No fooling, I’ve actually gotten out a bit in Oakland, although the first couple of days were mostly spent getting settled, getting into a walking routine with the dogs and picking up groceries. The closest grocery (Safeway or Target) is about a 50 minute walk from the house, so I tried to pick up a little more than I normally would. There are plenty of convenience stores around, but they mostly offer snack foods and most look a little sketchy. Since Bob’s not here, I have played within my cooking wheelhouse, which pretty much consists of roasting vegetables and/or microwaving meals. Since the homeowners offered what was left in their fridge, I roasted broccoli one night and summer squash the next.
I always like to research a bit about the places we land. This is some of what I have learned via Wikipedia. Oakland, California, lies in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay area. It is the county seat of Alameda County and has a population of approximately 441,000. The port of Oakland is the busiest port in Northern California. Historically, Oakland has been a focal point of the West Coast blues and jazz scenes and it is the city where the Black Panther Party was founded in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. The party was created to protect Black neighborhoods from police brutality.
Yesterday and today I walked into downtown Oakland, which consists of crossing under highway 980 from the West Oakland area where the housesit is. Downtown Oakland also seems a little rough, but it has some nice buildings and a couple of museums. As always, I visited the central library (not architecturally interesting) and went into the free and very small Black Panther Party Museum. I learned a few things but was hoping for more information on the origin of the party. Some photos below from my outings (along with another of the dogs). Looking forward to having Bob arrive Friday evening.
Peckish Travels 