I liked going downtown when I was a kid
From about the age of 10 or 11
Mom would give me fifty cents
For bus fare
A quarter to get there
A quarter to get back
Catch the eleven headed for Kensington
Via Skyline, Olvera and Logan then skip down 16th
To Broadway
Or the four that would meander through Lomita & Encanto
Then follow Imperial all the way to the Embarcadero
Whichever bus showed up first
Determined where I would start my adventure
Downtown
I'd just wander around downtown
Being careful not to linger around Horton Plaza
Where the pimps and the whores
The drug dealers and the junkies
Hawked their goods to the Sailors & Marines
Grindhouse theaters like the Balboa & the Cabrillo
Separated by porn shops, tattoo parlors & pawn brokers
Cheap hotels, diners, the pre-rehab U.S. Grant
This was well before the urban renewal that created
The Gaslamp Quarter
Most days I went to the S.D. Public Library
Across from the Post Office on 9th and E
Or I'd visit the bookstores on both sides of Broadway
Between 6th and 9th
Wahrenbrock's, Krueger's, The House of Comics
Harcourt Brace Javanovich
The one run by the mean lady
That had long boxes
Of ten cent comics and magazines on huge tables
Just inside the front doors
There were days when I didn't want to be downtown
So I would get a transfer and catch the seven
Maybe spend the day in Balboa Park
Go to the zoo, visit the museums
Or travel a bit further up Park, to University
And walk down to The Comic Kingdom
When Richard Alf still owned it
And even later after Jack Dickens took over
Moving the store a couple of doors down the block
When Greg Pharis left The Comic Kingdom and opened up
Golden State Comics near 30th and Adams
I occasionally caught the two
But that bus took an hour to get there
And an hour to get back
So I usually just stayed downtown
From about the age of 10 or 11
Mom would give me fifty cents
For bus fare
A quarter to get there
A quarter to get back
Catch the eleven headed for Kensington
Via Skyline, Olvera and Logan then skip down 16th
To Broadway
Or the four that would meander through Lomita & Encanto
Then follow Imperial all the way to the Embarcadero
Whichever bus showed up first
Determined where I would start my adventure
Downtown
I'd just wander around downtown
Being careful not to linger around Horton Plaza
Where the pimps and the whores
The drug dealers and the junkies
Hawked their goods to the Sailors & Marines
Grindhouse theaters like the Balboa & the Cabrillo
Separated by porn shops, tattoo parlors & pawn brokers
Cheap hotels, diners, the pre-rehab U.S. Grant
This was well before the urban renewal that created
The Gaslamp Quarter
Most days I went to the S.D. Public Library
Across from the Post Office on 9th and E
Or I'd visit the bookstores on both sides of Broadway
Between 6th and 9th
Wahrenbrock's, Krueger's, The House of Comics
Harcourt Brace Javanovich
The one run by the mean lady
That had long boxes
Of ten cent comics and magazines on huge tables
Just inside the front doors
There were days when I didn't want to be downtown
So I would get a transfer and catch the seven
Maybe spend the day in Balboa Park
Go to the zoo, visit the museums
Or travel a bit further up Park, to University
And walk down to The Comic Kingdom
When Richard Alf still owned it
And even later after Jack Dickens took over
Moving the store a couple of doors down the block
When Greg Pharis left The Comic Kingdom and opened up
Golden State Comics near 30th and Adams
I occasionally caught the two
But that bus took an hour to get there
And an hour to get back
So I usually just stayed downtown
I like the personal stories about when you were a kid. Although it would scare me to death letting my kid wander so far in the city. Your mother was a lot braver than I would have been. I tend to smother.
ReplyDeleteMy Mom had a tremendous amount of faith, and the neighborhood I grew up in somewhat taught us all how to take care of ourselves - though I personally can't imagine allowing a kid as young as I was to wander around any major city unescorted. Different times though, different view of the world.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely different time. I miss that innocence.
ReplyDelete