My Trip to the Barrio

My dictionary defines barrio as follows:  a part of a large U.S. city, esp. a crowded inner-city area, inhabited chiefly by a Spanish-speaking population.

Last Sunday, I had plans to meet a fellow blogger for lunch.  Margaret and I have communicated via email almost since I began Twenty Four At Heart, but we had never met in person.  She had plans to be in L.A.  We decided to meet halfway between L.A. and South Orange County, in Long Beach.

Even if you don't live in California, you've probably heard of Long Beach.  The city has been on national news for major problems related to gang violence.  Also, there have been issues of police brutality and corrupted politics.  When I think of Long Beach, I picture the manufacturing facilities I see as I drive through on the freeway.  They spew tons of pollution into the air.  Also, the gang violence in Long Beach always makes me hope my car doesn't break down there as I make return trips from LA. 

Obviously, I don't have many positive thoughts regarding the city, but it was a good halfway point for us to meet.

Recently, one of my friends moved to the Belmont Shores area of Long Beach.  I know Belmont Shores is a very nice area.  I called her and asked her for restaurant suggestions.  She was very helpful, and my plans were set to meet Margaret at Bono's for lunch.  (Bono's is owned by Sonny Bono's daughter.)

Sunday morning I printed out directions on Google Maps.  They were a little confusing, so I decided to run the location through MapQuest also.  I noticed Google Maps and MapQuest gave conflicting information.  One said I should turn right on Studebaker and the other said I should turn left.  I laughed about this with Briefcase before I departed.

Turns out, it really wasn't so funny.

And oh yes, my car does have a GPS device, but I didn't program it when I left because I was running late.

Well, you can guess what happened.  I drove and drove and eventually I found myself at Studebaker.  I decided to go right.  

I shouldn't have.

I drove for awhile, and as I drove I noticed very quickly, my surroundings were becoming kind of scary looking.  The businesses and homes were run down.  Windows were covered with bars, and many windows were broken.  The streets were littered and dirty and a good number of people were just hanging out in the streets. 

They didn't look like nice people either.  They looked like gang members.  They looked scary.  They glared at me in my nice, shiny, SUV as I drove down the street and I felt immensely out of place.  I was smack-dab in the middle of inner city Long Beach.

At one point, I thought, "Wow, here I am lost in the middle of the barrio."

Not thirty seconds later I saw a sign, "Barrio Park."

I'm not even kidding.

It would be funny ... except it wasn't.

I wanted to pull over and take a picture of the Barrio Park sign just to prove to you I really was lost in the barrio.  I didn't though, because honestly?  I was worried about getting out of the barrio alive at that point. 

My fear had something to do with the gangs young men standing all over the street outside of Barrio Park. Particularly the one holding a length of chain in one hand.  I wish I was joking.  He glared at me as I drove past.

"Hmmmm ..." I said to myself.  "This is a place where I really don't want to be."

A few blocks later I found a place to turn around.  I called Margaret and told her, "I'm lost somewhere in the barrio, but I'm sure I'll be there soon."

She laughed.

I was going to discuss my funeral preferences, but I didn't want to alarm her.

I proceeded to drive past Barrio Park again.  The same chain wielding boy man still stood on the street with the rest of his gang friends.  I refused to even look in his direction, but I could feel his eyes on me as I drove by.  

Uncomfortable, much?

For a fleeting second I thought about asking him for directions to 2nd Street, but I decided I'd be better off finding it on my own.  Something about the chain he was swinging was a little disconcerting.

Eventually I found my way out of the barrio and had a wonderful lunch with Margaret. We chatted for hours and really had an enjoyable afternoon.  (Belmont Shores is delightful, by the way!)  

Isn't it fun to finally meet someone in person who you've gotten to "know" through the Internet?  Over the course of the afternoon Margaret and I exchanged stories and information and answered each other's questions.

She wanted to know how I type with my bum arm.  (With a laptop on my lap.  I can't raise my arm to type if the keyboard is on a desk or table.)  She also wanted to know why I don't have curtains on the back of my house.  (We have an amazing view.)

"Why did you ask about curtains?" I inquired.

"Well, you know, since you keep flashing people," she laughed.

Jeez ... one or two ** completely understandable ** incidents, and I already have a reputation? 

 

Have you ever gotten lost driving and found yourself someplace where you didn't belong?  How did you find your way back?  Has your car ever broken down in a place you knew was not safe?

Comments

[Jan]

"Have you ever gotten lost driving and found yourself someplace where you didn't belong? How did you find your way back?"

Why, yes.

I divorced him.

[Lynn K.]

Our car broke down in the middle of the main drag in Orlando. I4 I think it is. That was scary as the cars went whizzing by.....

Used to be we'd get lost where ever we were traveling and end up in the not-so-nice section of town. I started saying hubby was showing me the scenic areas.....

[Di]

Yep, just said "OOPS", pulled a u-turn and went back to where I belong... on my own side of the tracks so to speak. It was an uneasy feeling though so I can relate to you having funeral plans.

