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A few blocks from the Laguna, there's an old sign painted on the side of a building. It points the way to the Victor Hotel and its coffee shop. I think the Laguna was called the Victor just before it stopped being a hotel altogether. The building the sign is painted on stands on a sleepy side street. Maybe in the old days, it was a major thoroughfare. Underneath the sign, someone has painted a mural of a bunch of birdhouses. |
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| A maintenance man from Cisco Community College let me into the Laguna. After the hotel shut down back in the 60's, the college bought the building and used it as a dorm. Now it's empty again. The lobby floor was littered with old 45's. The etched glass behind the front desk was still intact. |
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| I asked the maintenance guy what was upstairs, and he said it wasn't worth looking at. Just a lot of dead pigeons, he said. I started walking up the stairs, and he said it again: just a bunch of dead pigeons. I guess he hoped I'd change my mind. |
