Tourist Kitchenette

The Model T Museum has something interesting that I’ve never seen anywhere else. It’s a Tourist Kitchenette that would have been a necessity for anyone traveling a long distance during the early days of automobile travel.

Think about the days before modern automobile travel – no interstate highways or fast food restaurants and few hotel and restaurant options along America’s rural roads.

Made by Tourist Supply Company of Los Angeles, California, it has compartments for dry goods as well as cold items, providing a compact means of storing everything you need to prepare a meal on the road. It would be attached to the running board of your car and the front folds down with legs to create a table.

Ingenious, isn’t it?

I found this photo online to illustrate how it would look attached to the vehicle and opened as a table.

It seems there would be a market for something like this today. Think about the outdoor enthusiasts who need a way to stay organized while camping and nerds like me who wish to eat healthy while traveling.

It seems like everything old is eventually new again and a version of this little kitchenette would be great in the back of an SUV!

Want to learn more about my most recent trip to the Model T Museum? It’s a pretty cool place so you should click here and read all about it!

Easter Sunday At Venice Beach

I’ve missed Easter dinner with my family just once in my life. I was away on a work assignment, covering the Miss USA pageant for my newspaper back in 2004.

We had a local girl competing and people were really excited about it so we wanted to make a splash with the coverage. Lauren Kelsey Hall, the sweetest person you’ll ever meet, was representing the great state of Ohio in the pageant which was held in Los Angeles.

My then fiancé went as my assistant and we flew out and stayed in a hotel with about fifty others from our community. We did some things together as a group and had some time on our own between working. Since the hotel was just a few blocks from Grauman’s Chinese Theater we were able to walk to several fun things.

But on Easter Sunday we all loaded up in a big bus and went to services at the Crystal Cathedral.

Afterward, while the group went out for a nice meal, my fiancé and I caught a very expensive cab ride to Venice Beach. Neither of us had seen the Pacific Ocean so it seemed like the thing to do.

It was warm and sunny and the pier was sort of like a circus. The only thing that made it feel like Easter was the presence of the Easter Bunny posing for pictures up and down the pier.

After blowing so much cash on the cab it seems like we ate burgers at a fast food restaurant to conserve a little money.

I can’t say that it was my best Easter but it is the most memorable! By the way, Kelsey didn’t make it through the first elimination but that’s ok. She will always be a winner in our eyes.

Happy Easter, my friends!