A Trip To the Fair

I'm going to jump right back in as if three years haven't passed silently, ok? Ok.

All images © Monika Seitz Vega, 2020 // Thank you for not stealing my work

Flabob Fly In - 2017

On Saturday, May 20th, my husband and I rode to Flabob Airport in Riverside, CA to spend the day at the Flabob Fly In. Built in 1925, Flabob Airport is a gem. It's 1940s feel was perfect for the weekend event, where a varied and unique group of DC airplanes were on hand for tours, demonstrations, and flights. The event was spectacularly orchestrated -- big band music was pumped through speakers all along the runway, and the announcer at the mic was informative and entertaining. Despite planes of air show quality, the Fly In was a more casual event, relaxed and more intimate.

Many more wonderful photographs from the event can be found on the official Flabob Fly In website.
I can't wait until next year!

Two Jordan's in Watts

Occasionally, if I'm early to wherever I'm headed or, better yet, on the road without a schedule, I'll get off the freeway or make a turn off my path to try to find something new. 

In October, when headed to El Segundo to see one of my favorite movies at the Old Town Music Hall, I exited the freeway in Watts. The Watts Towers were my destination but they were closed that day, instead I drove around and was pleased to find not one but two Jordan's restaurants. 

I'll be back to visit the Towers again one of these days.

since 1942, sadly the cafe closed in 2010 and remains vacant

The Mother Road

Our trip to Elmer's Bottle Tree Ranch was bookended by stops on Route 66 in San Bernardino County. Our end destination was the Route 66 Museum in Barstow (which is well worth the trip!). On the way up we kept our eyes peeled for anything interesting to stop and photograph. 

As I mentioned in the Bottle Tree Ranch post, in was an uncharacteristically humid and therefore cloudy day, which made exposures a little challenging. Nonetheless, it was so exciting to hit the road on a new adventure. I'm looking forward to revisiting many of the places we saw that day (including Barstow's 1911 Casa del Desierto railway station, which I did photograph... but the roll was devoured by my 65-year old Brownie camera in an incredibly violent way that, weeks later, makes me shudder to think about).

And because Bobby Troup's "Route 66" is one of the most well known and often covered road songs, here are links to two of my favorite versions to enjoy while taking a look at the photographs -- by Yo La Tengo & Depeche Mode. Enjoy.

The 1941 El Rancho Barstow. It is currently for sale. 

All three of our car doors locked in unison as we approached the Cactus.
The seedy exposure of this photograph pairs nicely with that of the residents of this motel.

Truthfully, the Casablanca is not technically on Rte. 66. Nor is it "open", despite what the sign says.

Barstow's Skyline Drive In, alive and well.

All photographs © Monika Seitz Vega, 2015.

The Star Theatre

Oceanside's Star Theatre, built in 1956, is celebrating the competition of restoration of its magnificent marquee, the largest and oldest operating neon sign in all of San Diego County. A sign dedication ceremony will take place this coming weekend.

In February 2012 I shared some photographs of the Star aside this caption:
"Located on Pacific Coast Highway in Oceanside, CA, the Star opened in 1956 and has maintained more or less in one variation or another -- church, movie house, Pussycat theatre, live venue -- since. It's a cute corner theatre which originally held just under 1,000 patrons. In the late 1990s the theatre was vacant, I remember passing by it countless times on my Vespa journeys from San Diego to Orange County and back, the bright yellow marquee [dark and] blank, until one day it wasn't anymore (if memory serves, I believe a Van Halen tribute band was passing through town and was going to rock the Star). The stars and the marquee are wonderfully colorful and stand out amongst the other buildings in downtown Oceanside." (Please click here to see those original photographs.)

In anticipation of the restoration of the Star's marquee, and in excitement for the new life that has been brought to the theatre via the Star Theatre Company, here's a look back at a 2012 photograph of the Star that I took with my Brownie Hawkeye camera. I am looking forward to visiting it again soon to see those stars shining brightly.

© Monika Seitz Vega, 2012

The Sunken City

Last month a friend and I took a hop over a wall and a crawl under a fence to reach San Pedro's "sunken city". The story is that in 1929 a huge landslide caused the neighborhood atop the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean to collapse, over time leaving foundations, streetcar tracks, pipes, trees, and pavement as remains of what once existed. The sunken city has become a popular location for street artists, with many huge rocks and slabs of concrete perfect for graffiti. Here are some photographs I took that day, I look forward to visiting again in the future.

Oh, and as it is 9:30PM here on the west coast, I hope that everyone has a very happy new year. May 2015 be the best year yet!

All photographs © Monika Seitz Vega, 2014.