Japantown Festival

Japantown has several festivals during the year. Sunday was the first of this season. And a great part of living only 2.5 blocks away is that Mark and I can walk down instead of driving around for hours trying to find a place to park on every street in the area that is all ready FULL of cars. So, in sunshine and blue sky, we went. First stop was the Farmers' Market - more crowded than usual, but still lots of great fruit and veg. Then on to the crowded streets with booths of crafts and books and textiles and food and music.....

The beautiful Asian papers for sale individually or made into many interesting things... the ceramics, calligraphy, and tee shirts..... and it was not just Japanese culture, but Hawaiian culture as well.

People were carrying around plates of tempura, sushi, spare ribs. The tables outside the food court were full of families visiting with each other. Roy's - a garage converted into a neighborhood coffee cafe was packed. We stopped in an artist's studio. He carves small indentations/birdbaths into beautiful boulders. One was of a lovely green stone. And inside, he has gallery space for art. I have been peaking through his fence when walking in the neighborhood. It was wonderful to finally be able to go inside.
We walked back home past all the parked cars and were glad to sit under our gazebo in our comfortable wicker chairs sipping CA wine.