capitalism usurps once again

Here's some rather sad news from San Diego.

The famous Bazaar del Mundo in Old Town San Diego will be closing down for good, in favor of an out-of-state concessions conglomerate. Mind you, the location is an Historic State Park that is being leased to a company in Buffalo, New York. This makes me sad. Obviously, I'm not the only one, as this had been talked about for over a year and a half from the time the state started being particular about the terms of the lease.

Not many people know about it either. I was at the fabulous Casa de Pico (with "margaritas the size of your head!" quoth Leaha) on Saturday and ended up being the bearer of news that the restaurant is one of those affected and will be moving to La Mesa. And yes, they, like you, were shocked. Well, La Mesa != Old Town! (in non-computerese, "BUT THAT'S NOT OLD TOWN!"). And the fact that two of the other attractions are also moving, at different times, to different places (a different part of Old Town, and Seaport Village, respectively), doesn't help either.

Now is the time to cite the obligatory "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule. I like the place the way it is, and now we will see yet more construction in the next few years in preparation for San Diego Grandioseness (pennies accepted for my thoughts).

And to the imaginary/hypothetical proponents who tell me to f*** off and if I like it so much why don't I just move to Mexico and live in a real old town and not whine and bitch about it anymore: well, that doesn't sound half-bad at all.