CB1100 Monthly Photo Challenge

[Gone in 60]

Yeah, the place is pretty popular at Halloween. The orange barricades were a little weird to see when I rolled up this morning, but I surmised that it was a safety measure to keep their COVID-era outdoor parking lot dining zone separate from the actual parking lot.

Probably a good idea for those who have ambled out to their cars after a little too much Chianti. Not that I would know...

By the way, Gold, you brought up the story of the girl in the water tank at the Cecil Hotel in downtown L.A. I was thinking of heading there on one of my upcoming commutes to the Petersen Museum, since it's downright creepy, and is no doubt haunted with the ghosts of several pimps, crackheads and other miscreants.

As you can imagine, that story was all over the news in Southern California at the time. A side story... just two weeks after that happened, I was on a late night flight from Philly to L.A. Two girls in their late teens or early twenties were sitting next to me, speaking German and looking through a Los Angeles visitor guide printed in German. Eventually, they started asking me questions about what they would be able to do on their week-long visit to the city.

Since the flight was landing at about 1:00 AM, I asked if anyone was picking them up at the airport, and where they were staying. They were going to wait an hour for a bus in a rather unsavory area near the airport, and were staying in a hostel in Santa Monica.

I started having visions of news bulletins about two young missing German tourists. Eventually, I said that they should not be waiting for a bus in that part of town in the middle of the night, and if they thought that they could trust me, I'd like to drive them to their hostel just to have the peace of mind that they made it safely.

They thought about it for a while, then took me up on the offer. As we were waiting for our luggage, my wife called to ask if I had landed safely. I said yes, but that I'd be home later than planned, since I was taking a couple of teenage girls to Santa Monica.

"Hmm... can't wait for you to explain that in the morning..."