Our Friday Night at the Corvette Diner

Recently, on a Friday evening, my daughter called and asked if I'd like to join her family for dinner.  They wanted to surprise the children so they took a circuitous route to get to the restaurant.  The children were unfamiliar with the route, but as the car got nearer, my granddaughter recognized the location.  My grandson didn't catch on until they were in the parking lot.  He was so excited to be at the Corvette Diner, he literally jumped up and down with a big smile on his face.

The Corvette Diner is located on the former Marine Corps property at Point Loma in San Diego.  When we entered, we were seated immediately in the 'diner' section.   The decor reminds you of a diner of yesteryear.  Each table has a window that displays snippets of movies and popular TV shows of the 1950's, like Lucy and Desi and Leave it to Beaver.  The movies shown were scenes of "Sabrina" with Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, and another of Fred Astaire dancing.  This is a great way to keep the customers happy while waiting for service.  It's also a great walk down 'memory lane.'

The waitresses wear poodle skirts that were popular in the 1950's.  Both male and female servers participate in a dance routine, performed several times a night.  A man who creates figures from balloons made the animal selected by my grandson.  So, as you can imagine, you never get bored waiting for your food.  Everyone enjoyed their meal and the atmosphere.

This is a restaurant well worth the visit.  Please keep in mind that on the night we went there was no waiting.  However, on other nights we have had to wait for a table.  I encourage you to check out the Corvette Diner.

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Perhaps by Catherine Hall (on Kindle and the Nook) 

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Never Forget Sept 11, 2001

I have reprinted the following account several times.  Thirteen years have passed and time marches on, presenting presently  other grave concerns.  However, we must never forget September 11, 2001.  We must remain alert and vigilant.

Steel Girders at Ground Zero (World Trade Center)

No American civilian should ever have to experience the events of 9/11 on American soil. And, my experience of that day is in no way comparable to the heartache of the families of the victims. The following is just my personal recollection of that day.

As my train pulled into Grand Central Station that morning, I heard some buzz from other commuters. But, it was none of my business so I just got off the train and walked the underground tunnel to the Forty-fifth Street exit. As I walked up Madison Avenue, I saw a throng of people standing around a bank looking at a TV. As I tried to see that they were looking at, somehow I got the message that something happened at the World Trade Center. I remember looking in that direction, seeing smoke, and trying to use my phone, and then, trying my Blackberry. No signal. I proceeded north to my office on 52nd St. When I arrived, I saw that I had a message from my daughter who worked near the World Trade Center. However, I could not reach her since I had no phone service.

I proceeded to work. A short while later, I heard that there was a TV in Personnel. So, I went to that floor to see what was going on. After a few minutes, I squeezed into the room. The scene was incredulous. I decided that for me the best thing was to go back to work. Young people on my floor were just milling around. We were the IT (computer) department. They either had IT friends in those World Trade buildings or, like me, had previously worked there themselves. I tried to work, but at the back of my mind were all the tens of thousands of commuters who literally poured out of the ground from the PATH (a train from New Jersey). What happened to all those people? Many, many times I had walked through the underground shopping Plaza and the passage ways under those buildings as a shortcut to save time. Since my commute was 2 ½ hours each way from upstate New York, I was always running to be on time at work. In November 2000, a co-worker and good friend gave me a job lead that resulted in my leaving the World Trade Center and moving to 52nd Street. As an aside, I later heard that a very smart female executive of the Port of Authority ordered the trains diverted to the mid-town area of New York City, saving many lives. I thought of how I would take my lunch into one of the glassed-in areas of my building and look at the Towers. How magnificent they were. Of course, I was just looking at the lower floors. I thought the design was intriguing.

Later that morning, I finally heard from my daughter who was with her co-workers at an apartment in lower Manhattan. One of the workers just took his whole department to his home. I advised my daughter to stay right where she was with her co-workers unless they were evacuated. Then, I was contacted by a great friend from Merrill Lynch inviting me to stay the night at her place since the City was in "lock-down."

Being in Computer Security, I decided, since I had no phone, to try sending emails to get messages to my children. I thank the good Lord for the “Information Highway.” Being able to contact my family in an event such as this is why I feel so strongly that there should be no Government interference with the Internet. I emailed friends in San Diego requesting that they contact my family. My children thought I still worked in the World Trade Center. Exactly where I worked was not one of their concerns. I didn’t know my son’s work e-mail address, but decided to create the addresses in different ways. Surely, one of the emails would get through. Not knowing was going to happen next, I wrote to my son that his sister and I were OK. I gave him the address and phone number for the apartment where she was staying. Then, I gave him the phone number of the friend with whom I would be staying. Without being melodramatic, I thought this might be the last communication we could possibly have. It brings me to tears when I think of it.

