packing paper in the guest room where I am working. UGH!
Here is a look into a larger tube that I have full of posters. Posters used to be folded, but switched to being rolled around the mid-80s. However, poster dealers and auction houses seem to prefer rolling instead of folding. As I work my way through the tubes, more and more I find posters that should have been folded flat that are now rolled. UGH!. I HATE rolled posters. Sure-they look nicer when displayed, but storing them? A nightmare. I still have many, many tubes left to go. Most of them have never been opened before. Looking at the shipping dates, I have come across tubes dating as far back (so far) as 1998. Zowie! What a mess (which is probably why I let it go so long...)
I think I've told you about my tortoise, Shirley. Right? Shirley is still Shirley. Silly girl. I may have mentioned the little box halves she likes to hide in. I finally got a short video of her moving around inside of one. What is she doing? Ha! The last few days she's been sitting in her large "cardboard condo" box. That box she has pretty much destroyed. I have a new one sitting right next to the old one...but she hasn't bothered to explore it yet.
On Saturday, I took myself on a little adventure. I had several things lined up that I wanted to do and see. I knew I wanted to go as far south as Bakersfield (about 2 hours away). I had planned on driving up on the east side of the valley (at least part way) on my return trip (through places I had never been to before). I had been chatting with my friend Vye the night before, wondering if there was anything I could do or see on the way down that I hadn't experienced before. She suggested the Delano Heritage Park Museum. Uh, okay...
I have no idea how Vye heard about this place. I didn't think I'd have time to stop anyway on my way south as I was meeting a friend at a designated time. However, even though it was not what I planned, I just woke up around 7 in the morning. After giving myself some time to wake up fully and get cleaned up, I was on the road by 9---plenty of time to spare for visiting this place.
The Heritage Park Museum is a collection of buildings from in and around Delano that have been moved to this plot of land that is run by the Delano Historical Society. I guess the idea is to offer a peek into what it was like around the turn of the last century in Delano while preserving the town's history.
When I arrived, the staff member in charge of the place gave me a small, fold-out brochure with some information. There was no fee (and I had no cash for a donation--not that I saw a place to leave a donation). All I was required to do was sign my name in a guest book. Here it was July 31st...and the last visitor had been there in mid-May. The staff member went with me to unlock all of the buildings. She just asked to let her know when I was done so she could lock them up again. Okay.
The houses and other buildings on the park were all built between 1876 and 1916. Visiting was interesting. One house was tiny, just one big room that was sort of divided in two for a living area and a kitchen. A second floor had been added (with a very narrow staircase going up to the dusty second floor). A schoolhouse in the park was huge (although it's census never rose above 19 students supposedly), but spooky as there was very little lighting inside. There was an old jail you couldn't really see into, an old firehouse, a dental office (complete with dental chair, desk, took, a diploma on the wall, and a vintage doctor's smock deteriorating away).
There is a small, old general store. It has a post office at the rear of it and behind that is a tiny bedroom for the store owner/postmaster. All of this was very interesting. The trouble was that there was so much vintage crap piled everywhere, places seemed more like junk stores than carefully preserved history. There was a side yard with old farming equipment, stoves, ancient refrigerators, etc. They were all clustered together and left to rust in the weather.
The Weaver House, Delano's first Victorian-styled home, was built in 1887. Being at the far end of the park--the opposite end from the small farm house I'd first visited--I got the feeling it was supposed to be the grand finale. While the living room was nicely done, it was still cluttered. The kitchen, parlor, sewing room, etc were junkie. I mean really, who had 20 irons in their house? It looked like anything and everything that had been collected or donated was placed in one of the buildings and left to rot. In the upper floor of the Weaver House (which was accessed by an incredibly narrow first few steps before opening up only slightly more for the rest of the stairway up), there were closets filled with clothes that were just rotting and moldering away. The buildings themselves were in disrepair. It was sad.
While the stop had been a good idea of Vye's, neither she nor I took into account it was the middle of summer in the Valley. It was 100 degrees while I was traipsing about the Heritage Park. The buildings, which had all been closed off, were hot and stuffy and dusty. I felt very dehydrated after my explorations. I got myself some iced tea afterwards as soon as I could.
From Delano, I headed to Bakersfield. It took about a half hour to get there. I arrived at about 12:20. That afforded me the time I needed to make a stop for lunch at a place I'd been wanting to try. On the corner of K and 19th streets is an old Woolworth's building. No, the chain has not resurrected itself from bankruptcy. The store is now gone. In its place is an antique mall.
However, the owner of the building was clever in deciding to leave all of the original Woolworth signage up. Seeing it kind of feels like you are in a time warp or something. It's almost like being on a period movie set.
However, one thing that is still the same inside, is the old Woolworth's lunch counter. As a kid, I do remember going to Woolworth's. There were two in town. The one downtown had a luncheonette, but I certainly never ate at it. Whoever would have thought that had been a missed opportunity? This is the last remaining Woolworth's luncheonette in the world--and it is still operational. Why not try it?
