Went over to Oakland a bit ago, which isn’t in itself a rare event, but in this case entailed a whole weekend of activity, none of which included humping or dumping.
Wound our way up to the Cabinhouse to celebrate Miss Shayner’s birthday. Lucky for us not only were there vittles and cocktails in abundance, but Eric Landmark brought over his guitar and sang some old-timey tunes. If you’ve never had a chance to hear him play, go find his album or stop him on the street or something, I promise your days will be the better for it. He’s also one of the nicest people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and a Wisconsonian to boot.
Sara and Jesse Quattro came through with some old time religion and we all sang along when we could.
Such a lovely way to spend a summer evening.
Camped out around the fire until the wee hours of morning drinking wine and making Cousin Galen laugh his ass off, then finally rolled into the tent we’d very smartly remembered to set up earlier in the evening. I forgot how much fun backyard camping can be, it’s like a great big sleepover complete with snoring (Eddie) and late night shushing (sorry, Roosevelt).
Managed to be the last one up in the morning and woke to find tents packed and coffee made. Said our goodbyes over breakfast (you never know how long it’ll be til you go transbay again) then headed down to Lake Merritt for the annual Oaklandish Radio Regatta. Half price boats, good tunes and the requisite drinks and snacks, what better for a Sunday outing? Of course just when things seem simplest, they have a tendency to go awry. In this case we can chalk all of up to human error. Feeling slightly worse for the wear we beelined first towards the sandwiches and sangria then wandered down to look at our boating options. We’d intended to get a little paddle or row boat, but with a little liquid courage in me and everything so cheap I changed my vote to sailing. Between the two of us we passed the preliminary 10 questions and walked out to the dock still wondering what half of it meant. It was at about this point I think Franklin realized we might be heading into a less-than-relaxing next hour and pointed out that we could always just lay about in a rowboat floating under the sun, but you know when you don’t really want to do something but you’re determined to try just to prove that you can? Step right up and grab the biggest boat you can, nevermind that a group of 4 just got out of it and you’re only 2 and you haven’t actually sailed a boat before just hung onto the lines for dear life while someone else told you what to do and when the nice man asks if you’ve sailed with a jib before just smile and nod yes, because how hard can it really be? Long story short our little 14-foot Capri was quite pleased to get away from the dock, sprinting us to the end of the lake and letting us fend for ourselves, a trial which consisted of a great deal of yelling, wondering whether we were tacking or jibing (as if it mattered) and trying not to capsize. In all it took us over half an hour to get back, Franklin doing almost all the line handling and very nicely hollering out warnings to the poor paddleboaters we seemed intent on running down. I think I may have even cried at one point.
All of which is rather funny when its pointed out back on the dock that you’re simply on a small lake in the middle of Oakland.
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Go east, young man? I can’t say I’m sorry we went for it, but I think next time we’ll go in for something a little bit smaller. I’m sure we’ll be back as I’m trying to learn myself into not hating sailing, though at times it seems to be working backwards. Anyhow, if you get the inkling for a warm Sunday outing, head over to the Lake Merritt Boathouse and see what they’ve got. They’re open 7 days a week until November and none of the boats are more than $15 an hour with a $10-$20 refundable deposit. That ought to be enough time to get us ready for next year’s Regatta…
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September 4th, 2008
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Drove down Pescadero way to Phipps Farm for some blackberry picking. Stopped by a few fruit stands along the way and eyed the local harvest.
Grabbed a bunch of heirlooms at the unbeatable price of buy 2 pounds, get one free. Ate almost all of them as soon as we got to the farm.
Mr. Bluebird’s on my shoulder…
Koperski found his best friend.
Even though we were in a sort of twilight zone berry wise (olallieberries being over and blackberries not quite ready) we still managed to gather a goodly amount.
You just have to keep a lookout and not mind the prickly bits and the hunching over and after a while you get into a pleasant routine.
