Bruce and I did go home again today.....but we don't want to stay there! Since we are staying in Southern California for a few days, we made the trek back to the hometown of our youth to check it out. It isn't the first time we've visited the area since moving away in 1993, but the first time since I began my RV blog.
Bruce and I were both raised in the city of Lakewood, California, which is next door to Long Beach and probably a more familiar name to my readers. Bruce was born in Torrance but his family moved to Lakewood when he was very young. I was born in Compton....yes! I was born "in the hood." That was where the hospital was that Mom had to go for delivery. Back in 1951, Compton was a nice bedroom community and not the gang-infested "hood" it is today. Anyway, when I came home from the hospital I went right to our home in Lakewood.
Bruce's Mom and Dad sold their home in Lakewood in 1968 and moved to a condo in Cypress, about 7 miles away. They had purchased the home in 1952 for $11,000 and they sold it for $25,000 because Bill (father-in-law) thought they had reached their peak. This is the house as it stands today....and it looks better than it did in 1968.
My Mom and Dad bought their home in Lakewood in 1950 and paid $10,000 for it. They decided to sell and move to Orange County, where the rest of us lived, in 1976. At that time they got a price of $40,000. This is the house where I lived as a child and today it looks awful! It has really gotten shabby and like I said, "I can go home again, but I don't want to stay there."
About 3 years ago, when real estate was at it's peak in this area, all of these 3 bedroom and 1 bathroom homes in the Lakewood area were selling for between $500,000 and $600,000. Yes, I am not kidding we looked up the information. Boy, both of our parents would sure be shocked since they felt they had sold the homes "at the peak."
After cruising our old neighborhood, we drove out to Carson Street to head back to Anaheim and our RV home. We had to make a quick stop at Martha's Donuts and buy an apple fritter for a snack. When I was in junior high school, back in the day, I'd stop by this donut stand every single morning when walking a mile to school, and buy an apple fritter and a Coke for my breakfast. Wow, breakfast of champions!
We did some more cruising around down by the beach today. I'll save those pics for another day. It was a glorious, sunny day here in California.
Until next time.....so long for now!
3 comments:
When I go back to the old neighborhoods in Cincinnati where I was raised, I just know I could never live there again.
We have gone back to look at the home where I grew up (and incidentally, where we movd back to for the last 14 years of our working lives). Looks a lot like Bruce's old home - 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, 1100 square feet. Won't go back and look any more. No reason to. BUT - we do know that apple fritters are the ultimate breakfast. Thanks for the reminder!
Gee, remember all the beautiful camellia and fuschia bushes that used grace the front of your parents' house? (We used to get into so much trouble popping those beautiful fuschias before they opened!) It looks so bare and awful in that picture. Alot of great memories from that house in the 50's and 60's.
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