whoa whoa whoa!! How have I not talked about this ROAD SIDE ART piece that has been in my very own community for years and years?!!! La vaquita?! Dates back light years ago..in my mind anyways...growing up in "da heights" "mini chi-town "chi heights"..call chicago heights all you want but please take a second look at this icon!! maybe we should change the name from chicago heights to santa vaquita heights?..has a nice ring to it no?..haha Wow I remembr I used to sneak into this restaurant wen i was a little boy, used to buy some now and laters and then try n sneak into the movie rental section so I may take a peak at the naughty videos if you know what I mean jelly bean!! Hey..relax i was just a kid!! Im keepin it real for shizzle..oh kee dough kee?! ..la vaquita is a restaurant that has long ago vanished..i dnt know if it was because of the dam cars that kept rammin into the place..jaja or wah but they had sum mean tacos!! Im just happy the cow stood its ground and thankfully whoever bought the restaurant kept it out there for us to enjoy!! Gracias owner of "los portales" :) ipseakart thanks you very mucho!! (los portales is the new restaurant that lays in the place of the traditional old la vaquita restaurant!)
Tell you guys what, this road side art has opened my eyes to discover art in everyday places! seems obvious, but ive been living in this community for 23 years and thats how long it took me to take my hat off and say " esta vaka esta chida wey!" So next time you drive by la santa Vaquita wave at her and make her know that we value her presense :)
Maybe one day wen i become rich i can buy this cow and keep her in my life forever (tears) !!!!
all this cow talk makes me want to eat sum tacos!!! mmm takitos..mmm de vaca!!..mmm
THANK YOU!!! I was just talking about this guy!!!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I never had the pleasure of eating there, but the Vaquita has always been a comforting landmark for me. I always knew I was close to "Abuelita's" house. I love the cow, It may have been the inspiration for the parade of cows all those years back hahaha.
I'm sure everyone in the town has their own different feelings attached to that cow.
-Stormie (born and raised in Santa Vaquita Heights)
great observation!! i agree this cow is an icon for all heights native or even frequent passer bys..lol there are alot of these cows out there..some in texas, illinois, and other states across the us..from butcher shops, to restaurants u can find black bulls, brown and white cows, or even colorful adourned cows used to induce customers to enter their facility! I am also willing to bet that these larger than life size cows and bulls influenced this parade..i cant imgae at what degree but ill be some marshmellows that they did..and i really luv me sum marshmellos..mmmmm :D
ReplyDeletelittle side note.... I wonder if marshmallows can be dipped in molten chocolate, hardened, then enjoyed as a crunchy treat...MMMMMM
ReplyDeleteI used to know the owners back in 89 and 90. He had a thrift store along with the restaurant and movie rentals. He had the best tortas and since we were LDS missionaries, we would eat free alot of the times. I miss that family and the COW> Thanks for the pictures and the memories.
ReplyDeleteScotty
Wow this is awesome! This was my dad's family's restaurant and it's so awesome to see that people have good memories associated with it. We've all relocated out to Utah now!
DeleteThis restaurant was started by my dad's family in 1987 when he was in high school and his family had fallen on hard times. I stumbled across this post just now as he was telling a story about a gang shoot out that was miraculously prevented right in front of the story and I was trying to pull up a picture to show a friend. The post and the comments (especially Scotty's) just warmed his heart as it was a huge sacrifice for him as a high school kid. It's wonderful to see that La Vaquita had such a positive impact on the Chicago Heights community. What a fun visit down memory lane for my dad; this brought him to tears :)
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