Friday, July 18, 2008

Fair Oaks Pharmacy and Soda Fountain


By day, it's as down-home and unassumingly sweet as apple cobbler. But by night, it transforms into this twinkly confection.

The Fair Oaks Pharmacy and Soda Fountain has served South Pasadena since 1915. It's a dream spot for those of us who love all things retro ... from the Victorian pendant lights to the brass fixtures of the elaborate soda fountain. The first time I went inside, I half expected a young George Bailey to come out from behind the counter. It's charming and comforting and feels like home even though most of us have seen places like it only in old films. Located on the corner of Fair Oaks and Mission Street, it's a grand reminder of old Route 66: go west, young ones, and before you claim your fortune, make sure to stop here for a cherry phosphate.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Laurie/Shutterbug, welcome to the Pasadena area bloggers!
I love food place shots. This reminds me of Gus's BBQ across the st. Me & friends ate there & it was great.
What kinda camera do you use? I'm in the mkt 4 a new one so I'm cking them out.

Laurie Allee said...

Mike, it's so nice to meet you! I just spent a half hour reading your wonderful blog.

Thanks for the link add -- I will put you on mine.

My camera is a simple point-and-shoot by Fujifilm. It's the E900 9 megapixel that came out about a year and a half ago if I recall correctly.

I had another Fujifilm camera for about 4 years before that. I've had great luck with both. The zoom is nice, the levels and contrast are gorgeous right out of the camera and it's pretty hard to mess up a picture. You can do a lot manually with the settings but the auto setting is awesome when you just want to catch a shot. Also, it has nice video with audio.

You can spend a lot more for really fancy digital cameras as you know but I've had such great luck with mine and it was really inexpensive. Occasionally I'd love to be able to switch out the lens for a more powerful zoom but 99% of the time it suits my needs perfectly. I used to be a bullheadedly rigid 35mm film purist but I am completely and happily converted to the digital world now. :-)

ben wideman said...

Pasadena neon! I love it.