Travel letters

L.A., up close and personal

I have lived in Los Feliz since 1984. I agree with Christopher Reynolds [“There’s a Name for It: Fun,” March 20] that the neighborhoods contain a wild mix of the eclectic. However, he failed to mention one of the great sources for urban chic, the Goodwill on Hollywood Boulevard, between Wacko and the Vista theater.

I know I am not the only resident of the area who feels that this branch of Goodwill, with employees who seem to have been chosen specifically because they fit right in, is something akin to a home away from home.

Ruth Kramer Ziony

Los Feliz

::

My sister and I grew up in the Echo Park area. We both graduated from Elysian Heights Elementary School. We thank Reynolds for his wonderful article. I had to mention several more highlights during our years in that neighborhood. A little red streetcar that my mom called the Toonerville Trolley ran up and down Echo Park Avenue from Sunset Boulevard. It stopped every block or two for those few miles. All we had to do was take a few steps from our homes to catch the trolley.

When we were little, my mother, my sister and I would leave the little red trolley at Sunset and Echo Park, at the end of the line, and walk a few blocks south to Echo Park Lake.

We ate our lunch, fed the ducks and fish, ran back and forth across the little red bridge and rode around on the little boats on the water. Now in my late 70s, I still am a Los Angeles/Echo Park kid.

Sandra Loundy

Simi Valley

My sympathethies to the writer who was bothered by random calls at 5 a.m. [Letters, March 20]. I’ve often had a similar experience, being awakened by the motel room’s clock-radio alarm that was set by the previous guest at an obscene hour.

Fellow travelers, beware: Check the alarm setting on the bedside clock before retiring. This will save many unwanted interruptions of much-needed sleep when on the road.

Kyle Kimbrell

Playa del Rey

Thanks for Irene Lechowitzky’s great article [“Oakland Renaissance”], which appeared on https://www.latimes.com/oakland. It seems we get better coverage from out of town. We also have Roberts Regional Recreation Area with great hiking, mountain biking and equestrian trails and stables. The first Friday of each month, at least 25 downtown art galleries are open in the evening and draw large crowds from all over the Bay Area (www.oaklandartmurmur.com). Let’s not forget the Oakland estuary for boating and water sports, plus it’s a gateway to San Francisco Bay. The town also is full of weekly farmers markets and community events.

Marshall Gordon

Oakland