Orange

Last weekend Eric and I headed down to Orange County, specifically, the city of Orange, to meet up with Eric’s uncle and tool around. Orange is such a cute little city, and it has a big and charming downtown. A lot of movies set in the 50s and 60s were shot here (including That Thing You Do), and I can see why!

True to its name, this area was once all orange groves. You don’t see much of them anymore, but at least 50s feel of the town has been preserved. And you might just spot a giant orange at the end of an alley!

Orange is an antique lover’s heaven. We saw lots and lots of signs like this one.

Does anyone need a chandelier? Or two?

We also found some choice tunes.

This is the fountain in the center of the square. And in the background, you can see a very ornate looking Starbucks.

Here is another one. Pretty!

I am a sucker for street signs like this one.

There are also tons of classic cars in Orange. Impressive!

Orange has a really gigantic bike shop, and I always like to go to these with Eric. This one was big enough to warrant a picture out front, for sure!

And finally, we stumbled upon this gem: the Orange County Fruit Exchange. It was built in 1922 by Sunkist, and now it is an art gallery. It’s a beautiful building, and it makes me smile because many moons ago, I worked for Sunkist in Memphis. I didn’t do anything more interesting than answer phones and file faxes, but I learned where all of the orchards were out in California. I had no idea back then that I’d be standing here today, but life is chock full of magic, and I’m grateful for that.