mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Cathy is blogging while Kirk rests. This one is interesting.
Hi. Its the end of the year and there are still some traditional things The Mister and I do. One of those things is going up to Pasadena, having breakfast and either helping or watching Tournament of Roses parade floats being decorated. Since I have this wrist injury and repetitive stress is out of the question, this is a year to watch. 
So, we went to breakfast first at the Historic Green Street Hotel. The Hotel is now a Condominium Complex for the most part, but the building was built in 1898 and has been declared a Historical Site. ...The food, its a brunch and not much selection.
Fruit, muffins, pastries, scrambled eggs, sausage and ham...as well as juice and coffee. We were not there for the food.
We ate quickly and waited to get onto the tour bus that took us about 1 mile south....this was the view, waiting to get to the top/overview area of one of the four float building company warehouses.
This is the Farmers Insurance entry for this year's parade. The little owl on Mother Nature's shoulder moves his head. They took the float out of the warehouse to make certain the mechanics were working and to do last minute touch ups before judging was to take place at about 1 p.m. today. Every square inch of the float that is visible has to be covered in something that is, or was alive.
Once you are inside you get a view of the nine floats that have been being assembled in this 'barn' for, really, the last year.
The City of Glendale float is the one with the bear, the Optimists have the one with the cat and dog being friends,
The City of Long Beach
made the one with the lighthouse and sailboats, the City of Pasadena did the birdhouse. McDonald's sponsored the one with the honeybees ...
The Lutheran Hour has the one with the church, Lions Club International did the one with the cane for the blind.
Anyhow, these floats are essentially done, and beautiful. People talk about what they are made of...the living parts. But this isn't a good vantage point...HOWEVER...I have friends in High Places....oh, and I'm kinda sorta one of them....
Here is a photo from a few days before the parade last year, with a float still in the assembly stage. See the orange slices used so they look like goldfish scales?
(click on it and it will enlarge)
So, anyhow, here's some closeups..you can tell some of the materials without my help.
OK, so that was the majority of my day...but The Mister and I were tired and hungry and in Pasadena..and of course I *must* always have my camera with me.
Tops, 50 years in business, 'Voted Best Fast Food in Pasadena, Corner of Walnut and Allen'. Gotta try it.
Hmmm, similar to The Hat but with a larger menu....
So, we got what we know is good: the 1/2 pound burger ($3.89), pastrami dip($6.39) and small chili cheese fries($3.59)...
Simple, basic and pretty darn good...the burger is served with lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles and Thousand Island sauce; the pastrami was peppery, had a nice amount of fat and in a nice french roll...
OK, the burger looks, eh, smallish for 1/2 pound...here is what it looked like in my hand after I had eaten a LOT and was almost full....
Tops 1792 East Walnut Street Pasadena (626)584-0244 M-Th 7 am-11 pm; Fri/Sa am-midnight, Sun 9 am-11pm
I'll talk to you all next year, and thank you for making this one my most interesting in my lifetime! Watch football on January 1st... There's this game that is played in Pasadena....
Cathy--thank you for a fabulous insider's view of those floats! I've always wondered how they put those things together. Actually seeing all the scaffolding for hanging over the frameworks and painstakingly applying all those petals and etc. really helps me visualize the process. How are the bits o' flower stuff stuck onto the float?
And that Tops place looks darned fine too!
A happy peaceful New Year to you--and have a blast tomorrow!
Posted by: mizducky | Sunday, 31 December 2006 at 07:27 PM
Happy New Year!
My Asian blood cringes at the thought of all that wasted food.
- Chubbypanda
Posted by: Chubbypanda | Sunday, 31 December 2006 at 08:27 PM
Your shots of the floats gives me some ideas for next year's family activities. My wife grew up in south Pasadena and has never mentioned anything about the prelude leading up to the parade. Is the float assembly area open to spectators? The best to both of you and yours in 2007. I look forward to more of your excellent reads in the coming year!
Posted by: Jon | Sunday, 31 December 2006 at 08:31 PM
Happy New Year!
My Asian blood cringes at the thought of all that wasted food.
