Day 19: San Diego-ish

The day was mostly spent in San Diego -- unless you count the nearly half-day spent in Tijuana. Oy. I went there to photo two things, no big deal, right? Turns out my maps weren't detailed enough. My directions too vague. And my Spanish, limited, to say the least. The Muffler Man was supposed to be just over the border -- but no, he's way, way deep in the City, on the other side of the river. And El Sombrero is on a teensy one way street, that most people don't know about. One guy sent me WAY up a mountain. Getting back from there got me almost back in line to cross the border. So I had to do some quick thinking and put Sparkle's AWD to the test -- hopping a curb and crossing between some plastic pylons. Whew! No damage to the undercarriage and no ticket from the police.

Once I finally got the photos, I hopped in line for the border. That's where the real fun began -- not! It was two hours of crawling along and being approached by more than 100 street vendors. I still have a sore throat from yelling at my barking dogs to SHUT UP! At least I got through an L.A. architecture guidebook that I brought with me on the trip and have added a few more things to my list of things to see.

I only took a couple bloggy photos when I was in Tijuana. I would've taken more but I was getting pretty stressed out and impatient with the whole situation. Here'a a hotel converted into a tire shop:



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And not too far from the border, a giant Jesus statue dominates a hill overlooking the highway. I took him from quite a distance and was surprised he wasn't blurrier. I don't know his name or the church... in fact, I think I was already lost by this point:



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Back in the States, this sign from Chula Vista (Broadway Liquor):



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This billboard from La Mesa:



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Art Deco & Streamline Moderne abound already on Day 1 of California. I saw several old supermarkets -- this was the nicest of them:



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Not in any guidebook and looking a little rough at this point:



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This one I do know something about: designed by Walter Dorwin Teague (more famous for designing those classic green & white Texaco icebox gas stations) around 1937. It was originally the Gustafson's Furniture Store. I'd been told there was an old Jack in the Box next door that I was eager to see. But it was gone: replaced with a modern simulation of this building. I guess I should've taken a photo of the "twins" together -- but it was too offensive and disappointing to me at the time:



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And lastly, this building I found to be just too adorable. It would be fun to live in a little castle with a rounded doorway.