a restaurant and a kangaroo

On our way through the old buildings we drive through the warehouse district. This was an old abandoned warehouse that has been refurbished into high rise, high priced contemporary loft apartments. At night you can see into the large windows. This was the first place ever (a few years ago) that I had seen a decorated Christmas tree upside down hanging from the ceiling. We saw it at night through the lit up window. We drove around the block twice for that one!





This is the front of one of our favorite restaurants.
The public areas are the street level and the basement only. I would love to explore the other levels! They say there are ghosts.

All the booth backs are head and foot boards of antique beds. N. went with me for lunch because he had a good grade card. He likes to sit in this booth so he can look at the stuffed real kangaroo that sits on a shelf on the other side of this leaded glass window.

This is the kangaroo from the other side of the window. It is on a high shelf above the stairway to the basement.

For as long as we can remember, all three of my kids have had a fascination with the kangaroo perched so high up. This day we shared that fact with the manager and he replied, "Wow! What a coincidence that you should mention the kangaroo because we were told we needed to take him down after 25 years. Today!!"

They began to take him down while we were there so N. could see him up close and personal.

It was quite a feat to get this "famous with the kids kangaroo" down to the basement floor.

They joked that we should take him home since they were going to just throw him into the dumpster.

Once he was down in the basement lounge level I asked if they were really going to throw him away. 

The reply from the employees was, "No! we will store him away for awhile and he will make an appearance someday again. Maybe we will leave him here next to the bar to scare the employees that come in tomorrow morning in the darkness of the basement."

This is one of the many unusual yet interesting things in the restaurant. It always reminds me of the machine in the movie "BIG" with Tom Hanks that grants his wish. I love that movie!!

What a treasure trove for the eyes in every direction. Our favorite traditional activity is playing "I Spy" each time we go to this place.

We begin the minute we sit down, it continues all through the meal and doesn't end until we leave.

By the way, The place doesn't look busy because we were there for an early lunch- the lunch crowd arrived as we were leaving.
Sitting at one of the tables inside the antique real street car is always fun.

They say late at night when the employees are closing up they have sometimes seen a lady dressed in turn of the century clothing sitting inside the street car!! OOOOO!! Spooky. They have also seen the lady in the basement.

Speaking of ghosts...This is a ghost of a different kind which I also find very fascinating. It is the side of another brick warehouse building in the restaurant's parking lot which is across the street. It shows the ghost lines of separate rooms that once existed when the missing half of the building was intact. It looks so much more awesome in person.