HOWS Market: The new Hughes Market

Metro Red Line – North Hollywood Station

If you lived in LA from the sixties to the nineties, you probably shopped at a Hughes.

Hughes was somewhere between Trader Joes, a Whole Foods, and Ralphs. Before Trader Joe’s sold fresh (not frozen or preserved) produce, and before Whole Foods and Farmer’s Markets were in every neighborhood, Hughes was where you went for variety and fresh vegetables (I hear their meat was pretty good too). All of that, and I think one of the things I remember best about Hughes was that, unlike most other stores, they had a large clock which you could see from almost anywhere in the store. It was very convenient.

The chain was sold in 1997, and disappeared not too long after that.

And now they’re back.

HOWS market in North Hollywood is across the street from the last stop on the Red Line (or Orange Line, if you're coming from the valley), comfortably surrounded by coffee, ice cream, and food.

The trick is knowing how to enter. After exiting the subway, walk Southeast on Lankershim (just go forward). Cross the street, walking toward the white window-wall, which looks like a mis-placed leftover from the Beetlejuice set, and take a left. You’ll pass a few stores, and head right into HOWS.

Once inside, it almost looks like any other supermarket. Except the ambiance is a little bit calmer. The lights don’t seem so harsh. You can sit and eat on the patio outside, or inside in a small deli/dining area. Or visit the wine bar, located inside the separate alcohol corner.

Prices are the same or cheaper than the nearby Ralphs, and if you’re traveling on the train, or just a bit farther than the average local, they’ll give you special bags to take home your frozen foods, or you can buy reusable hot/cold insulated bags.

I’m just happy to have my childhood Hughes market back.

These Boots Were Made for Walkin’ (Country Remix)

Clovis, NM

There’s no substitute for a good pair of boots. And if you’re looking for Cowboy, the southwest is the place to be.

In Clovis, I found 16,000 pairs at Joe’s Boot Shop.

You can pick your color and style (Blue Alligator!). Snakeskin, Ostrich, leather, it’s all here. Row by row you can find any type of cowboy boot you can imagine, and even some that are beyond what you'd think anyone would dream up.

In the back of the store, you can buy tack or learn to rope. If you’re there on the right day, you can participate in special contests, from calf roping to the Clovis first chuck wagon cook-off.

They also have 12,000 belts, 10,000 hats, 5,000 candles, and a trailer parked out front.

It happened to be a bit breezy that day (60 mph winds), which meant blue skies and clouds of dust. If you’d rather not walk against the wind, you can always call in and request delivery (the online store is a bit lacking).

Dia de los Muertos

Red Line - Union Station

Welcome.

It's the day of the dead.

There will be music and light. Dancing and food. Confetti and cheap souvenirs.

I'm like most Los Angelinos. There are certain areas of the city which I grew up visiting before I was old enough to appreciate them. Certain places where the annual field trips became so routine in elementary school that it no longer seemed an adventure to travel there.

Olvera Street is one of those places.

So I went back to re-discover it on the day of re-discovery and remembrance.

The outside courtyards were more beautiful than I remembered.

(This was probably at least partially due to the contribution of an abnormally warm and clear November day.)

And the streets were more of an adventure.

Between the pueblo and the bricks the temperature dropped about ten degrees. If you ignore the touristas stumbling through their Spanish, you could pick up on the Spanish in the air - store talk and singing, complaints and directions.

Trees and grapevines shade the street. One row of stalls smells of leather. One row smells of jalapenos. Everywhere are hand-written signs advertising: Mexican Jumping Beans, Candy Skulls, Piggy Banks, Leather Purses.

Plus there was a donkey and plenty of colorful sombreros. It's like Tijuana, but cleaner, with no traffic or chickens in the road.

Behind the shopping and haggling, the colors and crepe paper, the history of this area, the history of L.A., waits for you to notice.

This is still an educational field trip in disguise.

The original bell from the Los Angeles Mission.

A shrine honoring the life of Christine Sterling, the founder of Olvera Street.

Listen. Her bones are dancing down the street.

Good Will

Metro Local 304 – Santa Monica Blvd/Barrington Ave

This is the best Goodwill ever.

No, really, I’m serious.

They have brand new, brand-name clothes. They have Ikea furniture. I have even seen real furs, runway clothes, and genuine Swarovski crystals.

Best of all, they have talking raccoons.

He says: Wendy – Please take me home. I love you. Feed me.

I even met Wendy (you can almost see her and her friend in the background of this picture).


It turns out she hates raccoons. They steal her cat’s food.

Go figure.

Crack is bad, mkay?

In the words of a furby I once encountered:

Ahh. Scared....

Sunny Farms Country Store

Sunny Farms is the supermarket/natural foods store/co-op that Bert & Ernie would have invented.

Just off the bus line, also known as Callam Transit, running through downtown Sequim, Sunny Farms has everything from Organic plants to Burt's Bees.

Even with its crunchy granola roots, Sunny Farms is best known for its deals on local produce. Paper bags advertise the daily produce rates, with exotic fruits piled next to native squash and creatively bred pumpkins.

The word spreads fast in small northern towns. While walking across Hurricane Ridge earlier, two families were talking about stopping by Sunny Farms instead of Costco and Wal-Mart, since the produce was cheaper.

This particular trip to the "farm" boasted oysters harvested less than three hours earlier, potato and mushroom mixes, and a rainbow of bell peppers. Who knows what the next trip will serve.