Exploration, Adventures, and Maps
INTRODUCTION 2019 is the sestercentennial of San Diego‘s founding. It’s also the vigintennial of my moving to Southern California — and yet, in those twenty years, I’ve probably visited San Diego no more than a dozen times. Why haven’t I visited California‘s second largest city more often? Certainly not out of any of the sort … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — A San Diego Neighborhoods Primer
I’ve now lived in Los Angeles for eighteen years. Even though most of my dreams still seem to unfold in Missouri, I’ve been in California longer than I’ve been anywhere else. However, as much as I love exploring cities, I rarely make it over to the state’s second largest, San Diego. Furthermore, as much as … Continue reading Nobody Drives in LA — Riding the Pacific Surfliner to San Diego
This primer, you’ve by no doubt gathered from the title, is about San Diego County, one of the ten counties that make up Southern California. San Diego County is a county in Southern California’s Southern Border region. The region’s other county, Imperial County, has little in common with its more populous neighbor to the west. For … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — A San Diego County Primer
In Los Angeles, nearly all of the city’s officially-designated ethnic enclaves are for Asian ethnicities. Eurasia’s Armenian community has Little Armenia and Russians in eastern West Hollywood have earned it the nickname “Little Russia” but French Town, Greek Town, and Little Italy have all faded into assimilation and obscurity albeit acknowledged with the odd street … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring San Diego’s Little Italy
INTRODUCTION A year ago — over a year ago! — my partner and I visited the town of Santa Barbara. I meant to write about our visit for California Fool’s Gold sooner, but 2020 was the year everything went pear-shaped. When the pandemic hit, many suddenly found themselves with more time than they knew what … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Santa Barbara
One of the pleasing ironies of Los Angeles County is that even though it’s the most populous county in the US as well as the core of the nation’s most densely populated metropolis — it is also a region so vast and varied that it supports dozens of hamlets, ghost towns, and de-populated places which … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Sandberg
INTRODUCTION TO SAN PEDRO I finally visited San Pedro for California Fool’s Gold. It’s long been one of my favorite Los Angeles neighborhoods but in general (and in this case), I rely on you, the vox populi, to tell me where I should go. San Pedro is a neighborhood in Los Angeles’s Harbor District (or … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring San Pedro
INTRODUCTION Until the visit that Una and I took to San Clemente this past weekend, I don’t think that I’d ever visited the place. I’m not entirely sure because nearly all of my trips south on the 5 have ended in Mexico and the stretch of freeway between South Orange County and San Diego County has blended … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — San Clemente, The Spanish Village in Orange County
Two weeks ago I made my first visit to one of California’s Channel Islands, Santa Catalina Island. For those that don’t know, Southern California is home to an archipelago of small, rugged islands off its coast. My 2012 New Year’s resolution was to visit one or more of the Channel Islands. Having failed to realize … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Santa Catalina Island and Avalon
INTRODUCTION TO EL MONTE El Monte is a city in the middle of the San Gabriel Valley. As of the last census (in 2010), its population was 113,475. It contains the neighborhoods of Arden Village, the Auto District, Downtown, Five Points, theFlair Business District, Hayes, Maxson, Mountain View, the Northwest Industrial District, Norwood Village, and … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring El Monte, the End of the Santa Fe Trail (or at least some trails)