Around noon, I went to the bank to get money since I couldn’t get home that night. The sea of people walking, shoulder to shoulder, north out of the City on both sidewalks of Park Avenue was at least five people deep. It was an amazing, yet fearful sight.

Around 1pm, my daughter, accompanied by a co-worker, walked the 30 blocks to be with me. Her hair was covered in ash. I got her in our “locked-down” building. When we reached my office, the phone rang. It was my son in Los Angeles. My daughter, wide-eyed and in shock, told him what happened….her words just spilling out. I tried to calm her down. Her only response to me was, “You weren’t there.”

Then, my daughter told me we just had to get out of the City. She kept pressing. As far as I knew, we couldn't go anywhere. I decided to leave and walk to Grand Central to see if any trains were moving. I never in my lifetime had been prepared for what I saw.

As we walked the now eerily empty Park Avenue south to the train station, we were met with men with megaphones ordering us where to go. We walked a sidewalk cordoned off with safety tape into what seemed like the only open entrance. Other than the sea of people in the great expanse of the center of the building, I don’t remember much except that my mind kept reeling, thinking that something else could happen at any moment. Before long, we were on a train leaving the City.

That evening, watching TV, I saw the real events I knew nothing about because I tried to work that day. I realized that I, being the kind of employee I was, would have returned to my desk in one of those buildings when the “All Clear” announcement was given.

My daughter and I were now safe, but what about those people who died. What about their families? Even today, my heart goes out to them

I realize that this is a sharp contrast to my usually light-hearted and hopefully informative blog. I will always remember my daughter walking 30 blocks to my uptown office, covered in ash from those collapsed buildings….wide-eyed and in shock, having seen death and destruction not many American civilians have ever seen. And, as I said in the beginning of this writing, no American citizen should ever have to experience the events of 9/11 on American soil and no one should ever forget.

Photo of New World Trade Building in 2012 now completed

 

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Getty Center

Los Angeles

Yesterday, I went with my daughter, daughter-in-law and four grandchildren to visit the Getty Center in Los Angeles.  After we parked the car, we boarded a tram for a ride up the hill to the entrance to the Getty Center.  The buildings are covered with travertine stone.  When we first arrived the buildings appeared to be the color of white.  Later in the afternoon, they seemed to take on a honey hue.

The first location we visited was the Family Center where the children enjoyed a hands-on experience.  Within this large room, there were several cubicles.  Each presented a different artistic experience.  The first presented the children with materials for making a face mask.  The child could draw whatever they wanted on the mask, attach the ready-made string and put it over their face.  Some of the children were quick with this, others were more detailed. The next cubicle provided the experience of tracing a picture of a number of items, such as a butterfly, an insect, etc.  The third cubicle contained a copy of an 18th century bed.  A little baby was crawling all around the bed while the baby's father watched.  The next cubicle had large rubber tubing that connected to openings in an opposite wall.  They were a little thicker than the tubing at a gas pump.  The children enjoyed disconnecting one end the long tube from one hole and placing that end into another hold on the wall.  There was one instant where the children disagreed about where and how a tube should be placed.  One wanted it wrapped around another tube, while the other child objected that it wouldn't reach the opposite wall.  It was a lesson in deliberation and teamwork. The wall of the next cubicle was lined with what looked like rear view mirrors from trucks.  The children could manipulate each mirror.  The other wall depicted a desert and was magnetic.  Magnets with a picture and shape of a desert animal were provided.  The children could move them where ever they wanted on the wall.  When the children were ready to leave, there was a wall through which they could place their heads.  The wall had a mural of a crowd of faces painted by the celebrated artist for this season.  We took a photo, which provided a cute memory for the Mom's.

By this time, everyone was ready for lunch.  The cafe sold sandwiches, salads, fruit, potato chips and drinks.  It was reasonably priced.  We sat at a table in the open-air travertine court yard. 

After lunch, we visited the beautiful Center garden.  It had a wide array of lovely flowers and bushes, as well as some outdoor sculptures.  The children skipped along the path as they took everything in.  The area was sloped so that we walked lower and lower down the hill.  At the bottom, there was a pond with a maze of hedges.  It was very beautiful.

Then back up the hill to one of the buildings where the children had the opportunity to hunt for certain artwork shown in a small booklet.  The pictures presented a mystery.  The children took the challenge and quietly went in and out of the museum rooms looking for a match to each picture. The items on display were from 18th century.  The children examined them all, looking for matches to the pictures in their booklets.  They were elated when they found each object.

