Chow Time: Circus Do-Nuts

If you saw our recent post, Get Your FREAK On: Just Your Average Family Freak Show, you'll know that we are method party-givers.  We trained at The Party-Givers' Studio and we are dedicated to doing thorough research to hone our technique.  When it's party time, we live it, we breathe it, and we NEVER break character!  It was only obvious, necessary even, that we search out local haunts that would get us into a circus "headspace." 

Now that's a great sign!

The circus, as a theme, is rife with possibilities.  Imagine (sometimes it helps to close your eyes) a donut shop with a trapeze artist, a clown, a balloon-animal artist, an elephant, and a ferris wheel.  Now imagine a donut shop with a faux-mansard roof painted in the red & white stripes of a big-top circus tent and the complete and utter absence of a trapeze artist, clown, elephant, or ferris wheel.  The latter describes Circus Do-Nuts.  That might sound like a little bit of a dig, but given the exciting potential, the management at Circus Do-Nuts doesn't allow the theme become fully-realized. 

Don't you kind of want to paint the chef's hat with a rainbow
afro and turn the man wearing the striped pants and See's Candy
 dress into a clown?  A circus clown.

Let it be said that I actually think Circus Do-Nuts is cool.  While it is definitely not the greatest donut show on earth, we truly appreciate any outlet of fried delicacies that maintains a charm and character that is so lacking in contemporary establishments of its kind.

The good bones are there including molded fiberglass chairs,
sherbet-colored formica....

...and checkerboard linoleum.

And then there's the donuts!

Are you getting tired of hearing me say that donuts (and practically everything else worth eating) are not on Mr. Tiny's current eating plan?  You are?  Well, trust me, not nearly as tired as Mr. Tiny is of not eating this delicious stuff!

My favorite part was the novelty toy vending
machine in the back corner of the shop.

Don't make fun of her...it only took her about
fourteen tries to put the quarters in.
Sometimes working a machine that is intended
for children can be really hard.

"Poo!"

We decided on the gag set - two whoopie cushions and a rubber spider.

If you're ever out and about in Torrance, be sure to check out Circus Do-Nuts.  It may not be the only place to buy donuts, lottery tickets, ice cream bars, and whoopie cushions, but for our money, it is the best circus-themed establishment in Torrance, CA at which to do so!

Circus Do-Nuts
1500 W Carson St
Torrance, CA
(310)320-7604


Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

Bowl-O-Rama: Palos Verdes Bowl

We grew up in Kona Lanes territory.  It really never occurred to us that any other bowling alleys existed.  Now that bowling is back on the wacky tacky map, we decided that we need to explore all of the other vintage bowling alleys that still dot our landscape.  When we see one of these temples of 20th Century leisure, we have committed to stopping in and checking out the greatness.  On a little jaunt up to Torrance, CA, we saw the five-story, orb-topped spire of Palos Verdes Bowl (est. 1958), and we couldn't help but pay our respects.

I'm not a drinker, but sometimes I think it would only take seeing one more
simple, white light box with the word "cocktails" in black, block lettering to
get me removing my teetotalers membership badge. 

AMAZING!  Studded among the natural rock wall

 are giant, orange and aqua, glass rocks that are lit from within.

The original bench in the locker room repeats the color
scheme found throughout the whole bowling alley.

The best part about Palos Verdes Bowl is their stellar marketing campaign headed with the slogan, "PV Bowl is a simple, yet nice bowling alley without any craziness."  I think I'll have that needle-pointed on a pillow.  Truly, PV Bowl is a great place and if you live in the area, you have no excuse for not patronizing your local bowling alley.  Don't let it go the way of Kona Lanes (a weed-ridden, empty lot for the last 9 years where once stood a majestic temple of tiki).

Palos Verdes Bowl

24600 Crenshaw Blvd

Torrance, CA

(310)326-5120

pvbowl.com

"The Bowling Alley-Cat" (1942)

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

I'm an Oom-Pah-Pah Papa!!!

Is it ever too soon for second helpings of schnitzel?  I think nicht.  Not so very long ago we explored the wacky tacky wunderbar-ness of Old World Village in Huntington Beach.  We determined that it was high time to discuss her older sister - Alpine Village in Torrance.

This is about as artsy as I get...
you can see my reflection in the automatic doors.

As with Old World Village, Alpine Village was started by German immigrants looking to bring a bit of Bavaria to the California coast.  Opened in 1968, the history on this place is difficult to determine as none is provided on the website and my research abilities are weak.  Much like Old World, Alpine Village is host to a market, restaurants, a chapel, and various businesses and shops.  There are, however, several differences between the two locations.  Alike in spirit, the villages actually have no connection beyond being havens to all things German.  Because Alpine Village is home to a daily swap meet, it is much more populated and therefore possesses none of the creepy-cool factor that is so prevalent at Old World.  In fact, every storefront that we passed was open for business and beckoning for us to enter with their air conditioning (yep, no joke, it was April 1st and the temperature was 90 degrees!!)

The market is much more expansive than its Huntington Beach counterpart and the aisles were filled with hungry shoppers.

The signs were very cool.

The bakery looks impressive but really, bleh...

The fleische counter puts Old World's to shame just by sheer volume.

I thought McDonald's invented the fish/cheese combo with the Filet-O-Fish.
Boy, was I wrong!

Just horsin' around.

Alpine Village's chapel doesn't hold a prayer candle
to the chapel at Old World, but it is quaint.

A few of the store shingles

The Alpine Inn is home to a weekly dance that we have yet to attend.
Sounds fun!

Mary found a pebble-mosaic art piece at the swap of which she was very proud.
Actually, we have found some killer deals there in the past.

Overall, Alpine Village is a must-see but it is much more engaged in reality than Old World and is therefore, not as much fun.  Because we didn't find as much mystery or excitement as we had hoped for at Alpine Village, we needed to get our adventure fix elsewhere.  I had heard tales of a "sunken city" in San Pedro and determined that it had to be our next destination.  Truthfully, Mary had been there before and made it sound so exciting that I just wanted to be "in the know."  I was expecting a Goonies-level adventure - ORV's, Baby Ruths, Truffle Shuffle, the whole bit.

The "No Trespassing" sign quickened my pulse and
kept me on the lookout for Data, Sloth and One-Eyed Willy.

To reach the "sunken city," one must climb over a short wall and wriggle underneath a fence.  Unfortunately, I forgot to snap a picture of said fence.  Needless to say, Mary was wrong and I could fit under the fence!

Truth be told, the "sunken city" (I continue to use quotation marks advisedly), is really just a small number of homes that once stood on the cliffs above the ocean but could no longer be supported by the terrain.  All that is left of the homes is cracked foundations.  The area is really a beautiful place and provides lovely views of the ocean and Catalina Island.

Remnants of the homes

No treasure, no pirates, nothin'...

The large, flat slabs of concrete are an obvious canvas for graffiti artists

The foundations also provide a great place to climb and play.

We were about to leave San Pedro when we noticed a trolley car and without a second thought, we hopped aboard.  The beautiful trolleys are careful replicas of the original 1909 Pacific Electric railcars that once covered a vast area of Los Angeles County.  We were thrilled to be riding a "Red Car" but soon found out that the trolley was really just a leisurely ride to nowhere.

Cool sign of the day!

Alpine Village

833 West Torrance Blvd.

Torrance, CA

(310)323-6520

alpinevillagecenter.com

The Port of Los Angeles Waterfront Red Car Line
Harbor Blvd. @ The Port of Los Angeles
San Pedro, CA
sanpedro.com/spcom/redcar
Operates Friday-Sunday 12-9:30 p.m.

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny