Oakland Urban Paths: Lakeshore to Park

We had another great turnout for Saturday's Oakland Urban Paths walk from Lakeshore to Park Boulevard. The number of participants has been growing steadily over the last couple of years. When Paul led this walk in January, 2012 we had 18 people and 3 dogs; Saturday we had 50+ people and at least 4 dogs. (Though to be fair, the weather wasn't as good that day as the gorgeous weather we had Saturday.)

We started on Trestle Glen near Lakeshore Ave. near one of the ornate gateposts that date back to the early 1900s when the area was first developed. The streets were laid out by the Olmstead brothers, and some of the houses designed by noted architects Julia Morgan and Maybeck & White. You may recall that Mt. View Cemetery was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, the father of the Olmstead brothers. Read more about the history of the Lakeshore area on the Lakeshore Homeowners Association (LHA) website.

Then we headed up Mandana Blvd. and up our first set up stairs into Oak Grove Park. It's a privately-owned park between lots on Mandana and Longridge. Heading back across Mandana, it was time for stairs, stairs, stairs! Some of these stairs I worked on last fall with a group Oakland Pathways Volunteers to clean them up. This is exactly the sort of neighborhood effort Oakland Urban Paths would like to see all around Oakland. While the cleanup efforts have made the steps a lot easier to navigate, there's still a lot of work to be done on some of them to repair the steps themselves.

The neighborhood is known as Trestle Glen, for the rail trestle that once crossed the canyon to Sather Park. That was built in 1893 by F.M. "Borax" Smith, the real estate magnate of the Realty Syndicate who eventually developed the Key System. Before that it was known as Indian Gulch, named by early Anglo settlers for the seasonal Ohlone village there.

We then walked into Crocker Highlands, once part of the William H. Crocker (son of Charles Crocker of the "Big Four") estate. The area is full of beautiful homes, many also dating back to the original development. That was started in 1911 by Wickham Havens, son of Frank Havens of the Realty Syndicate.

Going up and down lots more stairs and some hilly streets, we eventually reached Park Boulevard, and stopped for a coffee break and for people to catch their breath after all the climbing to get there. We returned to our starting point by a different set of stairs and streets, and many people headed off in search of lunch on Lakeshore or nearby Grand Avenue.

Another great walk! Thanks to everyone and everywoof who came out to join us. The location for the OUP walk in March hasn't been set yet, but it will be on Saturday, March 9th (the 2nd Saturday, as usual).

Lots more pictures from the walk:

Let me know if you have photos from the walk you'd like to share.

photo of the week: Chapel of the Chimes

Yesterday after the rains stopped, I rode into Mountain View Cemetery to visit a family mausoleum space, and stopped to take this picture of the Chapel of the Chimes against the beautiful sky. I was also doing some scouting for an upcoming "Jack and Julia" bicycle history tour, along the lines of the 5 Historic Houses Bike Tour we did last year. Julia Morgan of course, was one of the architects who worked on Chapel of the Chimes over the years.

upcoming Oakland events

February is also Black History Month, so there are a variety of events for that coming up. I've listed a few; for a more complete list check out the Oakland Wiki's page on Black History Month. There are also art events, food events galore, and another Oakland Urban Paths walk on Saturday.

Wednesday

Vintage porcelain at the Pardee Home - Wednesdays, 2nd Saturdays, 2nd Sundays. View the historic Pardee Home and the collection of porcelain collected by the globe-trotting Mrs. Pardee. You can take the tour for $5 or have the tour and tea for $25. Read more at World of Mailman. ($5/$25)

Friday

2nd Annual Love Show - Friday, February 8, 6-9pm. Artists' reception for the opening of the second annual Love Show featuring local artists in Jingletown. The show runs Saturdays through February 23rd. (free)

Off the Grid at OMCA - Friday, 5-9pm. The Off the Grid food truck pod comes to the Oakland Museum for an evening of food and fun.

Valentine Jazz and Wine Stroll - Friday, February 8, 5pm. Live music, food and drink specials all along College, from Alcatraz to Broadway.

Saturday

Oakland Urban Paths: Lakeshore to Park Blvd. - Saturday, February 9, 10am. Oakland Urban Paths will be reprising a walk from last year, going from Lakeshore to Park Boulevard and back via various historic stairways and walkways. Read about last year's walk. (free)

Black History Month tours - 10am, Saturday, February 2; Wednesday, February 6; Saturday, February 23. Explore downtown Oakland and learn how Lionel Wilson, Delilah Beasley, Robert Maynard, Byron Rumford, Marcus Foster and others changed Oakland and changed California. Read about last year's tour. (free)

Sunday

Oakland Wiki Sunday Edit-a-thons - Sundays, 1-5pm. Bring a computer or note-taking materials to hang with your fellow Oaklanders as we research and add content to the Oakland Wiki. This week's will meet at the Oakland History Room at the main library. (free)

Half Life: Celebrating 30 Years of Working for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament - Sunday, February 10, 5pm-9pm. Special Guests Dennis Kucinich, Daniel Ellsberg, Rep. Barbara Lee, and Rose Aguilar. "Reframing the Nuclear Discourse in the Current Geopolitical Climate." Optional "A Taste of Oakland" Special Reception. ($15-$100)

Micro-Granting Dinner Series - Sunday, February 10, 6-9pm. 10 artists pitch their projects while you enjoy a fantastic home cooked meal. At the end of the meal the ballots are cast and counted—winner takes all! This month's is hosted by artist/chef Lexa Walsh. ($10)

