Los Angeles: The Apple Pan

The Apple Pan is an old style lunch counter.

Our guide Steve told us that it went up in the '40s, and nothing has changed since then. That seems to be about right.

Soft drinks are still served in paper cups, which feels like it goes back to the days when you got sodas at drugstores, but provided with metal stands so you can set them down.

Some cooking equipment has probably been modernized, but the old cash registers are still there, providing a good reason for the restaurant to be cash only.

Also, there is a classic feeling to the food. I have hamburgers every now and then, but it has never been followed by banana cream pie before. Actually, it's only the second time in my life that I have had banana cream pie, and this was much better than the one I had then.

Relatively small in size, the restaurant consists of a U-shaped counter (with old fashioned stools) surrounding the cooking area. That doesn't provide a lot of sitting room, and with good food and pretty reasonable prices on the burgers, they were quite crowded. They do a brisk to-go trade as well, which probably helps alleviate some of the crowding. (Soft drinks are provided in cans and bottles, so that is not a problem.) Still, I think you need to sit at the counter at least once.

We were pushing our luck with a party of five, but through patience we were able to end up mostly near to each other, which allowed my sisters and I to share fries and pie. I said the prices were reasonable, and compared to other restaurants in the area, that is true. At $7.75 for a Hickory burger with cheese, that isn't even too bad compared to some fast food prices, and for a better quality burger. However, it does add up, and given the portion sizes, three orders of fries and three pieces of pie would have been way too much food, but you still need to try them.

The hamburger and sauce were good. As you can see from the picture, it does have more lettuce than is really necessary, but extra lettuce can be removed - maybe this is how they accommodate people who love lettuce. The fries were fine, but the weakest part of the meal. Perhaps some hickory sauce on them would not have been amiss. The pie was excellent, generous with bananas, topped with a delicious cream that wasn't soggy or overpowering, and it was arranged beautifully. Try the pie!

This location opened in 1947, but I noticed menu items that referenced 1927 and 1945, so there is a sense of an even greater continuity. Beyond that I did eavesdrop some and one of the patrons was talking about when his father would come, and pointing out the cooks who had been there that long. This is a place of tradition, and it's kind of nice to find.

The Apple Pan is located at 10801 W. Pico Blvd, right across from the Westside Pavilion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apple_Pan

Long Beach: The Queen Mary

 

http://www.queenmary.com/

We visited the Queen Mary in Long Beach as part of our last vacation.

We thought it would be interesting, and there were ways in which it was. For its sheer size, getting a look at the anchor and the engine rooms and the sense of what it took to run the ship is interesting. We had a nice sunny (though smoggy) day, and you can see a lot from on deck, where there was a cool breeze blowing. (Inside the ship it is pretty stuffy.) We also had wonderful company, so we had a good time.

Bearing all of that in mind, the ship is overpriced. There are various packages, but there are a lot of add-ons. For example, we chose one tour, and we ended up choosing the historic tour, which may have been a mistake. The other option was the haunted tour, but those seem better at night.There is another package with both, and then you can add on going to the submarine, or different exhibits. The Bob Hope exhibit was included with the one tour, but the Princess Diana exhibit would be separate, and it just doesn't feel like a good value, especially if you look at the prices for the various night attractions.

I do think it's cool that they have a theater on the ship and still have plays. The idea of having it as a hotel is interesting, but usually staying on a ship is less comfortable than on land, but you do it because you are going somewhere. I'm not sure that it makes sense.

That's not to say that it was a horrible experience. If money were no object, I might be tempted to combine an overnight stay with a paranormal investigation and really give it a shot. Money is an object for most people though, and this one is not the best value out there.

The Ten Oldest Buildings in Portland

This was another thing we did locally. I know it was also in 2011, because the pictures were in the same photo file as the Allure of the Automobile exhibit.

An article had appeared in the Oregonian in 2010. There is a link, but the print article had photos of each and a map:

http://www.oregonlive.com/O/index.ssf/2010/02/portlands_oldest_buildings_dow.html


I thought it would be fun to check out, but it took us a while to get around to it. All of the buildings are on the West side, and fairly close to the river, but they are in two clusters, one South and one North. Because of this, it is not practical to visit them in chronological order, or you will be going back and forth a lot.

