8/22/2011 Trip To Los Angeles Farmers Market
The Los Angeles Farmers Market is a historic landmark that has been around since 1934. The market is located on the corner of third and Fairfax and is a fascinating place to spend the day. The farmers market has more than 100 shops and restaurants to explore. There are so many different places to eat with so many choices for food chances are you wills top at at least a couple of the eatery's.
Farmers market stores offer a remarkable selection of fresh fruits along with candy, baked goods, home made ice cream, wines, meats and poultry. There is plenty of shady seating and even thought this is an open air market. When you arrive take take a walk around the entire place to see which restaurant you would like to dine at. You can pick from Korean, Brazilian, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Malaysian and French food. Finish of you lunch with Bennett’s ice Cream or a frozen yogurt from Pinkberry.
The LA Farmers Market is full of atmosphere and and friendly people. Once you visit the market you will be making this trip over and over again. Plan on spending at least two hours at the market and then another hour or so at the adjacent Grove shopping center.
Getting There Was Easy
44 mins / 31.54 miles
Did You Know? - Since World War II, the Fairfax District has been a heavily Jewish neighborhood. Fairfax High School, on the corner of Fairfax and Melrose Avenue, was known as the alma mater of many entertainment industry personalities. Canter's Deli has been a late night hangout in Los Angeles since the 1940s. CBS's Television City is located on the corner of Fairfax and Beverly Boulevard, the former site of Gilmore Stadium, where the minor league baseball team, the Hollywood Stars, used to play prior to the Dodgers moving from Brooklyn. World-famous recording studio, Cherokee Studios, home to over 250 gold and platinum recorders, is just above Melrose Avenue.
Just head towards the Miracle Mile district
The old May Co. building, now LACMA West, marks the western border of Miracle Mile's "Museum Row"
Did You Know? - As wealth and newcomers poured into the fast-growing city, Ross' parcel became one of Los Angeles's most desirable areas. Acclaimed as "America's Champs-Élysées," this stretch of Wilshire near the La Brea Tar Pits was named "Miracle Mile" for its improbable rise to prominence. Although the preponderance of shopping malls and the development in the 1960s of financial and business districts in downtown and Century City lessened the Miracle Mile's importance as a retail and business center, the area has retained its vitality thanks to the addition of several museums and commercial high-rises.
The Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, (LACMA) A+D Museum: Los Angeles, and La Brea Tar Pits museums, among others, positioned "Museum Row" on the Miracle Mile as a rival to Exposition Park.
Paul Remembers When
The early 1950's
Did You Know? - In July 1934 a contingent of farmers pulled their trucks onto an expanse of empty land at the property known as Gilmore Island at the corner of Third and Fairfax in Los Angeles. They displayed their produce on the tailgates of their vehicles, to their delight, customers quickly arrived and parked their cars on a hastily created dirt parking lot in spaces designated with chalk. They strolled among the trucks purchasing fruit, vegetables and flowers.
Things Have Changed In 60 Years...
The famous clock tower reveals our arrival al time
Did You Know? - The land on which Farmers Market sits was originally purchased in the 1880s by Arthur Fremont Gilmore and his partner, Julius Carter. When the two later dissolved their partnership, they drew straws to divide up their properties; A.F. Gilmore "won" the 256 acre dairy farm located at 3rd & Fairfax in Los Angeles.
As Farmers Market at Gilmore Island became an international landmark, the property surrounding it grew famous with it. E.B. Gilmore, rarely missed an opportunity. Thus in the 1930s and '40s, he gave Angelenos the opportunity to experience live sporting events.
In 1934, a few months before Farmers Market opened, Gilmore built the first race car track designed specifically for midget car racers, a venue built of love and commercial savvy. Gilmore loved racers and his marketing sense led him to support them as a "demonstration" of Gilmore Oil products.
We headed for our favorite location
We dined at Monsieur Marcel's
Surprise! We called Bunny and pried her out of the house as she has been preparing for two trips and getting some last minute construction done. She had a case of cabin fever.
Did You Know? - Cabin fever is an idiomatic term for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a person or group is isolated and/or shut in a small space, with nothing to do, for an extended period (as in a simple country vacation cottage during a long rain or snow). Symptoms include restlessness, irritability, paranoia, irrational frustration with everyday objects, forgetfulness, laughter, excessive sleeping, distrust of anyone they are with, and an urge to go outside even in the rain, snow or dark.
The phrase is also used humorously to indicate simple boredom from being home alone. The term was first recorded in 1918.
