We took BART to the Lake Merritt station, which is two blocks from the Oakland Museum, but walked a mile to Jack London Square for a ferry boat ride home.
Ron Laurence, above, moved to San Francisco's North Beach a couple of months ago after decades in Michigan, and when we found that he'd never even heard of Jack Kerouac's "On The Road," I bought a copy at the waterfront Barnes & Noble. "If you want to understand your new neighborhood, it's pretty much essential reading," I told him.
The boat ride to San Francisco's Ferry Building was exceptionally beautiful...
as we glided past rows of cool-looking cranes...
...unloading huge container ships...
...which were being led around by comparatively tiny tugboats.
Some of the ships even had crewmen...
...who played at "Titanic" for us.
The only problem with the trip was that the young woman driving the ferry was "in training" and she kept starting and stopping the boat in jerky motions that threatened to topple a few people overboard.
We were all thankful when we made it to shore safely without hitting the Bay Bridge a la the Cosco Busan.
Don't know if you're a drinker at all, but in any case, if you're around JLS in the future, check out Heinold's:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.heinoldsfirstandlastchance.com/history.shtml
Nice ties to Jack London and just a great little idiosynchratic gem.
Great phots! Never even heard of Jack Kerouac's "On The Road"? Wow!
ReplyDeleteDear Chestery: I'm definitely a drinker and once spent an afternoon getting drunk at Heinold's which I remember with great affection (and terror, we are talking about the slanted floor shack, right?).
ReplyDeleteDear Dr. Zaius: I had the same reaction. "You moved to North Beach in San Francisco for an adventure and you've never even heard of 'On The Road'? Wow."
Hah, yeah. The one and the same.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't get much better than drinking in a bar whose entrance is a wooden ramp. And given the aesthetic of the place, feels like a slanted gangplank.