I just can't stop! After posting that probably too long entry about Devonshire and Sepulveda I realized that I had to post about Brand and Sepulveda. Of course, everyone knows that it's the home of the Pico Adobe (actually even most people in the neighborhood don't know that) which is the oldest adobe house in the valley. It's home to the San Fernando Valley Historical Society ( http://www.sfvhs.com/). It hasn't changed too much, obviously, but the park space on which is sits isn't simply an occasional historic destination. I don't know the details, but obviously there's a way to rent or reserve the park space because the most common sight there now is an inflatable jumper and a birthday party on the weekend. The park, though, is still closed 6 days out of the week (open Mondays), except for an occasional Sunday.

What I wanted to talk about, though, is that Superior Nissan finally tore down the building that used to be a used car place that used to be the Hamer used car place that used to be the LGT Vegas. I never went there, but it was a real-live night club and I regretted never actually stepping inside. I do know that at least one bar scene in the instantly forgotten movie "It's Pat!" was filmed there because I asked who was filming there.

Across the street used to be an adult day care center and before that it was Al's Billiards. My brother-in-law used to go there all the time and I finally stopped in once just to experience a billiard room. Man was it a dead zone. No wonder they closed about 3 months after that. Now it's a parking lot because Superior tore down the building and installed their used car lot there (but apparently it wasn't big enough because they also sell used cars down at their old space at the corner of Devonshire and Sepulveda).

Hamer has the new, gigantic tower on the southwest side of San Fernando Mission and Sepulveda (help me, I'm migrating to another intersection), but it used to be Sutter's Mill which was a steak place. It was actually pretty decent with sawdust on the floors and everything, but the service wasn't that great and they refused to change with the times. You actually had to pay for your soda refills! No freebies! Well, I bet they got a good price from Hamer and now we have the extremely bright Hamer westside.

Across and down from the Pico Adobe is Coco's Restaurant. It used to be a Bob's Big Boy. Man I miss that place. They had great burgers and they introduced me to chili spaghetti. When they went away I had to learn how to make it for myself. I don't really go to Coco's because I've got Millie's which is closer and has a better atmosphere. Besides I almost got beat up by some belligerent guy in line behind me at Coco's (or was it Bob's?) so I have no warm, fuzzy memories associated with that place.

The real reason why I wanted to talk about Brand and Sepulveda is because it has this funny curved island there. Why? I'll tell you. The electric trolley used to run up from L.A. and curve in a few places, but turn onto Sepulveda at Parthenia (you can still see the curvey islands there, too) and run up the middle of the street. They put in green medians where the tracks used to be and when they put in the 118 freeway the pylons were also placed on top of where the tracks were, but you can still see the remnants of that old trail because of that curvey island at Brand and Sepulveda where the train would turn eastward and run down the middle of Brand off into San Fernando. I don't know any of this first-hand. It was told to me by one of the docents at the Pico Adobe. Still, I like the idea of the old Los Angeles Red Cars running through the neighborhood.

Behind the Nissan dealership is a new storage place. Before that there was this gigantic building that looked like it was made out of sheet aluminum. I was told it was a packing plant for citrus that was grown in the area. Given that Lemona was supposedly named after the lemon groves that inhabited Mission Hills before the houses and people came, it seems plausible, especially given the fact that train tracks would have run right in front of the place. However, I haven't been able to confirm it. Still, I like the idea of all that classic Valley history being right there. I certainly like it better than another 100 units of storage space that's there now.

I have some pictures of the Superior Nissan being built, but they're not with me so you'll just have to imagine it.