Mainly, I love Portland and I love history, and it wasn't a bad way to spend some time.

The most frustrating thing about this is that I don't think I still have the paper we used, and the linked article does not include the addresses, which were underneath the pictures. Therefore I can tell you only one addess, of the Hallock McMillan Building at SW Naito and Oak.

See if you can guess which historical building has had a kind of shell built over it!

The Allure of the Automobile

http://specialexhibitions.pam.org/allure/

I'm still reviewing some past activities, but this week and next week's posts were local. This is an exhibit we attended in 2011.

There are a few ways in my family where I am the odd one. One is that I am not into cars.

It's not just the not driving thing. I am amazed sometimes at my sisters' abilities to recognize different models and know things about them. I don't see them reading car magazines, but it feels like they might. I can have gone places with people multiple times and still have no idea what they drive. I just don't notice. Sometimes I will notice something that is kind of extreme. For example, I noticed the first time I saw a Scion Xb, because it was so boxy.

All of this made the Allure of the Automobile exhibit at the Portland Art Museum a good fit for us. My sisters love cars, and I can appreciate the unusual ones, and this was a normal meeting ground.

Some were a little boxy. Many of these models were from fairly early in the history of manufacturing, and had come from other industries. So, looking at one really chunky car and seeing that it came from a company that also made refrigerators kind of made sense, but it also made sense to see a car from the '50s that looked like it could rocket to the moon.

Some of them also had interesting pasts, like having belonged to Steve McQueen.

So this was an exhibit that all of us could enjoy, and that leaves me open to visiting other automobile exhibits should the opportunity present itself.

Mexican Rodeo and Show at Tierra Bonita

http://www.tierrabonita.com.mx/

This was the other part of our shore excursion in Progreso. Dzibilchaltun doesn't take all day, and so you can combine it with swimming in a cenote or this. I don't remember the cenote option, but it may just have been that we were planning on (and did) the underground river swim at Xcaret, so wanted to try something different.

I feel confident recommending Tierra Bonita, whether it is part of a shore excursion or not. There were four things that were going on there, all of which were good.

We went there for lunch, and the buffet was good. That is one point in its favor.

It was just lunch though; there was also a show. In fact, there were two shows.

One was the dancing. This is a fairly common part of various shows, where they will show you traditional dances and costumes from the different regions. There were some similar dances with the night show at Xcaret, but this was a smaller setting and you could see more. (Do not be fooled by the primitive camera I was using.) It has been a while now, but I believe we saw dances representative of Jalisco, Veracruz, and maybe Tabasco.

The dancing occurred on the veranda of the main building, but the rodeo happened in a small stadium. There was a procession and demonstrations of riding and roping.

I enjoyed it. My friend had been to "real" Mexican rodeos and said that they were a lot wilder, but it seems reasonable to me that an exhibition is going to be calmer than a competition, and that it's fine that way. It's certainly easier on the humans and animals. Bringing in the danger of a competition would certainly result in not only more regular wear and tear but probably also the occasional catastrophic injury, and that's not really great for the vacationers. I had never seen any real roping before, and it was interesting.

This was also the place where I found the best souvenirs. There were some really clever wooden toys and beautiful linens. You will find lots of people wanting to sell you souvenirs, but the best ones were here.

This is not specific to Tierra Bonita, but I had a really hard time with the bargaining, and I think I know how to do it better now. In each case I knew what I wanted to pay for the item, and I just said that right off, and they kept naming higher prices but I did not budge. At first I felt guilty, like maybe I really cheated them, but they did still accept the prices. So, I think decide what price you want to pay, and make it one that seems fair, but then name a ridiculously low price so you can work your way up to the fair price. I don't love the process, but it's a tradition.

Dzibilchaltún

When I went on the Carnival Cruise, we had two ports of call. In Playa Del Carmen the shore excursion we did was Xcaret, and since I was able to go back I have written more about that. We also stopped in Progreso.

