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I visited Oakland’s Main Library mostly to see the diorama exhibit. But first, a bit about the library. This is Oakland’s third main library. The first one was where City Hall is now, from 1978 to 1902. The second one was a gorgeous Carnegie library and now houses the African American Museum and Library (which […]

The Railway Museum in San Francisco is small and easy to miss, hidden on a tiny street called Don Chee Way off the Embarcadero. Don Chee worked for SF Railway and headed the historic F-Market and Wharves Lines heritage street car project.  The museum has a fun display of old tokens, Fast Passes and paper

September 6, 2025 My main plan was to visit the museum but on the map, Mt. Diablo is so close by I decided to add it. Turns out the 10 mile drive from the edge of the park to the summit takes half an hour. It took me a little more than that because there

There are many local (and all over) Veterans Memorial buildings that serve the needs of war veterans (through the American Legion) as well as the community by providing event rental spaces, dance classes and senior centers.  Most of them are approaching 100 years old and I appreciate that they’re still useful! Many have been renovated

I camped in Sonoma last week and spent part of Wednesday seeing some local sights. First was the Old Faithful Geyser of California. The word geyser comes from the 3,000 year old one in Iceland, named Geysir (“gush”). The others known as Old Faithful, due to the regularity of their eruptions, are in Wyoming and

I started this expedition near where Expedition 18 left off. Most of the spots I found on LocalWiki, a site I’ve used for quite a few expeditions. It’s a great place to discover the backstory of intriguing buildings. But some are just spots I like, such as the Bear Safety Center and its adorable mascot.

This is my second walk from the book Walking San Francisco’s 49 Mile Scenic Drive. The first one is recorded in Expedition 59. As with the first one, I didn’t complete this walk. I like to take my time and look around and in and under.  I started at the Chinatown Dragon Gate. The inscription,

Built in 1898, the San Francisco Columbarium was originally part of the 167 acre Odd Fellows Cemetery. It survived the 1906 earthquake, but four years later the City banned cremation (I couldn’t find out why!) so their crematory was shut down. Another four years later, the City directed that all human remains be moved to

I started this expedition at the Oakland Produce Market, which takes up several blocks just north of Jack London Square. The market is open from 1 am to 7 am, so it was closed when I visited, but still fun to see.  Apparently, there have been plans over the decades to move the market, which

This expedition focused on the sites left out of #56, which are all in downtown Berkeley. First up is the Whittier School, an elegant Classic Moderne building built in 1939. It closed in 1984 and became the Berkeley Arts Magnet School (it’s now a regular elementary school with an emphasis on arts education). It was