The California town of Laguna Niguel has a rather strange annual ritual. The annual event has been going on for 30 years now. It all started in 1979 as a bet in a local bar.
It seems that some of the local inhabitants (and some out-of-towners) get together each July to pull their pants down and "moon" the passing commuter trains. They call the annual event "Moon Over Amtrak".
Last year, about 8,000 people showed up for the event. Things got kind of ugly according to local police, with drunkeness, traffic jams and public nudity. They had to shut the event down.
This year, things were a bit quieter. About 400 people showed up, and the "mooning" went off without a hitch. No one was arrested.
Americans can find some pretty strange things to do, but I guess this one is pretty harmless. At least no one gets hurt, and everybody seems to have a good time.
Actually that's the side road that takes you to San Juan Capistrano; it's a dead-end road, and it has a great bar where many bikers go.
ReplyDeleteThey make the best hamburgers and french fries; deep-fried fish and onion rings.
The length of that road (that is partly just a gravel road - single lane), can't accommodate many more than 400 people without a serious congestion problem.
There's a small nursery; a place that sells bricks and cement block, a few other stores along that strip facing the Amtrak railway.
I remember being there for lunch on the day they do the 'mooning'; it was not that crowded - probably 70 people outside, and the bar also sells t-shirts that say "I mooned Amtrak" (or something like that).
Fortunately, they don't do this all that often but it's also not just an annual event - anyone who gets a bit drunk will walk out of the bar - day or night - and 'moon' even if the train isn't passing......
This is a good picture, but the ones that are on the all in the bar are so much better because they capture many more people in the photo.......