Navigating A Busy Downtown

Heads up: many events were happening in the area on a busy Friday, December 6th, evening, so we opted for parking at the structure east of Harbor at Wilshire, across from the Downtown Plaza. That’s a breeze because there are usually plenty of open spaces during that time of day.

A leisurely stroll west brought us past this tour bus. It was a smart move there, for a large event was taking place in the venerable Chapman Building, and they all arrived at the same time.

What a bonus, checking out the festive lights on Harbor as we crossed for Art Walk On Wilshire.
Sure enough, a kettle of parking vultures was circling the lots and parking structure on the west side since the Villa parking lot was also busy due to a wedding in the courtyard.

It was early, but many were already arriving at Art Walk, and when we peered into Mulberry Street, we could see they were already doing a brisk business.

We ran into Carlo, Mike, Chad, Sasha, Sulia, and cousin Monica, and… Yeah, lots of friends were already there taking it all in, too.

Pilgrim Coffee was crowded, but not so much that one could not check out their Art Walk installations and order excellent food and drinks.

Everyone was in a good mood at these events organized to promote the arts. After that, it was time to head to the Pour House for more music, then return to Art Walk On Wilshire, and finally join a lively group at Mulberry Street. Blanquel Popular Art was going off, too, as were so many other downtown spots. Be there next time, or be square. FREE the first Friday of every month.

The Next Day

Winterfest, which originated with the Fullerton Chamber of Commerce, was then produced by the Fullerton Downtown Business Association with support from the City of Fullerton and many downtown sponsors. At its peak, it drew over 10,000 revelers at locations throughout downtown.

When the Redevelopment Agency dissolved as part of the 2011 Budget Act, funding for special events was gone. Since we had provided everything at no cost to the public, we really could not suddenly start charging for the snow, the giveaways, the raffle prizes, and everything else, so that was that.

Fortunately, we have another successful tradition, Winter Market, held at the Downtown Plaza on Saturday, December 7th. The stage was hyperactive the entire time, with emcee Super Tall Paul introducing each act and also performing. Here he is with one of his fans. The many vendors did well as you all heeded the Shop Fullerton First mantra, and hey, who wants to get stuck at a Mall this time of year anyway?

New In Town

Tokyo Eats is now open at 114 W Commonwealth and specializes in curry and katsu along with ramen, noodles, udon, rice bowls, and more. There is a new vintage clothing store downtown at 206 N Harbor Blvd called Retropolis. We told you about Cat O Comb Barbershop back in September, and they are now open at 519 N Harbor.

Photo Quiz

Send an answer to Mike at AllMedia@sbcglobal.net

Last time: This one deserves some added info, especially after Jon and Maxine responded to us right away with interesting comments. Yes, it is our New Formalist Architecture City Hall, which was constructed in 1963 at a cost of about $2 million. It took one year to build and since it was designed to replace the building right across Highland that now houses our Police Department, tile colors, arches, and walkways were included to echo some of that landmark building’s architecture. We were told everyone would know the answer to this one, but no, maybe that City Seal is hiding in plain sight, ha.

This time: The answer to what and where this is appears on this page, but who knows what is inside the tower?

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