Thursday

Her Rising Flash Mob - Thursday, February 14, 2-6pm. Join Eve Gensler's One Billion Rising. People in 190 countries will Strike Dance Rise! to end violence and sexual oppression. NOTE: if you wish to dance, see the rehearsal schedule. (free)

Night for the One Billion - Thursday, February 14, 7pm. An amazing sounding fundraiser for local and international women's groups: imagine your favorite performers and healers in one place on one night, creating a ground-breaking performance ritual for you, for the Bay Area, for the entire planet. It's Night for the One Billion, a V-Day 1 Billion Rising event, in Oakland on February 14, 2013—produced entirely by community volunteers. ($10-$15+)

Wish You Were Here: A Private Collection of Historic Oakland Postcards - Thursday, February 14, 7-8:30pm. Join local postcard collector and architect, Peter Espe, as he shares his collection of historic Oakland postcards and provides perspective on how this beautiful ephemera informs our understanding of the city's built environment. ($10/$15)

ongoing events:

• Art Murmur (1st Friday)
• Saturday Art Stroll (Saturdays)
• Mt. View Cemetery Tours (2nd and 4th Saturdays)
• Off the Grid at OMCA (Fridays)

looking further ahead:

Lunar New Year Festival - Saturday, February 16, 11am-4:30pm. Happy year of the snake! Ring in the lunar near year at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center with arts and crafts, performances, and artists workshops.

Film Showing and Program for Black History Month - Wednesday, February 20, 12-1:30pm. In conjunction with the Anza Trail traveling exhibit, join the Anza Trail, Peralta Hacienda, and the Oakland Black Cowboy Association for a showing of the Anza Trail Film, followed by a discussion of diversity in Early California. Oakland City Hall Hearing Room 2. (free)

Black History Tour in Mountain View Cemetery - Free 2 hour tour through Mountain View Cemetery highlighting African Americans who are buried there, including Jenny Prentiss (who raised Jack London), Byron Rumford, Lil' Bobby Hutton (of the Black Panthers) and more. February 23, 10am, at Mountain View Cemetery. (free)

Crab Feed Fundraiser - Saturday, February 23, 7pm. College Avenue Presbyterian Church hosts an all-you-can-eat crab feed as a fundraiser to support its Friday Night Meal, free community dinners served to the hungry—both homed and homeless—of Oakland and Berkeley. ($20-$40)

OMCA White Elephant Sale - March 2-3. It's the annual fundraiser for the Oakland Museum of California. It's bigger than big, it's huge! (free)

food: gourmet food? at a sporting event?

Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches, made with bread fresh from Bui-phong Bakery in Oakland, and your choice of marinated braised pork, plancha-seared chicken or tofu. Lettuce cups with wok-seared tofu, red cabbage and fresh cilantro (a dish that's gluten-free and low fat). Curried chicken lavash wrap, with green onion and celery. House-made vegi burgers, made with black beans, brown rice and spices. Seasonal choices like fresh made clam chowder. Are these menu items from downtown Oakland's latest hip restaurant? Nope. How about at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (aka the Oracle Arena), available at Warriors' games, concerts and other events?

It's a general expectation: food at sporting events won't be that great, or may even be downright bad. But it's sports, right? Go to a game, get a boiled hot dog. Many Bay Area venues have more diverse food menus that reflect the wants of the fans, but even with variety, they're not generally known for great food. Executive chef Tim Radack is working to change that.

Tim has been in charge of the food at the Arena for the last 4 months, and is passionate about food. Between events, he works on improving the food. During events, he can frequently be found checking with diners to make sure things are OK. He leads a team with one other chef, 2 or 3 supervisors and 20 or so cooks who all work out of a surprisingly small kitchen. They produce tasty food for a lot of people in short amount of time. Not only do they produce food for the 72 suites, but for the various stands around the arena, too.

Before coming to work at the Arena, Tim worked in Chicago as the executive chef at an arena there. "There's a lot more variety in the tastes here [in the Bay Area]. There it was definitely more a 'meat and potatoes' mindset for a lot of people." In keeping with people's taste for variety, there are a lot of choices. On the club level alone, Tim gave a quick count of nearly 30 different items. The variety of the tastes of fans is a challenge, but one that Tim seems to enjoy. That doesn't mean all the fans are gourmands; hot dogs and chicken tenders are still some of the biggest sellers. But Tim is working to improve those, too. In partnership with Kaiser Permanente, there are also some healthier choices available at special "Healthy Picks" stands around the arena. These include low-fat and low-salt items as well as other tasty treats like fruit.

I tasted a wide variety of the food and everything I had was great. As with most sports venues, prices are a bit higher than elsewhere, but not terribly so. Here's a sampling of some of the foods, their cost, and where they can be purchased in the Arena:

• Banhwich Sandwiches - $8.50 (main concourse)
• Gluten Free, Wok Seared Lettuce Tacos – $10.00, comes with 3 lettuce tacos (club level)
• Levy’s Housemade Black Bean Veggie Burger – $9.00 (at all grill stands)
• Warriors Cuban Sandwich - $11.50, comes with dill pickle spear, bag of kettle chips (club carve stands)

Next time you're at an Arena event, consider your options before you just buy a hot dog. I'll definitely be looking for the Banhwich sandwich stand.

More pictures:

photo of the week: historic Oak Hall

It's my photo of a historic photo of Oak Hall, the mansion of F.M. "Borax" Smith on the Arbor Villa estate. We viewed where it stood on the recent Oakland Urban Paths walk, but there's not much there to see except where things were. You can read more about Arbor Villa, "Borax" Smith, Mary Smith and more on the Oakland Wiki. You can contribute to Oakland Wiki, too, and write about Oakland's past and present.