Spent a couple hours at the farm then rolled back into town for afternoon cocktails at Duarte’s Tavern. A local landmark since 1934, the bar felt like it hadn’t changed in years and the jukebox sounded the same. We definitely have to make it back for dinner sometime.
Got home after sunset and decided to try my hand at the art of jam making. Found the simplest recipe possible and lo and behold, we’re all stocked up with delicious blackberry jam. Almost time to start canning for winter…
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Picking time? Phipps Farm and Country Store is down Highway 1 in the quaint little town of Pescadero, home of the best bread I’ve ever eaten. Found this out by stopping into Norm’s Market for picnic supplies just seconds after a golden batch of artichoke herb bread came out of the oven. It was still hot and I swear it had to be one of the most delicious vittles ever. Complimented with jalepeno mustard, fig jam, anchovy stuffed olives and goat cheese (Norm’s has everything) we managed to eat our way through 3 whole loaves. One of the nice things about Phipps is the picnic area; its nothing special, but its always pleasant to sit and eat at a wide wooden table and they didn’t seem to care about our bottle of wine. The rest of the place is a bit strange with oddly mangy animals missing feathers and/or teeth and smells to match. The berry picking is awesome though and once we were out in the field there were hardly any people and everything smelled warm and country-like. Even with most of the blackberries not quite ripe we still managed almost two pounds of fruit and that doesn’t take into account the half pound that went straight into my mouth.
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August 29th, 2008
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Suburbia? Spent a weekend out in Walnut Creek checking out our friends’ the Birds new nest (couldn’t resist). They managed to get themselves one of the sweet old ranch-style houses we’ve been admiring of late. Lots of work still to go and whole lot of paint (the previous owners had a penchant for pistachio), but its coming right along. Got to spend some time riding bikes through the neighboring Eichler’s and along the amazing myriad of paths that wind from town to town. I’ve seriously never seen bike trails like that, so prolific and off the streets, allowing glimpses of backyard pools and golden hills. Now if it just weren’t so far from the city…but I guess that’s the point.
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August 27th, 2008
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Circus come to town? Spotted the circus train off the 880 freeway in Oakland and stopped by to take a peek. Animals and entertainers were off doing their thing but the train was pretty neat nonetheless.
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August 27th, 2008
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Got to take a sneak peek inside the new Academy of Sciences, thanks to our friend Lindsay who gets to work there making maps. What a great job, she even got to go on a species mapping excursion in Panama.
On this particular day she got to show us around and set loose some sea anemones into their new abode. From what I understand the new aquarium takes up the entire basement level underground with lagoons and pools showing through on the ground level. Something about the coolness and clearness of the water gave me an overwhelming urge to dive in and Esther Williams my way around the starfish.
Natural history exhibits make me want a den with a fireplace and strange curios everywhere. Exotic animals are welcome as well.
Took a walk down the African Hall and admired all the majestic beasts.
Maybe some day I’ll do a series of taxidermy portraits.
Those penguins never keep still. They make me so happy bobbing around in there like little champagne corks.
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When do you get to go? The new Academy officially opens September 27th in its old spot in Golden Gate Park. Though the location’s the same, the new Academy is vastly different and (from what I saw) even more amazing. The building itself is incredible with solar and wind sensitive panels that create airflow and regulate lighting (both in the visitors area and behind the scenes in the employees cubicles). The whole place is focused on light and space and the result is that is seems so much bigger than it was before and, with the sustainable roof garden on top, really, really green (the hopes are that it’ll earn a platinum for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ie. LEED). Along with the aquarium, penguins, natural history exhibits and awesome 3-story rainforest there’s also a planetarium where we’re secretly hoping they’ll have laser light shows to The Wall.
