food: Dim Sum at Happy Valley Restaurant

Sunday I met up with a bunch of people I know from Twitter for dim sum. It's a mostly monthly event with a rotating cast of characters, led by @sonnylebythebay . We had to wait a bit for a table since we were a large group (11 and then 3 more!), but the beautiful weather made that no great hardship. Unlike most dim sum restaurants where they push the food around on carts and you point at what you want, Happy Valley has menus where you can order as desired. We mostly left the ordering to the doyenne of dim sum, @itsWanda, but some people added things as the order sheet went around. We ended up with a lot of food. I mean a lot. We made a good showing, but couldn't finish it all, so everyone left with a container.

The food was very good, and very reasonably priced for dim sum. Despite the mountain of food, it worked out to $20 per person with tax and tip. And the waitstaff was very patient with our large group. I'll definitely go again.

More pictures:

Fruitvale Bike Tour

Sunday morning, the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) led a bicycle tour of the Fruitvale district. There was a small group led by OMCA docent Peter Barnett, who's been leading bike tours for the museum for over a decade. We met outside the museum, where preparations were under way for the a Dia de los Muertos celebration that afternoon.

We rode past the Kaiser Convention Center, which was used among other things as a temporary hospital during the 1918 flu pandemic. We crossed the channel to Lake Merritt and learned a bit about its history, then rode to Clinton Square park. There we heard about Milton Latham, who was governor of California for 5 days before resigning to become one of the U.S. Senators from California. That was precipitated by the previous senator, David Broderick, being killed in a duel with former state supreme court justice David Terry.

Our meandering path took us along the estuary, past Numi Tea and Coast Guard Island. We headed up Fruitvale Avenue, around Fruitvale Station, and up 34th Avenue to Peralta Hacienda. After some history about the Peralta family, we heard about nearby Patten University. It was founded in 1944 by Dr. Bebe Patten as the Oakland Bible Institute. We also heard some of the more colorful history; her husband C. Thomas Patten went to trial in 1950 for defrauding their followers. During the 3 1/2-month trial, he had a heart attack, and the trial was finished in a hospital on Pill Hill. He served time in San Quentin and died in 1958. Dr. Patten moved the institution to its current location on Coolidge in 1961.

Reminiscent of the 5 houses bike tour, from Peralta Hacienda we went to Cohen-Bray House. We rode back towards Jingletown to see the Cotton Mill Studios, and from there, back towards the museum.

Although I knew a lot of the information from the tour, I did learn things, and I enjoyed getting to know part of Oakland a little bit better.

More pictures from the tour:


Related links and things I told people about:

• The Lake That Isn't
• 10 (or so) ways to learn about Oakland history
• Oakland wineries
• Jingletown Holiday Art Walk
• Jingletown Open Studios
• 5 Houses Bike Tour
• Numi Tea
• Oakland Urban Paths

signs: Jackson's Liquors

Jackson's Liquors

I've shot this great sign before during the day, but I got a chance to shoot it lit up last night. As an added bonus, Ramsey, one of the owners, came out while I was shooting and we talked about the past and future of the sign.

He remembers seeing the sign as a child, when a friend of the family owned and ran the store. My guess is that it's from the 50s based on the design elements, but I'm not really sure. Ramsey paid to have the sign repaired a while back, but the company he hired hasn't finished the job. He pointed out where the "son's" on one side is by-passed with a patch wire, and we talked about how great it would be to have the swirling drink lights working again. I told him about NeonWorks and owner Jim Rizzo's passion for the work that I learned about at the OHA+Neon Works lecture back in January. And about how the owner of Pizzaiolo paid to have the G&G Hardware sign on Telegraph restored. Whether it's the original company or NeonWorks, I hope the sign can be more fully restored.

Throw Down for the Town

The other week was the 2nd annual Ella Baker Center Throw Down for the Town. Hundreds of people got together around Oakland to work on different projects to make Oakland better.

I volunteered helping clean up a bus stop near 14th Avenue and East 15th Street, a project that was organized by neighborhood resident Francisco. Even with a shortage of tools, we made quick work of pulling weeds, picking up trash, and otherwise preparing the area for a garden. My main task was stomping down the contents of Francisco's green bin so we could fit more in it. Very different than my experience last year with Save the Bay, but still hella fun.

I wasn't able to go to the celebration afterwards in Snow Park, but it sounds like people had a lot of fun. Thank you to everyone who came out for Throw Down for the Town, and to everyone who works to make Oakland better every day.

Photos from 14th Avenue:


Check out the photo album on Facebook for more pictures, and coverage by Oakland North.

signs: Jackson's Liquor

Jackson's Liquor

Ilove this sign. I'll even skip my "why do liquor stores have so many of the great signs?" rant. I came across it the other week when I was shooting the heart sign on East 12th. Like many bars, it includes a drink glass, but it does them one better. The glass is filled by swirling neon poured out of a bottle of XXX. The 'party service' neon is long gone, but the rest of the neon appears to be in good shape. Anybody know if they still light it up at night?

signs: drink glass

drink glass

This drink glass on East 12th now adorns a supermarket. Not just any supermarket, but Sun Hop Fat #1 Supermarket. I've known of the store for some time, but Oakland artist Daniel Backman mentioned a band of the same name. I promptly forgot about the connection until the Your Waitress photo blog posted a picture of...the Sun Hop Fat band. I suspect they were named after the other Sun Hop Fat supermarket (#2?) on International, less than a mile from Vulcan Studios where the band was formed. Sun Hop Fat (the band) will be playing at The Layover on Thursday, May 26. Which to complete the circle, advises patrons to "look for the neon martini" when trying to find them on Franklin Street. Which is an Oakland sign I've heretofore missed.

Sun Hop Fat #1

signs: heart on E.12th

heart

This no-name sign has been on my to-shoot list for a long time, and I finally got around to it a couple of weeks ago on my way home from the Old Oakland walking tour. Then last week I saw it in the quirky but frequently thought-provoking webcomic, No There There, and knew it was time to post it.