0827 marijuana

I was flipping thru last week’s San Diego Reader (picked up during my excursion last weekend), when I spotted an ad for a medical marijuana collective with a 2-for-1 coupon. 2-for-1 joints, that is.

What is this world coming to?

0821 hachi

The ride back was spent watching a movie, but I could see and hear several people taking naps. The movie was “Hachi”, with Richard Gere and Joan Allen, and was about a dog that met his master at the train station at the end of each day, and continued to do so for nine years after his master’s untimely death. Very moving.

0821 gelato

Our Tour ended with a gelato at Cafe Zucchero. It was refreshing since it was a warm and sunny day. Afterwards, we were given an hour to meander around and see the sights.

0821 filippi's

We looked inside Filippi’s Pizza Grotto (1747 India Street), a small restaurant with a small deli in front. You had to walk thru the deli to get to the restaurant. I found that the main aisle in the store is barely wide enough for my wheelchair, and the other aisles were too skinny for me to venture through.

The deli was cozy and there was a fragrance of meats and cheeses wafting thru the air. Yum!

0821 prohibition

For several minutes, we stopped on a sidewalk on Columbia Street as Anthony told us about the Black Hand and the bootlegging that was conducted in the area. He showed us a warehouse and described an underground tunnel that connected it to a residence next door.

0821 church

One of the high points of the Tour was the Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church. The staff was setting up for a wedding, but we were allowed to go inside and look around. The congregation sits in old-style wooden benches, and there are murals on the ceiling and rear & front upper walls. One depicted the Crucifixion of Christ, but there appeared to be more observers than I thought there were. Anthony explained that it was the custom of the time (when the murals were painted) to incorporate images of patrons as observers.

Interesting.

0821 po pazzo

We stopped for lunch at Po Pazzo (1917 India Street), an authentic Italian restaurant. We had to select our entrees ahead of time, either Chicken Cacciatorre or Spaghetti and Meatballs, so it would be ready, as our tour had a time limit. I chose the Chicken and it was very good. Viv couldn’t make it, so she told Anjie to have her entree for her. Anjie ordered the Spaghetti; Viv ordered the chicken. It was nice for Rob, who stepped in and ate the extra entree, as Anjie’s spaghetti was enough.

0821 anthony and cristina

As we arrived in Little Italy, we were joined by Anthony and Cristina, our tour guides, who were well-informed about the history of the area. They showed us some of the architecture as our motorcoach drove through the local streets.

We were provided with wireless headsets, to listen to Anthony’s presentation, at his normal speaking voice, no matter how far away we were from him.

0821 little italy tour

The Survivor’s Ministry at SBCC had a trip to Little Italy (in San Diego) today, from morning to late afternoon. The tour group met in the SBCC parking lot and boarded a motorcoach.

Alan and Rob led the group in games, including guessing the number of candies in a jar, and bingo. Suffice to say, I didn’t win either of them.

0814 reunion

Grads from my high school organized an All-Class Reunion at Tracy’s Bar & Grill in Long Beach. Although it’s been held for several years, this was the first one I attended there. I decided to go after hearing that several of my classmates (Class of 1978) were planning to attend.

It was great to see everyone that was able to attend, although since it was All-Class, there were many that I didn’t know.

0807 wedding

Liz and Jerome were married today. The wedding ceremony was fantastic. Pastor Gary officiated the ceremony in the Worship Center at SBCC.

Before the ceremony began, the groom and groomsmen were on the patio taking pictures. At one time, they walked as a group from one side of the patio to the other. Someone commented that it looked like a scene from the movie “Reservoir Dogs”.