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August 22nd, 2008
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Finally went on a tour of the Anchor Steam Brewery and it has to be the best brewery tour I’ve taken since the one at Leinenkugel’s in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Oddly enough my mum’s friend Jane was out visiting from that very same state and was part of the present party, so I’m glad it was as neat as it was. We started off by ogling the building itself, an awesome art deco affair down in Potrero Hill where they’ve been since the 70’s (though Anchor Steam’s been around since 1896) and ended up getting drunk before noon. Now how’s that for a good time?
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You call that a sample? So yes, the rumors are true. The nice folks at Anchor Brewery have no qualms about getting you totally wasted, regardless of the hour. I should point out as well that in doing so, they’re also teaching you about their craft and showing off some damn tasty beverages (six in all). What’s pretty amazing is that they’re such a small brewery and still create 5 different beers on the regular (Anchor Steam, Liberty Ale, Anchor Porter, Old Foghorn Barleywine and their Small Beer) as well as 3 seasonal ones (Christmas Ale, Anchor Bock and Summer Beer) and have even expanded into liquor with a single malt rye called Old Potrero and two types of gin, Junipero and Genevive. All in all pretty amazing and the tour guide was both chock full of information and really sweet. Yet again, I’m proud to be a San Franciscan.
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August 22nd, 2008
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Went to a Giants game one evening (and watched them get utterly trounced) then decided to take the long way home. As I’m sure I’ve mentioned, the waterfront from China Basin to Bayview is one of my favorite stretches of San Francisco as its rich with the kind of history that’s still sitting there breaking down into rubble. Tangible history’s my favorite. I’d been wanting to climb around in Carmen’s for a while and with everyone busying themselves with ballpark traffic further down the stream it seemed like as good a time as any.
Not much left inside but the bar and a lot of charred trash.
Continued our ride past the ginners at Distillery 209 and around through the myriad of gates and ships.
Stopped off a bar in Dogpatch for a bit of liquid courage before more nocturnal explorations. Normal enough bar upstairs, but when we ventured to the basement-like cave downstairs we found it fitted out with a wall of airplane window panels complete with a blinking light running behind them so it looked like you were flying through fog. Totally weird and grungy and kind of awesome.
Back out in the night we spent another hour sizing up our target, but to no avail, the place is a fortress. A chink in the armor may have been spotted, so cross those fingers we’ll have better luck next time.
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Anyone have a grappling hook? I may not even be kidding.
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August 11th, 2008
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Don’t know why but for some reason these photos got shelved somewhere in the back of post-city. I guess that’s not so odd since I’m all film these days (hence the constant “last week” or “a couple Sundays ago” that inevitably begin these posts), but in a way its kind of fun as we now get to relive the adventure just when it’d begun to seem like ages ago.
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Took the ferry over to Angel Island as part of the birthday festivities in June. I’d never been before and managed to get a Sunday night camping spot, which was actually kind of amazing considering it was a relatively last minute decision and that place books up like a cathouse on Valentines Day. Or something to that effect. Loaded up the bikes and got everybody up and onto the 11:30 ferry, no small feat post Saturday night.
Little baby seagulls were checking us out.
Bloody Mary’s helped cut the fog.
Finally went to Alcatraz! Not this trip, though, we’ll have to save those photos for another time.
Got into Ayala Cove to find the weather ever so much nicer than back at home. I love it when things work out that way.
Pedaled up the hill and down a windy dirt path to Reynolds Camp. Since its a group camp, its down in a little valley all by itself with only one other site way back up the hill. I’d almost forgotten how great it is to have a spot all to yourselves.
Bike posse.
Franks promptly cracked into his 4 ounces of freedom.
As usual hi-jinks ensued.
Clambered down to the beach and lolled around in the sun, poking dead jellyfish and waving at seals.
Caught up with the rest of the gang who’d taken a later ferry, then started off on a perimeter tour of the island.
So many deer.
Great views of the socked-in city.
The best part of the island (aside from all the nature) is the leftover barracks and military buildings. Its all just there for the exploring and when the last ferries leave there’s really no one else around. I think we saw two other people the whole 3 hours we spent walking around and neither was a ranger.
