The lengthening of LAX. Sepulveda was lowered and the main runway went over it. Jet powered commercial airliners were coming fast. The Newest north runway came in the mid 70’s, took my brothers Westchester home. It was a little shorter than the other 2 extended ones but were 8-10’ thick cement to handle the new 747’s.
Hello, As much as the A&W drive-in gets credit for a hot rod food location, in our teenage years, it should have been a great place. It was located a few blocks from our school and near many of our friend’s houses. As the nearby location to the high school, it was easy for us to get off campus and have a nice lunch of burgers and fries. With enough time to order, eat slowly and drive back to the school parking area in time for the next class bell. But, our mainstay was Grisinger’s Drive-In Restaurant for food and the total action in the parking lot. The food was good. Fries and Gravy rivaled the burgers and the desserts… to die for.. The parking lot was an “L” shaped lot on a corner plot. So, one drove in one driveway and found a parking spot or, if there was an open spot in the back row or the long “L” parking spots. But, the only way to park in the back row, was to go around the block and come in a back alley into the diagonal spots, now facing the main entrance, the dining room and all of the action. The food was great and served many dinners or late night snacks to millions of teenagers overtime from opening day to the sale to another owner. Speaking of late night snacks, after most of the “action” was waning and it was time to head home, as we drove 4 miles away, to my friend’s house, we still were hungry and now the A&W orange stand was just sitting on the corner of the PCH location. So, we stopped there. My friend could have walked to his house just down the street. But, this location was fairly empty at this late hour and the food was still hot and tasty. Teenagers always had room for another cheeseburger and fries, despite the late hour. Since the main draw was 4-5 miles away, this A&W was not the car hangout for most teens. If it was located a mile or two away on a different street, perhaps we would not have gone to it. We would have gone to the corner restaurant that was a definite late night spot for great low cost food in Bixby Knolls or around the corner at Ken’s Burgers. Now, it was steak and eggs for the late night snack. How did we stay slim during our teen +20s lives, stopping at those places? Anxious metabolism just took over and kept us going at a fast rate. YRMV Jnaki So, despite the old photos of teenagers hanging out at an A&W drive-in diner, our A&W was not high on the list of places to stop and hang out with other hot rod teens. It just happened to be a block from my friend’s house. 4 miles away was the teenage hang outs at several Bixby Knolls places all within a block or two, for the teenagers from our school. Plus, the distance from Grissinger’s Drive-In Restaurant to the famous Cherry Avenue Drags location was a few blocks East from the restaurant parking lot. Convenient and fun…
The Jalopy Journal
