Discovering the Secret Charms of Altadena

As a writer I try to fill my books with mysteries and secrets; places too have their mysteries, and Altadena has more than its fair share.

Not long ago I saw an African American man on horseback, dressed in a uniform of a Union soldier and carrying a saber in a gloved hand. I drove by, delighted by my confusion, wondering if somehow I had slipped into a Jet Propulsion Laboratory-generated time warp, but later, I learned that I had come across one of the members of the Buffalo Soldiers mounted riders preparing for the Rose Parade.

Most folks, unless they’re avid hikers or mountain bikers, don’t think or know much about Altadena, Pasadena’s northern neighbor. If Pasadena is the rose of the San Gabriel Valley, some might think we’re the stem, but Altadena is much more than that.

I moved here thinking that I wouldn’t spend much time frequenting Altadena hangouts, but I soon found myself having my morning coffee and writing on my laptop at the Coffee Gallery on North Lake (many electrical outlets for laptop users!) or Express Y’Self Cafe and eating at the Park Bench Cafe or the delectable PattyCakes, a pastry shop that supplies many of Bristol Farms’ wonderful cakes.

To work off all of that coffee and cake, many Altadena denizens hike at Eaton Canyon, even in the formidable heat of August.

Altadena also possesses many odd but satisfying attractions: one being Ken Bannister’s Banana Club Museum at 2524 N. El Molino Ave. (by appointment only, [626] 798-2272), with 17,000 banana-themed items, and to think, none of them is salacious!

More than worth your time is the Mountain View Memorial Gallery in the heart of the Mountain View Mortuary at 2300 N. Marengo. A mortuary might seem to be, to say the least, a weird place for an art gallery, but the gallery has been around for quite a while, and let me tell you that it’s an interesting experience to wander through the stained-glass confines of the maze-like mortuary as you try to find the gallery. And to think, this is where they sometimes shoot “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.” Call for information: (626) 794-7133.

I continue to explore, meandering through the various, diverse neighborhoods of Altadena, discovering interesting and often beautiful architecture, such as the sleek, low-slung houses designed by Gregory Ain and Garrett Eckbo on Highview Street, or the elegant, modernist Altadena Central Library. I recommend wandering onto the nearby fairy tale-like grounds of the Waldorf School of Pasadena to see the pagoda-like craftsman mansion.

Altadena is a mystery worth discovering.