Not that I needed any junk food (I DON'T! I look like Jabba the Hutt these days...), but the menu was very limited. Gone are the days of the Blue Plate Specials. Instead, you had a choice of a hamburger, cheeseburger, hot dog, chili dog, or a pastrami or turkey sandwich. I suppose a turkey sandwich would have been a wiser choice---but it cost twice as much as a burger. So, I opted for a cheeseburger (no fries). And since I was in the last of the famed soda fountains, I also splurged and had a milkshake.
The food was just okay -- but I wasn't expecting a lot. I just wanted to go there for the nostalgia of it all.
I had seen the old lunch counter a few times over the years, but had always missed it being open. I was surprised --yet pleased--to see so many others who were there to enjoy the place, as well
It was just a little slice of bygone Americana that you could have to go or simply eat at the counter.
As the clock approached 1, I left the former Woolworth's and walked around the corner. A little more than half way down the block, I spotted my friend John. John lives in Frazier Park, about 45 minutes south of Bakersfield. He had come up to join me for my first visit to The Sinking Ship, Bakersfield's newest tiki bar!
Yes, "newest tiki bar," as in Bakersfield already has one (while neither Fresno not Clovis have any at all. Waaagh!). The other, Tiki-Ko, is a swell little place I first encountered a few years back and fell in love with. (More about it HERE.) The owner, Roy Scarazzo, had told me on that first visit that in the basement below Tiki-Ko and running the length of the entire building, they were installing a new bar. The original plans were described to me as having the bar being sort of a pirate cave. It was years in development (with COVID not helping things). About 6 weeks ago, the new bar, The Sinking Ship, opened. What would the new bar be like?
The pirate cave theme has morphed into a more nautical theme--but that's okay. Noted tiki design guy, Tiki Diablo (who also worked on Tiki-Ko) did the buildout. And it is truly splendid.
The usual tiki bar classic kitsch is on the lighter side---but that fits with the nautical theme. There are still the classic touches, like a thatched roof over the bar and classic exotica playing over the sound system. But it is clear that the Sinking Ship is trying to differentiate itself from Tiki-Ko upstairs.
There are several seating areas and unique atmospheric props throughout the place.
John had two friends with him, Brahma and Shirley. It was my first time meeting them. Brahma was the designated driver, so he enjoyed Coca-Cola all afternoon. Shirley opted for Bud Light. That left John and I to try the cocktails. For our initial drinks, John had a Zombie and I enjoyed a MaryAnn.
Round two had John trying a Jet Pilot and me having a Shark Attack.
John totally dug the shark mug!
Brahma and Shirley seemed to be enjoying themselves.
For round three, John went with a 151 Swizzle while I savored a Rum Barrel.
The bar manager, Freddy, was a great guy. He kept coming by to check on us and answer our questions (and, of course, I had many). At one point, Freddy brought over a cocktail they were working on to add to the menu. Did we want to try it? It was called a Beachbum Special. Shirley claimed it, but we all sampled it. DEEE-licious! John and I both decided to order one. I went to the bar to get them. The bartender, who was making them, looked at me. "Don't I know you?," he asked. The mask he was wearing obscured his features. As I looked at him, I asked, "Benny?"
It was Benny. Benny had been the bartender on my very first visit to Tiki-Ko---and he had been marvelous! And he remembered me? Wow! He couldn't quite place me other than having been upstairs at Tiki-Ko. He asked my name and also asked about my cane--which he said he didn't remember me using before. I had only met that one time before. Amazing!
The Sinking Ship's bar doesn't have a place for patrons to sit. So that banter with bartenders is missing. I would have loved to have chatted with Benny some more. He is a large part of why I was so taken with Tiki-Ko on my first visit. Oh well. Another time. And our Beachbum Specials were yummy.
The afternoon was fun. I had planned on only staying for two hours...but we ended up staying for four. Shirley said she didn't want our time together to end. So, John had another Beachbum Special. For me, I asked Benny to make me something , whatever he chose. I told him I trusted his judgement implicitly. He delivered something called an Ankle Breaker. Yum.
Not long before we left, Roy the owner came over with a tray. On it were four skull-shaped shot glasses. Because we had been having such a good time, he wanted to share something called a Kraken the Whip. Sooooo yummy. Coconut and pineapple and 100% awesome. How nice.
Soon it was time to go. We climbed the stairs from the depths of the Sinking Ship's basement location. Freddy the manager and Roy the owner had come over to thank us for our visit and bid us farewell. I do feel bad I didn't get to say goodbye to Benny, though. There's a chance I'll be back at the end of August. Hopefully I'll be able to rectify that. Anyway, from the cool cellar, into the glaring heat of the valley and it was time to say goodbye.
It was great, as always, to have seen John. I really appreciated his driving up to meet me in Bakersfield. It was also great to make new friends with Shirley and Brahma.
My other stops were canceled---saved for another time. I'm glad I stayed for the good time and the laughs. It truly made the long drive worthwhile.
CHEERS!
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