Longtime members of TanyaDanielle.com are fairly well-acquainted with my travels since I periodically provide photo galleries of my daily activities. At times members may wonder just where I will pop up next. Paris? Milan? A trailer park alongside historic Route 66 in downtown Monrovia, California? This past Sunday the last guess would have been correct. On the morning of March 6th I gassed up my 1998 Jetta and handed the keys to my friend Elias. Another of my frequent companions, Luisa, and I settled in for the ride to Monrovia. After pulling off the 210 freeway Luisa and I sat up straight to peer out the windows and take a gander at our surroundings. We swiveled around in our seats and tried to decide which direction we should go. "You guys look like two family dogs out for a Sunday drive." Elias commented as we were pressing our faces against the windows and taking in the sights. At first blush Monrovia did not look all that exciting. Every possible chain restaurant lined Huntington Drive, the street on which we were driving. Fortunately I spotted the official sign which marks the entrance into Monrovia and names 1887 as the year of its creation. We took a few photos of that and then snapped a couple more with a sign identifying Huntington Drive as part of the original, fabled Route 66. After resuming our drive we saw Red Lobster, we saw Chili's, we saw Black Angus, we saw Daphne's Greek Cafe, we saw Applebee's, we saw BJ's Brewhouse, we saw Mimi's Cafe, we saw every possible chain restaurant known to man with the possible exception of California Pizza Kitchen which must have been lurking on a different street in Monrovia. Luisa and Elias wanted to eat something, but I vetoed every establishment that we passed. Why drive all the way out to Monrovia and go to a chain restaurant? In the end that is exactly what we found ourselves doing. We did, however, manage to select a place that was somewhat in keeping with the Route 66 vibe: Sonic Drive-in. At Sonic you can pull into a parking spot, roll down your window, and order your food by speaking into a machine. A short time later a roller-skating carhop will deliver your meal right to your car. This morning we opted to eat on their patio so we could soak in some of the sunshine. None of us was starving so we ordered a few different items that we could share. As we dined I regaled my friends with a story about an exquisitely pretty stripper named Samantha with whom I used to dance at a club in Tennessee. One night she'd arrived in the dressing room in a very bad mood. She had proceeded to tell all of us that she had been lying in bed naked with her brother and her cousin when the police had showed up to serve a warrant on the cousin...
Join TanyaDanielle.com to read the rest of the story and see my Welcome to Monrovia gallery in its entirety now!
XO Tanya
***