Di
The Blue Ridge Gal

[Hallie]

Never broken down in a bad place and never driven to a place that made me uncomfortable. I go WAY OUT OF MY WAY to NOT drive into unknown areas. I am a HUGE WIMP.

And totally ok with it!

Hallie

[Donna in VA]

First, ex and I got lost in LA trying to find our way out of Disneyland. We ended up in a really scary part of town before we found our way out.

But the biggest story is one I just told my boys Sunday. My car broke down here in VA in really bad area of town and I pushed my car into a WashLand parking lot, called the tow truck (who said it'd be a couple of hours before he could get to me), and I sat and waited. A car pulls up and parked next to me. He never got out of the car. He just sat there and stared. About 15 minutes after I'd called, the tow truck showed up and the biggest, burliest, Grizzly Adams looking dude got out. (On a good day, HE'D have scared me, but at that point, I'd never been so happy to see Grizzly Adams in my life) Then the car pulled away. He asked me what that car was doing sitting there next to me and I told him I didn't have any idea, but asked why he got there so fast when he said he'd be two hours. He said, "I heard that little accent of yours (I'm from the South) and I know this neighborhood and I KNEW it was a BAD combination." I swear he was my hero at that point.

[EricaB]

I don't get lost. I amy lose my way for a bit but I always get back to where I am supposed to be :) Such a man statement, I know :)

[dogmother]

I have done this many times...the first order of business is to keep everyone else (kids) in the car calm (like everything is "just fine"), so I usually steal Chevy Chase's line from the movie Vacation when he falls asleep and takes an exit into a bad neighborhood...."roll 'em up". Then, I try to act like I belong in that neighborhood, even though I might be ready to shit my pants, I try to look on the outside like it's no big deal (ha, ha).
I remember when my youngest daughter was about 12 or 13 and she, unlike her mother, is a real girly girl. I was driving around the Bay Area and took the wrong exit into downtown Richmond at night....we could not find the freeway entrance to get out to save our lives...I don't even remember how we got out of there...nothing like being a white girl in an SUV in a bad neighborhood. Youngest daughter was absolutely flipping out and I just kept saying "we're fine" (thinking inside that we are definitely NOT fine).

[Kelly]

** completely understandable **
ha ha! ROFLMAO!!

[Sarah]

My kids and I got lost somewhere in St Louis once at night and a police car pulled up to me and asked me what I was doing there. When I told him I was lost he told me to follow him out and to not stop at stop lights or slow down my car for any reason..Just a little panic inducing!!

Glad you made it out alive!

[Lo]

oh girl, you've got no idea. even tho i have GPS i STILL get lost everywhere i go. seriously. like i get lost in a paper bag. when i first moved to chicago from socal, i was tryin' to get home and ended up in SOUTHSIDE CHICAGO. i am a white girl. WHITE. clear. translucent. at least at the time i was driving my crappy first car, andi blended in... until they saw blonde hair. yeah. guys chillin' with 40's at 11pm? not good. at all. i managed to find the highway and get back north.

last year? there's this ghetto ass area where i used to live, like the next town over. my town was hick to the ick. i was driving home from work, and even tho i KNEW the way home i still missed my exit cuz i'm an idiot and ended up in THE BARRIO. of north illinois. called waukegan. oh, girl, and i was almost out of gas. on E. i got myself outta there in time but let me tell you.... i blew two stop signs bc i was so scared. and that was in broad daylight!!!!! so i feel you. drivin' a lexus thru the barrio and bein' blonde? yeah. not so much.

[Linda T.]

I just want to know which of the map sites was right and which one was wrong. I'm betting google was right. ????

[Wendy]

That's happened to me in downtown Dallas. I remember the first thing I did was check to see if the doors were locked! Then drove around and around until I saw a sign that read "exit here for all paranoid crackers" ;)

[Judi]

I have the same question as Linda - was Google right and MapQuest wrong? MapQuest always used to give me wrong directions to my tax person's office in RSM.

My hubby and I were visiting friends in Detroit and got lost. We saw a dead body in the street and hightailed it out of there as fast as we could.

[Kristan]

LOL to Jan.

Just last year I went back to Pittsburgh to visit a couple of my old professors, and I had a lovely dinner at their house. One offered to host me for the evening, but I had already made arrangements to stay with my family in nearby New Castle, PA, and it was too late to call and cancel (plus I wanted to see them).

Well, I left my professor's house around 11 pm. At midnight, I ran out of gas. After a mild panic attack, I found a gas station, filled up, and continued on my merry way. Only... I could barely see the street signs, so I decided to navigate the last few minutes by memory. I knew there was a big hill I'd go over, I just couldn't remember which way went to my aunt's house and which way went downtown. I decided to go UP the hill.

Wrong choice.

Long story short, after driving ten minutes past creepy boarded up stores and abandoned fenced in lots, I got spooked and turned the other way. Went back over and DOWN the hill. Hey whaddya know, my aunt's house is RIGHT THERE!

