Good Morning, L.A. : From Santa Anita to San Pedro Harbor, Weekend Adventure Awaits Early Risers

It’s 5:30 a.m. Saturday. Downtown Los Angeles is quiet and dark. At 8th and Wall streets, everything changes. Merchants busily prepare row upon row of brilliantly colored flowers. Excitement and activity spill out onto the street as busy employees push handcarts stacked with flowers wrapped in cellophane and newspaper. Soon, hundreds of busy shoppers will converge to choose between the tulips and irises, the roses and chrysanthemums. It’s 7 a.m. Sunday. The sun is up, but the Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210) is relatively empty. A short distance away, about a hundred cars sit in cluster s in the parking lot at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, and many of them have been there for hours. A rooster crows as fans stream into the race track to watch the horses work out. Yes, there’s plenty to do just after daybreak. But you’ll miss it all if your idea of the perfect weekend is to sleep late. While you are snoozing, thousands of other Southlanders are “up-and-at-’em”--enjoying all kinds of activities.

“I get up and out early because there are lots of things I want to do. I don’t want to sleep my time away,” said Jack Felmann, a clothing manufacturer who lives in West Los Angeles and who’s up most days at 5:45 a.m.

“Sometimes I sleep late and wait until my wife and kids get ready to go out to breakfast. It can be 11 o’clock by the time we’re ready to go. The next thing I know, someone’s asking me what I want to do for dinner. The whole day is gone. Besides, there are some pretty terrific things you can do if you get started early enough.”

Wide Variety of Activities

Indeed, it’s not only joggers and fitness fanatics who are out in the wee hours of morning. Early risers such as Felmann savor a wide variety of activities. They are just as likely to be at the harbor watching the cruise ships come in or hiking in Griffith Park as they are to be jogging or bicycling up the coast. You can find them looking for bargains at the wholesale fish market or gabbing with other regulars at their favorite breakfast cafes.

“It’s a kind of freedom,” said Ray Duane, owner and operator of a sportfishing boat that regularly leaves around dawn. “You get a good start on the day, see the sun come up and there’s no traffic.”

Duane and Felmann, along with many of their early-morning soul-mates, talk about the peace and quiet, the lack of crowds. Others talk about how friendly people are. They use words such as adventure and fun. Some have an early-morning routine; others like to try new experiences.

Santa Anita Park attracts a variety of people on weekend mornings. You’ll find the serious track aficionados and others drawn for various reasons. There are, for example, weekend photographers and parents taking children on outings.

“I’ve never even seen a horse race,” Monrovia homemaker Kathy Acker said. “We just come to watch the horses.”

She and her husband, Tony Acker, take their young daughters to various early-morning events, including pancake breakfasts at municipal airports, and air shows.

“We like to be out-of-doors, and the morning is a good time to avoid the crowds,” she said.

A few times each year, the Ackers bring their kids to Santa Anita for the tram tour of the backstretch. This area, which includes the stables and living quarters for some of the stable’s employees, is home to almost 2,000 horses. Within arm’s reach, the Acker children watch the horses being groomed, fed and walked to cool down after their workouts. The backstretch is a little village of movement, a virtual parade of chestnut-brown, auburn and jet- black horses with colorful blankets and leg wraps.

After the short tour, the Ackers join the crowd in the grandstands where tuxedo-clad waiters serve breakfast to patrons who watch the jockeys exercise their Thoroughbreds around the track.

Victor Wright is a serious race-track enthusiast. He comes to Santa Anita at sunup because that’s when he can watch the horses and keep track of their workout times. “This is when they clock the horses,” said Wright, who’s missed only a few mornings all season. “If you get here very early--about 5:30--you can stand where the jockeys bring the horses out and talk with them.”

Follow Horses All Year

Some people, such as Wright, follow a horse for a whole season, noting how the horse runs at each morning workout.

“They can see it coming to its peak,” he said. “If you pay attention to the workouts, you can tell when the horse is race-ready.”

Even though he starts his day early, Wright will have a leisurely breakfast with friends and spend the entire day at the track, moving to the finish line as the day progresses.

Santa Anita Park, (818) 574-7223, offers free, behind-the-scenes tours nearly every Saturday and Sunday morning from 7:30 to 9:30 during the racing season. The Santa Anita season closes April 24. (Oak Tree meet begins in October.) Breakfast is available every race day from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m.

Another early-morning treat is the Port of Los Angeles. The harbor at San Pedro is a refuge for people who prefer pelicans and solitude to horses and crowds. It’s a quiet, peaceful place in the morning, where people watch the marine traffic on the main channel and stop to chat with fishermen on the docks.

Kathy DiCola, an elementary school teacher, can be found strolling with her dog almost daily. “I love to watch the fishermen getting ready to go onto their boats. They work with their needles, mending the nets. Then the cranes yank all the netting onto the boat. It’s very colorful when there’s a lot of activity,” DiCola said.

If fishing conditions aren’t good and the dock is quiet, DiCola strolls the main channel, where longshore work is going on. “You see the container docks, where huge containers are lifted by crane onto gigantic ships,” she said. “You can watch the Coast Guard patrolling or washing their boats. And then, a little later, you’ll start seeing the passenger liners come in.”

