STUCK IN LODI, AGAIN

About 10 years ago, I lived in Lodi for a year – and I loved that little city! It has a really cute downtown area, around 60,000 people & everything you will likely need in about a four square mile area of small town charm. John Fogarty & Creedence were way off base when they sang about being “stuck in Lodi, again”. It's a great place to be stuck!

Today Lou & I took a drive to Lodi (about 50 minutes from home) to have lunch at the original A & W Root Beer restaurant which is located in Lodi & do a little exploring. We just wanted to get out & take a ride somewhere like both of our families used to do in the “old days”. :-)

The exterior of the first A & W Root Beer restaurant in Lodi. They still have carhop service.

Inside the restaurant there are lots of old collectibles. I recall taking our gallon glass jug to the A & W to have it refilled when I was a kid back in Hayward.

I would occasionally walk from my apartment in Lodi about two miles to downtown just to enjoy the tree-lined streets & old homes. I passed the Hill House Museum, the only Victorian home in Lodi but it was just open on Sundays & I never took the tour. It is still there & still open only on Sundays so we'll have to make another journey there on a Sunday.

As we took our photos outside the house, a man came over & invited us to an ice cream social that evening being held at the Victorian. We thanked him but said we were only there for the afternoon. Lou asked me, “What is an ice cream social?” I said, “It's what people used to do to interact with each other before they just sat at their computers in front of facebook all day.”

The Hill House Museum on South Church Street in Lodi.

We parked in the downtown area & went for a walk around the old train station & the arch which seems to be a mainstay in many small valley towns.

The Lodi Arch over Pine Street in the old downtown.

They are in the process of restoring the train station. It is used for both buses & trains today. This fountain is of Sandhill Cranes which take over the area in the fall - sounds like another day trip.

The interior of the bus/train station.

On the border between Stockton & Lodi there used to be an Old West amusement park with a restaurant & lots of tacky sightseeing. When I lived there the restaurant was still open but I never ate there or even stopped for that matter. It was closed in 2007 & torn down in 2010. Only the dilapidated sign remains.

The Pollardville sign is all that remains of the amusement complex. It's just a matter of time until it falls down & is gone forever. Kind of reminded me of our Route 66 trip & all the "americana" that is disappearing.