Normally at lunchtime, I just jump in the car and drive to one chain eatery or another, depending on what personal errands I also need to run that day. Other times, I run across the street to the liquor store, or down the street to the coffee shoppe, and order a sandwich to be gobbled up at my desk. But on a few occasions, I'll walk the opposite way for a few blocks to get away from the hubbub of tourists and folks looking to get the day's drinking off to an early start.

This part of the neighborhood is much quieter. Cars pass by less frequently. Residences creep diffidently back to the street before fleeing again at the sight of a freeway onramp down the hill, leaving behind a few junk shops and a taqueria with a sidewalk cafe. It's nice to visit there a little bit later in the afternoon, when the lunch crowd has gone back to where they came from, and to just enjoy a burrito in peace.