Even Painters Show Up

The scene is so picturesque that weekend artists come to paint it. Between 7 and 8 a.m. on a recent Saturday, two or three cruise ships returned to port. On Sunday morning, another one returned. Although non-passengers once could go into the terminal to watch liners up close, today, most onlookers have to be satisfied to watch the grand vessels proceed to their berths through the main channel.

Watching from shore doesn’t seem to lessen the excitement for some: “I never get tired of seeing them,” said Janet Redman, manager of the Belgian Waffle restaurant, which sits on the main waterway. “You can see these immense ships coming through the harbor. They’re so large they completely block out the sky through the restaurant windows. Then you see people waving, and it’s almost like taking a trip with them.”

According to Redman, the huge tankers and freighters also are a thrill to watch. “Sometimes you’ll see one coming and one going. I hold my breath. They’re so big, I don’t know how they can both get by.”

Regular Routine

Bill Lowery has a morning routine. “I always swing by the fishing docks between 5:30 or 6 a.m. to see what boats are in. You can tell by the noise of the sea gulls whether they’re unloading fish or not,” said Lowery, executive director of the Seamen’s Church Institute.

Then he watches the trucks being loaded with fish destined for restaurants and supermarkets throughout Los Angeles. By that time, the regular walkers are out and Lowery stops to chat. He finally joins them--and many of the fishermen and longshoremen in the area--at Cannetti’s Seafood Grotto for doughnuts and coffee. “People are very friendly at that time of day,” Lowery said. “It’s the best time to just sit and talk.”

Saturdays bring another group of people to the port: those who want to purchase wholesale fish. Saturday between 5 and 9 a.m., the wholesale markets sell fish to the public.

To get to the main channel of the L.A. Harbor, take the Harbor Freeway South to the end. Follow signs for Ports O’Call Fishermen’s Village and the Los Angeles Maritime Museum. This is where you get the best views. The small fishing fleet is adjacent to Ports O’Call Fishermen’s Village. The wholesale fish markets are located at the end of 22nd Street on the main channel. Cannetti’s (open daily at 6 a.m.) is nearby at 309 E. 22nd St . , San Pedro, and the Belgian Waffle (open 9 a.m.) and Ann’s Village Bakery (open daily at 7 a.m.) are located at Ports O’Call Fishermen’s Village .

A far livelier Saturday morning is experienced at the Flower Mart.

Forget solitude and contemplation. People who go to the Flower Mart love the bustle of people; they love the sights and scents of flowers; they love the bargains.

A two-square-block area, the market (really two associations of vendors--the Los Angeles Flower Market of the American Florist Exchange and the Southern California Flower Market) is the place in Los Angeles to buy flowers, greens and florist supplies.

Johnny Mellano’s family has been in the flower business since 1927.

On Saturday, the market opens at 5:30 a.m. “That’s when you get all kinds here,” Mellano said. “Someone will buy one bunch of daisies for a few bucks. Then you see someone else buying five or six bunches of long-stemmed roses for a dinner party.”

Also Visit Produce Market

People come early in the day because they have other things to do--and because they want to get the best pick of the crop, Mellano said. “Lots of families come down and make a day of it. They’ll come here, then go to the produce market and then to the garment places.”

For Vicky Hauk, the Flower Mart is one of the few good reasons to come into the city. “When I first walked in, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven,” said Hauk, a West Covina high school teacher. “The variety of colors and smells! When you’re used to having limited selection and you come in and see the wealth of things that are available, it’s wonderful.”

Clutching her multicolored bundles, she added, “I love coming here to be a tourist and then go home with all these lovely goodies.”

Many people include a stop at one of the area’s well-known restaurants. Gorky’s Cafe and Russian Brewery is one of them. A 24-hour restaurant at 536 E. 8th St., Los Angeles, across the street from the Flower Mart, it has an artsy, almost Bohemian, ambiance and offers a variety of food including unusual omelets, made-to-order pastas and pastries.

Famed for Strawberry Pie

Vickman’s is another celebrated eatery, and one that’s fun if you’re making the circuit. Open Monday through Saturday at 3 a.m. and Sunday at 7 a.m., Vickman’s is famous for strawberry pie and a huge assortment of other pastries. You’ll also find selections such as chorizo and eggs and corned beef hash. Vickman’s is at 1228 E. 8th St..

These, of course, are just a few of the places at which you’ll find Southern California’s early risers, but there are many, many other locations and activities. Among them:

The Sierra Club, (213) 387-4287, sponsors early-morning hikes.

Hollywood-On-Location, (213) 659-9165, supplies daily lists of filming locations open to public viewing (there is a fee for the list).

For those who want a tad more sleep, Grand Central Market, (213) 624-2378, opens at 9 a.m. Monday-Saturday; Sundays at 10 a.m.

Home to Biplanes

Cable Airport Inc. in Upland, (714) 982-6021, is home to restored biplanes and antique aircraft. Many people have breakfast at the Cable Airport Cafe, open at 6:30 a.m., where they can sit near the runway and watch the planes take off. If you’re lucky, the hangars of the antique planes will be open when you wander around.

Finally, there’s always pier fishing, horseback riding and just breakfasting at the beach.

Stretch your imagination to enjoy a glorious morning in or near Los Angeles.