Once upon a time huge guns sat here protecting the entrance to the bay.
Poked our noses around the old missile silos but everything was locked up tight. Found a small hole and climbed in it just so it wouldn’t be a total loss.
Much better luck was had at the old hospital.
Attics are always creepy. Reminded me of the time a couple of us made it into the old mental hospital on Lake Street. That was a really weird one.
Circumnavigated the 7 miles of island and got back to camp before the sun hit the water. Such a great little camp, there were 9 of us and no one had to set up their tent in the bushes.
Dinner time. The only drawback to camping on the Island is the no fires rule. Got around it by piling up some wood on the grill after meats were done making a nice little hobo warmer. Whiskey helps as well.
Slow morning breakfast then packed things up and rolled back down to the cove for coffee and more napping on the grass. Funny how often we have to recover from vacations.
Back on the afternoon ferry and home we go.
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Where’s the rest? Right, so I left out all the fascinating historical bits, but Angel Island is in fact full of them. It first became a part of the U.S. in 1848 (it’d previously belonged to Mexico) and was fitted with artilleries during the Civil War in case the Confederacy decided to attack from the coast. This military presence continued up through WWII with the addition of an immigration station around 1910 that became know as the “Ellis Island of the west”. As the name might imply, things were a great deal less than pleasant, compounded by the fact that most immigrants were coming through from Asia at a time of incredible anti-Chinese sentiment. Families were separated, interrogated and often held for as long as six months while officials tried to find out if their papers were legitimate (a feat most likely never actually accomplished). All in all not a pretty chapter for such a lovely island. Still its what may have saved the whole place, as the station was abandoned by the late 40’s and slated for demolition in the 1970 (the military having pulled out after the Cold War), when a park ranger found poetry painted on the walls inside the detention barracks and championed the cause to restore the station for the public. And so they did. We were too busy doing the camping thing to check out the museum, but I’m pretty sure its got to be amazing and there are a whole bunch of informational programs on and about the island (plus you can volunteer over there!) Its definitely worth a visit, even if just for the day, and the ferries run pretty regularly throughout the day. There’s a little cafe (and oyster bar) at Ayala Cove but picnic areas abound and I think you can reserve grills as well. Camping reservations can be made through Reserve America and if you find one, grab it, there’s only 11 of them on the whole island.
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August 11th, 2008
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Went for a ride a while back and ended up having the most amazing day a body could wish for. Started out running errands downtown, then figured I’d take the long way home and check out the new launch ramp down on pier 52. The waterfront from China Basin to Bayview is one of my favorite stretches of San Francisco, sort of the last frontier for exploration in a city that’s constantly developing. Sadly that development fever seems to have extended even down there, as the UCSF campus has opened the place up for condos and high rises. Its got to be weird for the Mission Creek Houseboaters to suddenly look out at yellow and beige lofts after years of being left totally alone. Actually, it seems like there’s a whole new sweep of re-development going on and it makes me wonder how many San Franciscans know about it, especially considering I’ve only taken notice because I like the area and ride around there constantly. Been noticing more and more abandoned buildings being gated off and/or demolished and had a truly weird experience when Franklin and I rode down to Hunter’s Point a few weeks ago to take a look at the abandoned neighborhood by the shipyards (not sure what it was all about, probably PG&E contamination years ago, but it was an entire neighborhood behind chain link fences with boarded up houses and streets overgrown with weeds). Guess what? It wasn’t there any more. The whole hill was razed as was the visible part of the shipyards where Dago Mary’s used to stand. Nothing like hindsight to make you wish you’d gone somewhere a month earlier. As far as HP goes at least, its probably safe to say it won’t get any condos for a while as the estimated clean-up fee lies around $3 million with a good dose of radioactivity thrown into the mix. Last I heard the Navy was trying to get us to settle on some kind of $1 million soap and water job.
