Touring Turquoise…One of the pleasures of PB’s restaurant walks is the “walking” part – actually strolling from place to place, rather than driving to your destination, eating and taking off again. There are three PB walks: the “Coast of PB” in May and the “Heart of PB” along Garnet in September, both sponsored by Discover PB. In February, the Friends of PB Secondary Schools (plus PB Elementary) hosted its fifth “Taste of North PB”. This event is fun because it’s the most compact – just Cass Street, from Loring to Turquoise and Turquoise to Mission Boulevard. You’re constantly seeing the 700 ticket holders ducking into balloon-festooned doorways. (See front page.) Turquoise has a different feel this year. The addition of Blazin Grill adds a substantial, classy center: Stone walls, topped by black wrought iron and wrap lighting shield a patio with potted ficus trees. Next door, The Turquoise also features plants on its patio, as does Chronic Smoothies, The French Gourmet, Chateau Orleans and most of the restaurants on Cass Street. North PB has the right idea – just a bit of greenery, multiplied, adds a lot of charm. Getting rid of Graffiti…Right on cue, the rain stopped at 8:30 a.m., allowing graffiti-busters to fan out through PB. PB Town Council’s Jerry Hall coordinates the annual clean-up, this year led by Gregg Barnes. Over 150 people gathered at PB Presbyterian Church to receive the basics: “Goof-off,” a magic spray that removes most graffiti, and assorted paints to cover the rest. I joined the dumpster cleaning crew, partnering with Steve Pearson. Our territory was the alley between Grand and Thomas, where we discovered as much damage on trashcans as dumpsters. For the dumpsters, we had matching paint donated by their companies. Good old “Goof-off” quickly took care of the trashcans. As we worked, residents poked heads out of apartments to thank us. And suddenly I remembered: Back before Discover PB, I worked with the PB Business Improvement Association. We couldn’t mail our newsletter on our meager budget, so after writing it, I delivered newsletters on Garnet, from Crystal Pier to Morrell. Just once. Then I found block captains on each business block for future deliveries. Wouldn’t it be great to have “alley captains” watching residential blocks and business block captains coordinating their areas? Meanwhile, if you’d like a free graffiti-cleaning kit, contact PB Town Council, (858) 483-6666 or Discover PB, (858) 273-3303. Saturday’s Town Council Clean-up…will tackle PB Taylor Library area, from 9a.m.-12 noon; e-mail [email protected].