In the earlier part of the week, Maureen, as she is prone to do, wandered through magazines and web sites with the idea of finding another place to dine. Not that we don’t have only a few places we like for dining. In fact, i bet we could go to a different place we like every night for at least two, if not three weeks. But she has come up with some dandies. i appreciate her research.
So Friday, she came up with the diner in the Lafayette Hotel on El Cajon Boulevard in uptown San Diego. i was leery. Before i got here, in the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s, El Cajon Boulevard was a hot spot with proper dance halls, hotels, and dining. But somewhere along the way, it went downhill and at one time was a trolling place for prostitutes, drug dealers, and gangs. It has been cleaned up. We have a previous neighbor that opened up an art studio there. Still, it is seedy on the fringes, and i had my concerns.
Maureen noted the hotel had just been renovated. i remained a bit skeptical, but i trust and love her and said, “Let’s go.” We parked around the corner and walked to the hotel.
When we walked into the lobby, i was blown away. i had just walked into a world long gone.
We proceeded through the lobby that was once graced by Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, Katherine Hepburn, and Bing Crosby. i continued to gawk as we entered the bar with the diner entrance on the left side.
Now folks, there are times i can get downright nostalgic. i have had drinks in the bar in the front of the third deck on the HMS Queen Mary three times. Now that kind of nostalgia can make me giddy. In the bar of the Lafayette Hotel, i was just as giddy.
This is a place where those fancy drinks should be downed, although a martini or a brandy would work just as well.
We turned and walked into the diner. Bam, wham, thank you, Ma’am. i was back in lore ville. The diner was flat perfect. Maureen had the “Chicken Schnitzel Sandwich.” Admittedly, my Waygu French Dip was a bit modern — i could relate to Kobe beef as the past but not Waygu. Still it was delicious. i did wonder what kind of beer might have been available here, say, in the 1950’s as i drank my IPA. It did not matter. i was in the wonderland of yesteryear.
We had fun with our waitress, paid our tab, and proceeded back through the past. Walking out the front and heading to our car, we passed an annex to the hotel. It was a dance hall, specifically, Lou Lou’s dance hall. i am absolutely positive it wasn’t by that name years ago, but it was a dance hall, a ballroom dance hall. Maureen’s mother and father, Pat and Ray Boggs, went there frequently to dance the night away. i don’t know what kind of dances they do there now, but if it is still ballroom, i would like to take Maureen there one night. i don’t think she’s too keen on that idea.
Sometimes, i just flat love living in the Southwest corner.
