Weekend Adventuring

Due to a case of the crud and sniffles, I opted to stay in Tustin for the weekend. I invited my sweetie to join me via train ride so I could show him what fun Tustin is (wooooo). It was a strange feeling to not be packing / plotting / planning my departure for the weekend. However, having been in Tustin for almost four months now and not staying one single weekend, I figured now was as good a time as any.

Our adventures began at the Tustin metrolink station, where I picked up my sweetheart after his ride south from LA. I'd never been to that station before as my work is closer to the Santa Ana station (Tustin stop is only for Metrolink trains, no Amtrack). Good to know.

Next order of business was lunch at an Indian joint I had read about on Yelp - Laxmi Sweets $ Spices.
It was delish! There are a bunch of Indian restaurants in my part of Tustin. Many more than any part of LA I ever lived in. This place serves vegetarian and meat options and for $8 you get all kinds of choices, as well as naan bread and a mango drink. My beau was so impressed. I was happy my first stop in the Tour de Tustin went over so well.

Next we hit Eisenhower Park in Orange. This is a park I have fond memories of from my youth. In the spring time, there are loads of tadpoles that swim in the man-made creeks. I just loved scooping them up in glass jars with my brother and inspecting the little tadpoles before releasing them back to their tadpoley business. We took a leisurely walk around the lake where ducks were being fed and a few groups of men were fishing. I'm surprised I remembered where this place even was!

In the evening, we hit up a showing of Batman Returns at the Mainplace Mall. I totally went here all the time as a teenager. Mall + suburbs + teenager = prime territory. Movies here are only $2. TWO DOLLARS! All the time!! $1 on Tuesdays!!! I don't think these movies were always this cheap, but I'm pretty stoked they are now. Both of us had missed the big theater run of Batman Returns, and considering it was a rainy night, this was the perfect opportunity to make up for lost time.

Sunday we attempted breakfast at Cook's Corner, a biker bar in Trabuco Canyon. Unfortunately we hit the line RIGHT as breakfast orders were ending. I wanted breakfast, and eyeballing the leftover hashbrowns on the griddle did nothing but make me want breakfast more. So we made our way out of the canyons (which were gorgeous that post-rainy night morning) and opted for a trip to Downtown Santa Ana.

After a greezy breakfast at Norms - the sight of many a teenage-hangover breakfasts - we strolled down Main Street to see what we could see. We walked past the old Koo's Cafe, which I could still recognize from the green fence out front. I was attempting to steer us towards the Gypsy Den, and I thought for the life of me it was on Main Street, but it was not. It was on Broadway, a few blocks west of us. Ah well. We continued our stroll, checking out the historic heart of Santa Ana a little. By the time we made our way back it was nearing the end of our adventuring. Time to head to the train station.

Ending our tour at the Santa Ana train station, we putzed around and chatted until it was time for him to go. I was sad to see my sweetheart leave on the train that afternoon. I wanted to leave too, to get back to LA, to get the hell out of Tustin, even after having a fun weekend of adventuring. Although I wanted to leave, I knew I had to stay. And I guess I have to stay in Tustin for a little while longer.

Election Night Pho

Pho is my favorite food.

I can eat it on a hot day, I can eat it at night or in the morning. I like it just too spicy where my nose runs *just* a little. I can eat it when I feel great, I can eat it when I'm hungover, when I'm sick, after working out. I absolutely adore a big, brothy bowl of pho.

Therefore I was so pleased after moving from Koreatown, with it's vast array of pho joints, to Tustin that there was a pho place nearby my new apartment. YAY! And Pho Hung Vuong does not disappoint. It's exactly what I want in a pho diner - fast, cheap, nearby, no hassles and good pho.  I stopped in last week just as the election results were coming in. So I got to celebrate another 4 years of President Obama with my favorite noodley goodness. God bless America.

Pho Hung Vuong

14182 Newport Ave
Unit B
Tustin, CA 92780

Approximately 2 miles away

~$10 for Pho Tai and tip

Sarah May Downie Herb Garden

This tiny corner park in Santa Ana is hardly adventurous, but man, does it have some good juju.

I visited this park with a notepad and cup of coffee one Saturday morning. I finally realized it was much smaller than I had expected - simply just the corner of a very beautiful row of houses in Downtown Santa Ana. When I was growing up, we lived right on the border of Santa Ana and Tustin. I would venture to places in Santa Ana like Koo's Cafe and Norms diner as a teenager, but mostly there was no reason to visit Santa Ana. Now Santa Ana has a pretty cool art scene. I'm looking forward to visiting some of the downtown art galleries and the Gypsy Cafe.

Anyways, I sat down in this little park and started writing furiously for my kids-science theater show. I've been tormented with writers block for the last 6 months. It felt great to finally purge some ideas from my brain onto paper. Maybe it was the good vibes of the Sarah May Downie Herb Garden that helped out.



Sarah May Downie Herb Garden

2405 North Flower Street
Santa Ana, CA

Free

Approximately 4.5 miles away

http://www.ci.santa-ana.ca.us/parks/SarahMayDownieHerbGardenPark.asp

Peter's Canyon

I am behind on my adventuring!

One place in Tustin that I adore is Peter's Canyon. $3 for parking gets you access to a wonderful set of hiking and mountain bike trails, and top notch people watching. I like to go Saturday mornings. My routine has been to pack for LA, head to Peter's canyon, climb up the big hill in the middle to look out over the landscape before making my way down the hill and off to Los Angeles for my weekend activities. It's a very nice meditative place. I dig it. Here are some photos from my last trip.

Peter's Canyon Regional Park
8548 E Canyon View Ave
Orange, CA 92869

Approximately 5.5 miles away

$3 Parking