I have mentioned before that I will never again live in my college town of Davis , CA. It is a useless nothing of a town, occupying what could be good farm space. The people there are extremely self centered and spoiled – and this includes both the college students (1/3 of the population) and those that just live there. The town itself is very cute at first glance, until you realize how sterile it is. The inhabitants are determined to keep their small town status, so no new businesses are allowed in.
However, during my 6 or so years living & working there (yes, I stayed a bit after college) I learned all these things. I also learned that I didn’t have to go all the way to Sacramento for good food. There is a very high ratio of restaurants to people, and within that, the ratio of good to bad restaurants is pretty high. So I determined long ago that were I to be in the neighborhood, I might stop by in the future.
So I found myself on Sunday. It just so happens that Davis is en route from Santa Rosa to Sacramento . It was the Boyfriend’s bday and my very lovely Friend thought it would be a nice gesture if we ate dinner before our late flight. Her suggestion: the best Thai food ever. To quote the Boyfriend, “Fuck yeah.”
So off we went to Sophia’s, the land of happy ties. They are happy because they are eating yummy tie food.
After Friend so graciously paid for our meal (big thank you there!) we decided to wander around Davis for a bit. The Boyfriend used to work in the general area of the restaurant, so we swung by the store. One thing I should mention, it was 8pm on a Sunday night, so it was a ghost town. Every store was closed, and we saw only one other person on the street. (Culture shock from NYC!) This other person happened to be a former employee of the Boyfriend, and by some freak accident, both were temporarily back in town that night. I didn’t know Former Employee, so Friend & I hung back, mocking the world while the others made small talk. The fact that I already didn’t know and wasn’t introduced to Former Employee proves that she is of no importance.
We saw our old hangouts. There’s the bead store. You know, the one bead store in Davis . There’s the Naturalist, a great store to look at and not buy anything. There’s Alphabet Moon, a toy store with some of the best stuffed animals outside of FAO Schwartz. There’s the restaurant I worked at for 3 weeks before discovering that even though they served yummy Nepalese food, they weren’t so keen on the handing out of paychecks. We didn’t go by the Awful Drug Store Which Shall Remain Nameless that I worked at for over 5 years because they screwed up a big part of my life (what with the psychological trauma forced upon me and the loss of my right hand for 3 months) and I still hold quite a grudge. I did, however, plaster a phone booth with a lovely CUSS sticker. The phone booth was asking for it.
A loverly stroll down memory lane. One I don't need to do again anytime soon.
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6 comments:
Plus, Davis is CRAZY white. White people everywhere. It's scary.
Does the restaurant you mentioned happen to rhyme with Bathmandu Bitchin'?
Mr Stapler went to law school in Davis. He speaks highly of it, which is kinda strange given that he bashes MY college town, San Luis Obispo, ALL the time, and they are practically identical in that college-town-ruined-a-farm-town kinda way.
cm- Davis has Asians too. More Asians than whites. But you only see them at the school, during school hours.
And Batmandu Bitchin is the one I worked at ever so briefly.
sb- Davis was the backup for the Boyfriend's law school. They accepted himm before he even applied. But we had to get out.
As always, thanks for the great description of a place that I probably will never visit and have no real reason to do so anyway. I am impressed by the amount of high quality eats, though. If I'm ever driving through the area, I know to go to Sophia's.
Also, when you describe your evil former employer, I almost picture you as Luke Skywalker in a battle with Darth Vader at the end of Empire Strikes Back, which is why you temporarily lost use of your hand, even though Luke really lost his hand. It just fits. I'm glad that you did not lose it forever.
The town may never recover from the emblem of the devil that you left, though. I am cackling with delight.
It was an epic battle, but in the end, I used the FOrce.
one of my old boyfriends lives in Davis (I think...). He's a civil engineer...he dumped me three days before christmas and sent my underwear back to me in the mail.
jerk.
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