Went to Busch Gardens today. First rode a monorail train (in the air). This was tour through the brewery. We took a boat ride - it was nice. Had free beer! Saw a bird show - good and funny! Paid $5 for a beer mug.
Later, we found Olivera Street. Ate supper at a Mexican cafe - very hot sauce. I think Sheree North (movie star) was in there. Bought a 79 cent chapel bank and a $1.75 _big_ bull bank for David Wayne.
Free beer at Busch Gardens! I know my parents liked that. We'll be visiting there again for sure.
So what's the deal with Olivera Street? First of all, it's Olvera Street (no "i.") Every time I've seen where Mom mentioned it in a diary entry, letter, or caption in the photo album, she wrote it as "Olivera" instead of "Olvera." I'm fairly certain she always pronounced it as "Olivera" whenever she talked about it, too. I didn't realize it was "Olvera" until I googled it yesterday, and going forward I'll always write it that way when quoting Mom.
Anyway, Olvera Street is a historic district in downtown Los Angeles that has some of the oldest monuments in the city going back to the early 1800s. It is a popular tourist destination with dozens of restaurants, vendors, craft shops, etc. Here is a picture of me in front of a wishing fountain on Olvera Street.
Don't I look thrilled? Please try not to focus on that belly of mine sticking out under my shirt. Hey, are those piñatas hanging in the background? Keep that in mind for later.
The caption Mom wrote for this picture is "David Wayne doesn't look happy, but he really liked the wishing fountain on Olvera Street."
Sheree North was being groomed in the 1950s to replace Marilyn Monroe as the leading female star for 20th Century-Fox. Later in her career she played Kramer's mother on "Seinfeld" and revealed that his first name was "Cosmo."
Here is a picture of the chapel bank, with the obligatory quarter for scale. It's glazed ceramic and in very good condition.
The bull bank was a very large ceramic bank, I'd estimate at least 12 inches tall and 18 inches long. Since it was too big to display on the shelves in my room it resided in the living room at our house the whole time I was growing up and for many years after that, and it can be seen in the background of many family photos. Since it was ceramic it got nicks and chips and cracks over time, and we eventually disposed of it sometime within the last decade. I don't have a standalone photo of the bull, but it will appear in a group photo later.
The two additional banks purchased today brings the total to eight. Not a bad start for the first day of a three-day weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment