On the road trip back to Phoenix, Arizona, my mother-in-law and I stopped on old Route 66 in Glendora to try Donut Man’s donuts. I had recently read about Jim Nakano, the owner of the shop and the inventor of the fresh strawberry and fresh peach donuts, and was hoping against the season that just maybe the strawberry donut was in production. Unfortunately, the cold snap delayed the berries, and I’ll have to wait until our next visit to Southern California to try these famous concoctions. Until then, we satisfied our sweet tooths with a mixed assortment, leaving a few for Caroline to sample after we got home.

This is simply dumb luck. Today is the last day The Original Pantry Cafe Bakery and Sandwich Shop will be open. After many a year of operation, it is closing to be reopened as Riordan’s Grill. The original corner part of the Cafe will remain open, as it has since 1924. My father first introduced me to the Pantry Cafe when I was still a teenager; I have since brought lots of friends back with me to experience the history, great breakfast, and perfect ambiance this old-fashioned cafe has to offer. Sometimes, I really don’t like change, though I should be happy that the corner cafe will remain after so much other land has been cleared for high rises and condos.

Inside the Getty Museum and for some stupid reason or other that I can’t understand at this time, I didn’t take a single photo of the collection.

There are so many interesting places to take a walk in Los Angeles, from Little Tokyo to Chinatown, from Little Armenia and Thai Town to Little Saigon, yet here we are not in Korea Town but over on Sawtelle Boulevard, home to more than a few Japanese stores. We came over to Sawtelle to eat ramen noodles at Ramenya. Ramenya is a little shop that serves up a couple of dozen varieties of ramen noodles. Recently, they have announced a new addition to the culinary offerings of the area – their new shop, Soy Boy Tofu & Things – Asian-Ya.

Also nearby is Giant Robot, which by itself would be worthy of a visit to Los Angeles.

Walking in L.A.

Persian ice cream makes for a great way to end the day.