Watts. As in towers.

I first remember hearing about the famous towers in an edition of my Scholastic Weekly Reader as a child. Back in the day, Weekly Reader was top notch in providing us artsy kids with some insider scoop. While I can't remember the article in any sort of detail other that the fact that it said "Watts Towers" next to a picture of the whimsical wonders, I still remember being interested in them. Years have gone by and now as a resident of Southern California, I jumped at the chance to see these towers in real life....a staggering difference from the newsprint pages of my 2nd grade Weekly Reader.
My friend Cindy had invited me to head on down to Watts with her longtime friend, Rich. The towers were every bit as I imagined. Secret alcoves, quirky, old 7-UP bottles embedded in the concrete etc. Unfortunately for us, the towers had been enclosed by a protective fence and we could not walk around the inside. Supposedly, they give tours on every day but Monday. Yeah. Great. What day were we there? But I suppose I shouldn't complain. I can get down there in 35 minutes so a tour isn't totally out of the question.
After the towers, we drove around Watts and I saw a fantastic beauty salon. In faded black text the salon sign said, "BEAUTY SALON". In newer, bolder paint, squeezed above it said, "OBAMA". The OBAMA BEAUTY SALON. Who knew that Obama was one for getting his hair and nails done? Well, now you know. And it was pretty busy.
From there, we went to Long Beach and toured the Queen Mary. Ate tacos. Wandered around. Drove home during rush hour and made amazing time. I have to say...it was a good day.