I didn't include the photos I took because of copyrights. I encourage you to research The Getty Center in Los Angeles California.  Also, when you are in Los Angeles, it is well worth a drive to the Santa Monica Mountains to experience it.  The buildings are beautiful and the whole afternoon was very enjoyable.

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Great Week

After returning from New York in mid-June, I was assailed by a terrible head cold.  I spent three weeks getting over it.  Three quarts of Wonton Soup from the Mandarin Wok in Clairemont helped immensely.

This past Saturday, I attended the birding tour presented by the Friends of Famosa Slough in San Diego.  On this day, there were only three of us with the leader, Barbara.  I try to go every month because I learn something each time.  The tour leaders are very knowledgeable.  Because there were only three people Barbara was able to go into depth for the other guests were attending for the first time.  I reaped the benefits.  Barbara heard a Clapper Rail hiding in the salt marsh, but we couldn't spot it.

The tide was low so we saw Fiddler Crabs and California Horn Snails.  A Snowy Egret was lying low to the ground to feed on something.  Then we saw two young Black-necked Stilts (photo below left).  The adults have a black back with reddish pink legs, but these young birds had a mixture of black and brown backs with very pale pink legs.

Young Black-necked Stilts

Clapper Rail

 The other two ladies had to leave to attend another event, so Barbara and I went to the west side of the Famosa Slough, which is across West Point Loma Boulevard.  We spotted a Clapper Rail (photo right).  The Clapper Rail seemed to be cautiously watching a Western Gull who arrived on the scene.  The Gull then spotted what looked like a dead fish and proceeded to feast.  That photo wasn't appealing.





On Monday, I met a friend, Diane, for lunch at Mimi's in Mission Valley.  We had an enjoyable time conversing as Diane's lunch was a salad with strips of chicken, and mine was a Spinach quiche with a side of fruit. While we choose different restaurants when we meet, Mimi's is convenient and always good. 

That evening, my son-in-law decided to make a "Thanksgiving Dinner" and suggested to my daughter that they invite me.  The table was set as it would be for Thanksgiving day.  The dinner was scrumptious.  I always make a great Sweet Potato Casserole with marshmallows, he one-upped me by adding a little bourbon.  Delish.  It was such a pleasant surprise to have this little celebration on a warm summer night.

On Tuesday evening, my daughter took the children and me to The Palette, the student-run restaurant at the International Culinary School at the Art Institute in San Diego. My daughter enjoyed a Melon soup as an appetizer, followed by Barbecued Short Ribs.  She gave me a tiny taste of each.  Nicely done.  She would have shared more, but then, I'd have no room for my meal, as my children say I eat like a bird.  My granddaughter and I each had a large root beer glazed pork shop with succotash and sweet potatoes with fennel.  My granddaughter was able to eat most of her pork chop.  I could only eat a little.  My grandson relished his chicken fingers, which I believe was really an appetizer. Dessert was a chocolate lava cake.  I skipped it, but the others informed me that it was absolutely delicious.  Everything tasted so good, we took what we couldn't eat home.  It was a very enjoyable meal.

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Restaurant Reflections

I'm back in San Diego after a visit to New York.  While there, I enjoyed lunching at a few restaurants, notably, Cafe Maya in Fishkill and BabyCakes Cafe on College Avenue, Poughkeepsie.

As on every visit to Cafe Maya on Route 9 in Fishkill NY, I choose the same appetizer, Quesadillia with skirt steak.  I always enjoy it.  My friend, Katie, enjoyed a chicken breast.  I don't remember the name of her dish, but she told me she really enjoyed the cream sauce served with the vegetable serving. I especially enjoy visiting Cafe Maya and recommend it highly.

This past rainy Friday, my LaGrange daughter and I had lunch at BabyCakes Cafe, located across the street from Vassar College.  Since we weren't that hungry, we decided to split a BLT sandwich.  The menu stated that it came on a Cibiatta Roll,  I don't eat a cibiatta roll so my daughter asked if we could get the sandwich on brioche bread.  The waiter replied that we could not because the chef would not like it.  From the expression on his face, I got the impression that the chef was touchy.  That's too bad.  My daughter always liked this restaurant, but was a little dismayed that no variation in your order was allowed.  I ordered wheat pancakes with bananas and my daughter chose the BLT as offered on the menu.  As we waited, we spoke about how unfortunate that there was no variation allowed considering how many eateries there are in this neighborhood.  My pancakes were OK, but I would not order them again.  I had expected more rustic pancakes like the wheat bread I bake at home.  I've gone into detail about the BLT because the owner might want to reconsider honoring a request to minimally vary something on the menu when a customer requests it.  Since neither of us could finish our meal, a waitress provided us with cute little flat cardboard boxes, made in the US.  As we were leaving, my daughter decided to purchase a red velvet cupcake for her daughter, who loved it.  I'm sure my daughter will go there again. 

