Wandering to Whistlestop

Walked over to Whistlestop yesterday with a spin by the La Boheme condo complex. La Boheme is located near Claire de Lune and what some of us refer to as the Bermuda Triangle of North Park.

The complex was touted as part of the redevelopment renaissance of North Park at the ground breaking and it has made news ever since.

The latest bit has to do with an auction of some of the units slated to happen on the 29th. The come on for the auction sounds very attractive but raises my skeptical side.

It's something of an academic question/issue as I'll be on a plane bound for Cleveburg when the auction actually happens. But I still wanted to get a feel for the place and the possibilities.

Perhaps more than anything else, I was curious to see what sort of people were coming by and going through the open house tours.

My opinion is that while there were plenty of just want to buy and live the dream of home ownership sorts the pool still had plenty of land sharks in the form of flippers and speculators. Somethings about San Diego and real estate are enduring truths.

As I said, the area is a strange one. You have nice places like Calabria Coffee, Claire de Lune's and the art scene on Ray street, you also have head shops, dark alleys and associated weirdness.

I don't feel like I'm really going to be missing a golden opportunity on the 29th. As I was walking down Ray, I found myself once again wishing that the between here and there blocks were less iffy because I really would like to catch some of the Ray at Night events and log some much needed mileage for the ongoing see less of me more often effort.

While I could have followed Ray all the way down until it turns into 30th at Upas, I was on the hunt for a few more of the neighbourhood oddities that I love to document.

Not only is So Cal known for the house of the mouse (aka Disneyland) but also to the lesser known House of Naugahyde.

The sight of this place at 3586 30th in North Park always takes me back to my college days when we pondered how many Naughas died to upholster a recliner and actually had some people believing that "save the skeet" was a legit animal rights effort. If you gathered that my coffee swilling college buds were Monty Python sorts you'd be so very right.

Another on the way to Whistlestop often overlooked sight is this bit of sidewalk art that has a John Lennon art feel. I have no clue what the story is on this little gem and I couldn't tell you which intersection it graces but I think it is at least as cool as the sidewalk patch that looks like Africa over on 5th.

Still plugging away on the popoki shawl and its edging no news on that front but I'm also revisiting my not so successful effort to rechart Milanese lace for knitting in the round. The brain and fingers are not co-operating as well as I would hope.

Final oddity from yesterday's meander is this house on Cypress near Park Boulevard