In Playa Del Carmen we took a packet to shore, but for Progreso we were able to walk right onto land. There was a mariachi band to greet us, and lots of shopping, with both traditional souvenirs, like vanilla, but also cheap regular items that were very possibly counterfeit, like Dooney and Bourke purses.

The shore excursion package we had here was for a tour of Dzibilchaltún, and then a Mexican Rodeo (which I will write about next week).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dzibilchaltun

Having been to Chichen Itza and Tulum on our later trip, Dzibilchaltún is kind of mix. It is more coastal than Chichen Itza, but not as near as Tulum. This is probably because the land in between Dzibilchaltún is not very habitable, being either rocky or swampy.

The site is configured so that the sun lines up with the Temple of the Seven Dolls on the equinox, but it is not quite as impressive as the creeping serpent of Chichen Itza.

I suppose that makes it kind of a mid-level archaeological site, but at the same time, it was my first Mayan site. This was my first pyramid, and the first I had ever heard of cenotes, and so it holds a special place in my heart.

I don't know that it is a destination spot, but if you are there it is worth seeing.

Oahu Wrap Up

I wanted to have a post that addresses what we would do differently if we were to go again, or what we should have done differently that time. Ultimately, it is probably best for those who have never been to Oahu and are planning a trip now.

From the previous posts it should be clear that many of the issues we had were transportation and logistics issues, so one of my solutions for that is to change locations.

I believe ideally we would have started with the Polynesian Cultural Center, but stayed nearby. Our first day would have been the full day, concluding with the Ali'l Luau, but then we could have returned the next morning to see anything that we had not seen. This would give everything a more leisurely fell.

Fitting in with that more relaxed vibe, after finishing up there we could then drive to Waimeia Falls Park and explore there.

The day would end in Haleiwa at Matsumoto Shave Ice. They close at 6, but if you need more time at the park, and so you start with Shave Ice early the next day instead, I think that's okay, though it would be a lot of cold treats in a single day, because that next day is where we go to Dole Pineapple Plantation, and of course you will be having the Dole Whip there.

The plantation really only takes a few hours, unless you get lost in the maze. Then it could take longer. Regardless, as you head into Honolulu you will be passing Pearl Harbor on the way, and that means you will also be near the Swap Meet.

One thing that I would have liked to take advantage of is that at the Cultural Center they give you a real lei. It is a nice part of the Hawaiian culture, but then there is not a lot to do with the lei once you have it. At Pearl Harbor you can put leis there to honor the dead, and I would have liked to participate in that.

The Swap Meet is only open on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday, so depending on your start day there could be an issue, but the good news in that you are so close to town at this point that rearranging the schedule becomes easy. All of the far places have been covered already.

Once you are in Honolulu, you have the Iolani Palace, and Diamond Head is there, Punch Bowl is there. Hanuama Bay is just a little bit East, but still easily accessible.


I do still recommend keeping transportation in town for your trip to Hanuama Bay, because getting an early start is valuable. Yes, the sun will still get hot, but the later you start, the more likely you are to catch the worst of it. I recommend being there right at opening.



Right near Diamond Head is Shangri La, a mansion built by Doris Duke that is now a museum. That could be one day. Diamond Head is also near the Zoo and the Aquarium. They may not be must-see, but they are fine, and if you have children along, that is probably more reason to see them.

I would probably combine Punch Bowl with the Iolani Palace, Diamond Head with Shangri La, and Hanuama Bay with leisurely exploring, like maybe that day we would go to the International Marketplace. I know the area by the Duke Kahanamoku statue and Kuhio Beach Park, was nice for walking.

That gives you about six days total and you see a lot.

I don't think I would do a show again. We wanted to see Don Ho, and what we got was fine even if it was not exactly that, but I'm not going to Hawaii to see shows.

It doesn't include a lot of time for lounging on the beach, mainly because of my lack of interest, but the other aspect of that is that a lot of people will tell you that other islands are much better than Oahu, and I think those people are looking at surfing and snorkeling and beach time. They seem to focus on Maui and Kauai.

I can't speak for those islands. I do think Pearl Harbor is something special in American history, and worth seeing for that, and I know that there are plenty of good things to see in Oahu. So that's worth something.

Aloha!