HalfWay House Cafe Event Cache
SoCal4x4Geocachers: Thanks to all that attended the event. Look for more events coming up later this year. See ya at the next one!
Hidden
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Saturday, December 30, 2006
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Meet the SoCal4x4Geocachers for coffee or breakfast at one
of the most historic sites on Sierra Highway, near Santa Clarita,
California. Event is Saturday, Dec. 30th and the times are 7:30 AM
to 9:00 AM PST. The address is 15564 Sierra Hwy, Canyon Country, CA
91350 and their phone number is 661.251.0102. Easily found along
Sierra Hwy between Vazquez Canyon Road and Davenport Road.
Some History The HalfWay House Cafe has been at the same
location along Sierra Hwy since 1931. It was so named because it
was half way between Palmdale and Los Angeles, and Sierra Hwy was
the main route between the two. I remember Mom talking about this
cafe on trips between her old home in Los Angeles and her new home
in China Lake, making those trips in the late 40s.
I spoke with Mindy Harper, who has been working at the cafe for 28
years. At this point, the cafe had been serving up food for 47
years! They celebrated their 75th year in business this year.
Amazing. I asked Mindy for some stories that I wouldn't find on the
Web, and she started talking.
The original owner (if I got this right) was Henri with a wife
named Gubette. Evidently, Henri was quite the womanizer and enjoyed
the bottle, and when the two were combined he would disappear for
days, leaving Gubette to run the business. She was not a happy
woman, and tried many different things to get Henri's attention.
Finally, in 1989, she poured 3 gallons of gasoline on her car and
inside, sat in the driver's seat, and lit a match. She didn't die,
and she suffered burns, but most importantly, she got Henri's
atttention and he sold the cafe and they left the area.
The Taylor family bought it after it sat empty for a few years. He
attempted to run it but ran off all the good cooks and his son got
into trouble, ending up in prison, which cost them a fortune in
lawyer's fees, so they sold the property. It remained closed from
1989 to 1995, for the most part.
Bob and Ruth Lima bought it in 1995 and reopened the cafe in April
1996, hiring back most of the wait staff (including our heroine
Mindy). Customers began to return in droves, but this did not save
the Lima's marriage. Bob had to buy Ruth out and is now the current
owner. He has retained the same cooks for 10 years, and the food
has improved every year since. Restaurant capacity is 65, if I
remember corectly.
Parking outside is limited to the dirt strip running up and down
Sierra Hwy, and I estimate we could fit maybe 50 or 60 vehicles in
there at this early hour. When I drove by at 9:30 AM today, there
were a dozen cars parked in front. Most of these are local patrons
who come here weekly for weekend meals.
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