- Chubbypanda
Posted by: Chubbypanda | Sunday, 31 December 2006 at 08:33 PM
Hi mizducky...glue...lots of glue...There are signs "Do NOT wash glue brushes in the bathroom!". The whole process will start with picking a theme for the 2008 parade- within the next month. As far as decorating goes, it gets into full swing about 2 weeks prior. The floats are basically made and coated with plastic/colored (so if there are spaces because of fallout, you don't see a white splotch) and then the seeds, dried blended flower petals, whatever are glued over the plastic...the flowers that have to be in vials are cut and placed only within the last few days...some of the iris aren't even opened...in the blue/white/purple water I will add to the post.
CP-a lot of it is not everly edible...the "granite" looking rock that the squirrel is on, for instance, is a blend of rice, poppy seeds and oninon seeds and looks amazingly real up close. I didn't realize the photo came out blurry or I would have re-taken the shot.
Jon...TONS of activities before AND after the parade. The four decorating buildings/pavillions (the one I have photos of is the smallest and only housed nine floats) and are open to the public the 28,29,30 and 31st every year. There is a fee for admission. It was $5 this year but you could go to any two of the warehouses for that $%...it was crazy crowded, being the last day, but I do think its more fun to see the actual work happening rather than the finished products...so the days before the 31st would be when I wuld go to watch. Public gets only those upstairs views....VIPs and workers are downstairs... I will post links to the sites...and right after the parade ends, all the floats are lined up end to end, for about a mile, at the end of the route- Siera Madre- and will stay there on the first and second for your viewing pleasure...from 1pm-4pm on Monday and from 9am-4pm on Tuesday. Its crowded (meaning lots of people and parking is tough) and they charge admission (it was $7 a few years ago). Sometimes the viewing is for a few more days, but since the 1st is on a Monday this year, the town is disrupted enough...Glad you liked the post!
CP- Unsure if you were making a point or accidentally posted twice...I do understand your point though. Its tradition.
Posted by: cathy | Sunday, 31 December 2006 at 09:37 PM
Nice to see that Michigan still has a few fans considering how the Buckeyes been taking them to the woodshed recently :-)
Posted by: ed (from Yuma) | Monday, 01 January 2007 at 09:05 AM
Hi ed...The Mister and I met at UM. Its *always* the preferred school, winning teams or not. :(
Posted by: cathy | Monday, 01 January 2007 at 09:31 PM
unusual combo of pastrami, chilli fries, and -lb hamburger. The ½ lb'er looks larger than its advertised weight and the pastrami rolled in paper is an excellent idea.
Posted by: RONW | Tuesday, 02 January 2007 at 12:18 AM
Actually, Ron, they have a 1/4 lb pastrami cheeseburger that I was going to try, but The Mister is a pastrami connoissier and he wanted the pure whole sandwich and I thought what I wanted would be too much. I do have fairly small hands, though, so the 1/2 lb burger looked even bigger....
Posted by: cathy | Tuesday, 02 January 2007 at 05:58 AM
ok, I will give that place a try. I pass by that place twice a week and once I walked in and walked right back out.... then again I was looking for somehting lite that day...
but with a recommendation, I'll certaintly give it a try.
Posted by: Andy 食神 | Thursday, 04 January 2007 at 10:50 AM
The menu proclaims it was voted "Best Fast Food in Pasadena"...but I don't know who voted...but it has been around 50 years...and it always crowded. It is very similar to The Hat in a lot of ways. {Its also a Sister to Tburgers in Monrovia). The beef dip and pastrami dip are safe bets. They have "new" gyros that I would like to try..and the salads seem safe bets for being lite. Heck, just try it, Andy!
Posted by: cathy | Thursday, 04 January 2007 at 03:39 PM
Sorry about bumping such an old post, but have you two gone to the other Top's, the one on Colorado by Michilinda? That family now owns Gus' BBQ in SoPas and they're doing some nice things with their menu; try the Wagyu Burger at Top's with the small Cheese Fries or the Slider Plate with a side of Sweet Potato Fries at Gus' for some pretty nice burgers.
Posted by: Freddie Freelance | Sunday, 17 August 2008 at 10:11 PM
H FFL! We leave the old posts up so you can enjoy them and it's not a bother. We ususally only got to Pasadena twice a year, but will keep Gus' BBQ in mind. I've been to the other Tops, just wasn't blogging then...Actually, realizing all the places I have been to once or twice, wish I had a permanent record. So many enjoyable meals. Now, because of Kirk letting me (and a few others) play in his sandbox, I get to let everyone know what I ate and enjoyed...
Posted by: Cathy | Monday, 18 August 2008 at 07:37 AM