So anyhow, digression aside, they’ve put in a really neat informational kiosk with a couple of awesome maps right next to the launch ramp. Had a “holy shit” moment while looking at this one. I think I may have even said it out loud. They’re razing the shipyards to put in a ballpark? My mystery’s solved. Makes me wonder why no one else know about this, though maybe they do and I just never read the newspaper.
Another really cool map showing the old waterline and Mission Creek. Someday I’d like to try another storm drain expedition, this time with hip waders and flashlights. At about this point in my musings a grizzly, white-haired gent in high top Converse rode up and wondered at what I was reading (perhaps he heard the not-so-quite expletives) and after a few minutes of chatting offered to show me an available space in his boat yard just down the street. Got to talking some more about the old waterfront and as it turned out he’d grown up there and lived in the city all his life. Also turned out he was a member of the Bayview Boat Club and invited me in for a drink.
You can only imagine how long I’ve been waiting to check that place out. Total workingman’s boat club, I love it.
Got a tour of the yard and a nice cold beer, then went out around the side to see the mosaics.
Along the boat ramp was a whole tiled wall done by the club’s recent members. Pretty damn nice with boats and sea creatures and a rather voluptuous mermaid.
Up under the deck were the remnants of the original ones.
And of course the boat club’s burgee.
Back inside Larry (my friendly gent) bought me a couple more beers then offered to take me out in his rowboat. Though I suppose there’s a 1 in 99 chance I could get smacked over the head with an oar and dumped in the bay, there’s no way I was saying no to an offer like that. Besides, he just didn’t seem like an ax murderer.
Out and around the barges and through the pilings.
Rowed down to The Ramp listening to stories about nearby boats, Hells Angels and old San Francisco.
Bloody Mary’s, more drinks with Franklin at the boat club and promises that we’d be back, next time in the you-know-what.
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Good day, sunshine? If you haven’t already, take a nice meandering bike ride from the ballpark and check out the houseboats along Mission Creek. Head back to Terry Francois and ride south towards The Ramp and you’ll pass by the new launch ramp and its oh-so-informational kiosk. Right next door is the brightly yellowed Bay View Boat Club, sorry it members only drink-wise. Hang around long enough though, and you just might get lucky.
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August 5th, 2008
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Spent a warm Sunday a few weekends ago partaking in one of the great outdoor culinary masterpieces, the crab boil. How this was not a part of my life until now remains a mystery.
Started out with some lovely large Dungeness. Sad, yes, but they’re just so tasty.
A bag of Zatarain’s for each pot.
Threw in the seasoning, a couple halved lemons and a splash of vinegar then waited for the water come to a boil (which takes forever on a camping stove) before adding the potatoes. Gave those about 10 minutes on their own then threw in the corn and sausage. Waited a little longer and dropped in the crabs, then threw in some shrimp for good measure. At least I think that’s how it went, at some point we may have gotten a bit impatient and thrown the last ten ingredients in all at once.
Manned up a Bloody Mary bar while we were waiting.
And threw some steamers on the bbq.
Snack time.
The best part is pouring off the liquid and dumping the boil out on the table. A gluttinous butter-smeared hour of hand feasting to follow.
Thanks again, Ellevyn!
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Feast or famine? If you happen to be vegetarian this can’t be of much interest to you, but to everyone else I say go for it while we’ve still got some sun out there as this is definitely an outside activity and a close proximity to water (or a tub of handi-wipes) is heartily recommended. That said, there’s not much else to worry about since the whole process is really simple and you just time things the same way you would for soup (ie. things that need the longest to cook go in first). You can pretty much add or subtract whatever you feel like, but I’d say Miss Evelyn hit it right on the mark: Corn, potatoes, kielbasa sausage, Dungeness crabs, Alaskan crab legs and a couple pounds of shrimp. Don’t forget to grab a loaf of two of sourdough bread, large chunks make wonderful napkins
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August 1st, 2008
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