Phew. Snuck in around 1 am and went right to sleep. Next time I'm stealing Andy's Garmin and taking it with me.

[Krystal]

Oh I have definately been lost in the bad side of town - have you ever heard of Overtown? Yeah! I got lost there - well, not so much lost - you see I was taking the turnpike and realized I did not have enough cash for the rolls so I had to get off on the nearest exit and that was Overtown - needless to say I was scared out of my rear end and decided to risk the ticket and got back on the turnpike and went to my destination (found out I did have the money, my broter slipped some extra change in the car just in case)

[Jan]

I'm sorry you had such a scary time. I grew up in North Long Beach and we didn't have a lot of the problems that South Long Beach has. About twenty years ago I moved to Missouri to get away from the crowds and I have gone back for visits but I hope to never live there again. I didn't realize that the bad section was in that area too. I love 2nd street and the ocean areas but it looks like it is difficult to get there anymore. When I was a young teenager I was able to ride the bus alone to the beach without anyone causing any trouble. I don't think I would do that now.
Did you go to Jessie James' shop? My sister and I went there when we went to visit Mom a couple years ago and he has lots of beautiful bikes but we didn't see him. Then when we got back to Mom's we found out that JJ had lived with our neighbors (my good friends) for a year and if I had let them know I was going they would have called him for me! Darn it.

[Linda]

Lost? Me? Close my eyes and turn me around three times and yup! I'm lost. Broken down? Let’s see. Let's find a good one. There was the time I’m humming along doing 70 mph between no & where when my truck decided to have an electrical malfunction. Pitch black on US40 somewhere between Kremmling & Steamboat (Colorado) all the lights go out; headlights, dash lights radio everything. Gaaa! I mean there is nothing out here except ONE farmhouse. Well I might freeze to death if I sleep in the car, so I walk towards the house, 3 or 4 dogs jump off the porch and start barking. Flood lights come on at the house and three guys come out onto the porch. They don’t speak. Just stare. I explain my problem. They walk out to the truck, one checks under the hood, one under the dash, one hollers at the dogs. I’m a little freaked out, cuz this may not have been the smartest thing to do. Suddenly the truck lights come on. They slam the hood closed and walk back to the house. One guy mumbles something about the wires or fuse under the dash. Flood lights turn off, dogs return to porch. Um, thanks?

[thistle]

got stranded in a little town in Wa. on my way to a dog show once...while i waited for the Not-Quite-My-Ex-At-That-Point to get his shit together to come and pick me up, the nice manager at the automotive place not only came to check on me later that evening (cos yes it took The Ass that long to get said shit together), but he also offered to transport us the rest of the way to our destination...which was about another 1 1/2hrs away (apparently he and his wife had a weakness for the l'il dergs)

I declined...but was left with a favourable impression of the little town...

[Sandra]

My husband would get lost in a bucket.

The times I get confused and "lost" is when I'm having to deal with one-way streets like in downtown San Jose. I can get INTO downtown San Jose, but getting OUT of downtown San Jose I find difficult. That area isn't the best area either so I lock my doors and pray the right street will pop up.

[Mama Dawg]

Yeah, when I first moved to New Orleans, I found myself in da hood. Scary for sure.

[GET A CLUE]

White people don't live in the hood? And FYI not all brown/black people are gang bangers.

[Twenty Four At Heart]

Of course not, and I never said they are. Here in Southern California the gangs are very identifiable because they wear their gang colors. I was in gang territory. My own family is an eclectic and diverse group.

[MLS]

I'm always lost. HBL is use to my many calls back to him when I'm traveling somewhere I haven't already been a dozen times. I call him my human GPS because no matter where I am, all I have to do is describe my surroundings and he knows exactly where to tell me to go to get back on track. Oh....I have a GPS too but I always forget to program it and it's just too much trouble.

[Sugee]

Yes. It was terrible. I was in horrible house clothes just ran out to grab a bite to eat when I got distracted by a yard sale I "had" to stop at. As I was getting out I kind of realized this was not a safe neighborhood and that the stuff on the lawn looked like crap anyways, but now I was already out so I felt obligated to look at the stuff really quick. I didn't buy anything and just walked away back to my car without saying hi or bye or thank you or "nice day out, eh?". But when I got back to my car, I realized my keys were trapped inside and my car was still running, like I said I hopped out quick just to take a peek, but now I was stuck with no ally. Shamefaced (for not buying anything or being friendly) I had to ask for help from the scary people standing around. Luckily they were helpful gangsters as one said, "I think Lucky has a slim jim, see if he's home." Lucky came through, and he broke into my car and popped the lock with his slim jim and I was free. Omg that was not good.

[Margaret (Nanny Goats)]

The movie "Grand Canyon" always comes to mind when I hear about people getting lost in a bad part of town.

Thank you for making it out of there alive so that I could have lunch with you!