Ah... Champagne
(before)
Cham-pain (after)
Cham what? (Second glass)
Decisions Decisions
Oops... Good Try
Bunny tried to pay for lunch....
It was an akward moment!
We Went To The French Market After We Dined
Come on in the shopping is fine
Did You Know? - Gourmet (pronounced /ɡɔrˈmeɪ/) is a cultural ideal associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterised by elaborate preparations and presentations of large meals of small, often quite rich courses. The term and its associated practices are usually used positively to describe people of refined taste and passion.
We had to browse the French market
A little bit of everything
Goodies for everyone from their delicatessen
Did You Know? - Delicatessen is a German loanword in English. Reference works state that the word delicatessen comes from the German Delicatessen, the plural form of Delicatesse. (This old spelling later changed to the spelling Delikatessen in modern German.) The word entered German from French délicatesse and means "delicious things (to eat)". It ultimately originated from the Latin adjective delicatus, meaning "giving pleasure, delightful, pleasing".
We Walked Around To Show Bunny The Farmers Market And The SHOPPING AREA
Bunny voted for the shopping area first - Welcome to The Grove
At the corner of 3rd and Fairfax
A = The Grove:189 The Grove Drive, Los Angeles, CA
(323) 900-8080 · thegrovela.com
B =
Grove Drive which leads to the parking structure
E = Nordstrom The Grove 189 The Grove Dr. Ste. P80, Los Angeles, CA (323) 930-223
We walked The Grove which is just north of the Farmers Market
We almost took the train but it was too warm to sit in the direct sun
Bunny could NOT resist
Whos palms got sweatty? Whos pulse increased dramatically? Duh!!
Bunnaford got the shakes so she and Sue went inside...
We decided to sit for a few minutes and watch life go by
It Was OK, We Finally Escaped
The fountain attracted a lot of people
Paul took the girls inside the Apple Store and subjected them to amazement
Small "Side Streets" also had little stores
It was quite busy today
The east end of the Farmers MArket
The second Bell Tower
at the east entrance
Gilmore Gasoline Was A Big Part Of The Farmers Market History
The Gilmore Gas Station - Checkout the price!!
Did You Know? - The Gilmore Gas Legend: In order to expand his dairy herd, A.F. Gilmore started drilling for water on the ranch; he found oil.
A.F. Gilmore and his son, Earl Bell (E.B.) turned their Gilmore Oil Company into the largest distributor of petroleum products in the Western U.S.
E. B. Gilmore appears to have invented the self-serve gas station. He created a “gas-a-teria” not far from Farmers Market where customers saved 5 cents per gallon by filling their own tanks.
Those who preferred to have their gas pumped by “professionals” at the gas-a-teria got unusual service for a period of time when young ladies on roller skates would glide to the pumps to gas the cars up.
The Gilmore Oil Company built its reputation with a host of promotions, some outlandish, all successful; the “branding” of their products, Blu-Green and Red Lion gas, turned those names into a celebrated and commonplace part of west coast culture.
“Gilmore” The Lion Cub was the official co-pilot, with Roscoe Turner, of a Gilmore airplane which set a number of inter-city cross-country air speed records in the 1920s and ‘30s. Gilmore wore a leather pilot’s cap when he barnstormed.
Times have indeed changed
Simple days are gone forever... Too bad
Fill'er up
Almost every kind of food one would like to try
Did You Know? - Brazilian cuisine, like Brazil itself, varies greatly by region. The natural crops available in each region add to their singularity. Brazilian cooking, while it has many similarities with that of its South American neighbors, is distinct and uniquely delicious. Stretching from the Amazon in the north, through the fertile plantations of the central coast and on to the southern pampas, the food of Brazil spans a unique mix of cultures and cuisines.
The original population contributed popular ingredients like cassava and guaraná. African slaves influenced the cuisine of the coastal states, especially Bahia. And around the country, a Portuguese heritage is reflected in a variety of dishes.
Root vegetables such as cassava (locally known as mandioca, aipim, or macaxeira), yams, and peanuts[citation needed], and fruits like açaí, cupuaçu, mango, papaya, guava, orange, passionfruit, pineapple, and hog plum are among the local ingredients used in cooking. Brazilian pine nuts called pinhão grow in a tree that is abundant in the southern part of Brazil, and are a popular national snack, as well as a lucrative export. Rice and beans are an extremely common dish, as are fish, beef and pork.
Did we say "market"
Bunnaford at the camera - Thank you Bunny
We Took The Long Way Home Via Culver City
We drove Washington through Culver City to the 405... The blue is La Ballona Creek
As a kid we knew every way into the backlots
Back to reality... We arrived home about 4:30