The place best known for the Disneyland Resort has a surprise for adults.
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If you're visiting southern California's Orange County, it can seem as though its history as one big citrus grove has been squeezed into oblivion. The county is home to Anaheim - best known for the Disneyland Resort - and a proliferation of hotels (some of which resemble faux castles) that house visitors flocking to the Happiest Place on Earth. Nature doesn't feature strongly.
Yet as I head to Anaheim Packing House (about four kilometres from my Disneyland-adjacent hotel), I spy healthy lemon trees in backyards, their branches dotted with ripe fruit and bowing over fences. It's a fitting sight before arriving at the former Sunkist citrus-packing factory that's now a popular dining destination.
The 1919 Spanish Colonial Revival-style building is now a charming food hall housing eateries and bars over two levels. I'm here on my favourite kind of adventure: to track down a "secret" speakeasy.
The Blind Rabbit is on the complex's ground floor, just past a homely porch-swing chair. A hostess discreetly waits beside a "wall" of sake barrels. I've booked a seat so she checks me off her list and reaches for a tiny rabbit statue tucked among the barrels.
It's the speakeasy's clever door handle. Inside, it's so dim it takes a while for my eyes to adjust as I settle in at the bar. When they do, I take in the atmospheric tiny space and don't bother keeping the grin off my face.
With seatings limited to 90 minutes, I hop to it and order a cocktail - the Absinthe Minded satisfies on both flavour and pun quality - and esquites (a roasted-corn salad with Spanish chorizo, pickled serrano and pequillo peppers). As time slips away I squeeze in one more cocktail, another absinthe number called the Green Beast, chat to the local couple next to me and toast my happiest place on earth. anaheimpackingdistrict.com; theblindrabbit.com
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