Pam (Pt. 2)

More of my favorite random memories….

Going to San Francisco and taking the BART, staying at your friend’s home and traveling around the City and going across to Sausalito and Tiberon.  I recall drinking a Pina Colada overlooking the bay, taking a trolley car and visiting the shops along that water front on SF’s side.

I also recall our trip as a family to visit Uncle Albert and Aunt Carolyn.  I remember arriving late at night (at least it seemed late to me).  I remember going to Aunt Carolyn’s family’s home and spending some time there.  They had a little girl my age.  I also remember getting an Asian doll in the glass box from Chinatown….and visiting the zoo I believe.

I remember spending an inordinate amount of time in some appliance store while you guys shopped for some large expensive appliance.  It seemed to take hours!!

I use to try to memorize all the neighborhoods, stores and unique artwork along the route to Grandma and Grandpa’s in Huntington Park including that large industrial structure where steel was being heated up for some purpose I never learned. There were a lot of railroad tracks around it.   But once that hamburger stand appeared on the left side of the road, then the car wash, I knew we had finally arrived.

I remember them living in both of those small apartments in the back.  I preferred the one on the right. That garage in the back was off limits, but it never stopped me from pecking in and seeing all the odds and ends being stored in there.  I recall coming in that back gate when you’d park in the back, and then all those roses along the driveway in the front.

But again, I remember back before the 60 freeway would take us to Ontario to visit Aunt Roma.  We had to take Whittier Blvd down to the end where the miniature golf was (Harbor Blvd?) and then from there take winding roads all the way to Ontario.

I remember you took me to the Alligator Farm across from Knott’s Berry Farm for my birthday one year. 

I remember going to Bob’s Big Boy up on Whittier Blvd for dinner.  Seems to me there use to be car hops but I’m not sure it was there or not.  I know they use to serve us in the car though, right?  Same at A&W Root Beer down in South Whittier.

You had mentioned that sandwich shop with the good pastrami sandwiches. It was across from the bowling alley where we use to bowl off Telegraph Road; but wasn’t there a sandwich shop inside the King Cole market on Washington Blvd that made really good Italian styled subs?  Oh oh!! And there was another over the counter shop called The Holly House where they’d pour oil over each sub.  Yum!!!

There was also a smorgasbord place called Sir George’s as well as the Pirate place in the Whitwood Mall called the Jolly Rogers.  I remember their huge juicy hamburgers.

Jack’s was always one of your favorite places for hot beef sandwiches, right?

Even before that, I remember driving through that dairy off of Painter.  We’d order our milk and dairy items and they’d pack it up and hand it to us without having to get out of the car.  We’d return the milk bottles I believe. A few years later I became friends with a girl at East Whittier Jr. High whose parents use to own it.  Her name was Denise Pellisier.  There was another dairy we’d go to later on Lambert next to the tracks off of Calmada Avenue.

Back when television sets had tubes, I use to go with you to our favorite liquor store where they had a stand with replacement tubes. It was the same place we got our Cherry-a-lets.

I absolutely loved going to Skateland on Whittier Blvd.  I would get dropped off and spend hours skating on four wheels and where I learned to do the Hokey Pokey.

Just down the street there was a warehouse store that had rows and rows of stationary type item for sale.

I remember collecting those Blue Chip stamps filling up those books and dreaming of what buy at the redemption center, it was on Whittier Blvd.

Sackett & Peters was our local Lowe’s or Home Depot back in the day.  I always knew Christmas was on the way when that bank put up the huge Christmas tree across from the Whitwood Mall.

You took me for swim lessons at that place on Lambert, was it Swim Land?  Because of this, I gave Sydney, albeit later in the game, swim lessons as well.

I use to spending hours during the public swim hours in the summer at the Sierra pool.  We had to wear swim caps with the chin straps.

Ozzie’s was another diner we’d frequent, it was on Lambert near the hospital where yes, I do remember getting my tonsils out and throwing up time and time again. My throat was on fire for days!

Chris and Pitts Barbecue for the messiest ribs ever.

Sixth grade camp was an adventure. I learned to watch out for poison ivy.

I recall the public library uptown Whittier where I got my first library card from.

Do you recall this wading pool?

It seems that Shakey’s was our go to pizzeria where you could watch them make the pizzas and they hand player pianos with those paper scrolls that made them play. But I do remember that feisty man at Sal’s Pizza on Lambert. He was a little scary.

On the sweeter side, there was a Scandinavian Bakery across from the Quad where you could watch them decorate cakes.  Was the diner in the same strip mall called Scotty’s?

The Mills Mart is where I got most of my arts and crafts items for crocheting or cross stitching.  Grandma Bladh taught me how to do both…no, I learned cross stick at church when I use to go Thursdays after school.  Mills Mart had clothes in the back and lots of candy up front.

And speaking of the church, every Halloween they’d have a party on that Thursday with carnival type games and loads of candy.

I recall spending hours in in a park where they had a rocket ship you could climb up.  There was one on Gunn Avenue, on Calmada next to where Henshaws was located, and then Penn Park uptown where you could literally get lost on the trails.  And then there was a park over by Grandma Bladh’s, they had a recreation building where I use to go hear bands.  There was also a park that had a fire engine you could climb up on, it was called Palm Park.

There were two walk in theaters, one uptown called The Wardman and one at the Whitwood mall where I saw dozens and dozens of movies but I like the one at the Whitwood because it was so close to Farrell’s Ice Cream parlor.

I use to roll around the back seat as we didn’t use seat belts back then.  I’d watch the guys fill up our gas tank and then wash our windows and check the oil.

Some of my favorite morning television shows included Sheriff John and Hobo Kelly, and all the cartoons with Bugs Bunny, Felix the Cat and The Flintstones.

Laurel Elementary use to hold an annual carnival with a cake walk. I remember the nurse use to administer vaccinations too.  One day I rode my bike to school and then later that night I remembered I forgot it at school because I walked home.  Luckily it was still there.  On rainy days and sometimes on a Saturday, they had movies in the cafeteria with these small bags of popcorn for sale in the back of the room.  It was in this cafeteria I had the BEST apple cobbler ever.

All of these random memories were made possible because you made a life for me. You made it all possible.

Thank you, and I love you so very much!

Pam