After I arrived in San Diego last evening, my daughter, her children and I went to the Studio Dinner in Kearny Mesa.  After a day of travel, I was hungry.  We were greeted by very friendly hostesses.  Even though this is is a very popular restaurant, it didn't take long to be seated.  On the menu I saw an open-faced turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes, stuffing, covered with gravy.  Green beans and cranberry sauce were served on the side.  It was absolutely delicious.  Also, I believe it would feed three people.  My daughter ordered a grilled cheese sandwich with sweet potato fries.  My granddaughter enjoyed a BLT on white toast and sweet potato fries on the side.  She has a healthy appetite, but she could only eat part of the first half.  Another very large serving.  She did enjoy the part she ate.  My grandson ordered mac and cheese and was very disappointed.  The dish was just pasta with cheese barely melted.  I think he expected a 'creamy' mac and cheese.  The servings were so large that no one in our party could eat even half of our meals.

The Studio Diner advertises as a "comfort food restaurant." We left with the food we were not able to eat in boxes.  In the box with my left-over turkey sandwich, the waitress added another container of cranberry sauce.  Today a portion of it was my main meal.  We all agreed that the Studio Diner served very ample servings of delicious food.  I recommend a visit there.

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Arielle

Last week, I was in Rhinebeck, NY with one of my daughters.  We walked to Market Street to find a quick place to get some supper.  As we walked past the stores, my daughter decided to check out a menu on the window of one of the restaurants.  So, in we went.

We didn't have much time, so we ordered a simple fare.  The waitress told us of a special appetizer they were offering that evening.  It was burrata (soft creamy cheese wrapped in mozzarella) and it was sumptuous.  I had french onion soup which was also very good.  My daughter chose a baby arugula and pear salad.

The food was delicious and reasonably priced; the atmosphere, peaceful.  I recommend this restaurant.

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Birds I've Seen Lately

Last week, I had the opportunity to visit San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve, located near the Pacific Ocean north of San Diego.

Whimbrel

Whimbrel

An e-mail from a birder mentioned seeing a Virginia Rail, which is not common to this area.  I went there about two hours later, but didn't see it.  The lagoon was quiet except for a Whimbrel walking around.  My Cardiff daughter and I walked through part of the park.  We did see sunning lizards, but only one Whimbrel.  This migratory bird spends the summer in Alaska where it breeds. I would like visit San Elijo Lagoon again and recommend it.

This week we experienced warmer than normal temperatures, 89 degrees on Monday, into the 90s on Tuesday through Thursday and 88 degrees today.  On Wednesday I was visiting my daughter in the North Clairemont section of San Diego.  The days were windy.  Today it was only breezy.  And no, I don't believe this was a sign of "Global Warming."  I believe we were experiencing what is called here in Southern California, "Santa Ana Winds."

On Wednesday, I heard a number of bird calls coming from her yard in North Clairemont.  I went out to investigate.  I had heard at least six or eight different calls.  Then I checked the trees.  All I could find was a Mockingbird.  This bird was singing it's heart out ... call after call after call.  You would think I was standing in an aviary.

Northern Mockingbird

Yesterday afternoon I received an email stating that a bird enthusiast was at Cabrillo National Monument, near Point Loma.  The writer stated that there were hundreds of birds there.  Then, this morning my daughter who lives in Cardiff by the Sea sent me a text stating that there a lot of birds in her yard.  She lives about a mile up the hill from the beach.  My daughter listed that there were crows, hawks, gray birds with white markings and some other birds she could not identify.  I decided that the birds were probably still at the Cabrillo Monument, as well.

Western Scrub-Jay

So this afternoon, off I went to Cabrillo National Monument.  Well, if the birds were there I didn't see them.  I did see a Western Scrub-Jay as soon as I arrived.  Then I saw one I could not identify.  I thought the picture of the bird hopping along the roof was cute, so I included it.  I don't think that these two pictures were of the same bird because the bird on the right appears to have a lighter colored beak.  As I walked one of the paths, a bird flew right at me, just missing my forehead.  It was a hummingbird. It corrected itself and flew off a little to fast for me to get a photo.

Cabrillo National Monument is still a nice place to visit and I enjoyed walking around.  It is open from 9:00am to 5:00pm.

 

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