Category: Local
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A ride on San Francisco’s boat tram
On Wednesday I mistakenly clicked on bookmark to streetcar.live, an online map displaying the current locations of each of San Francisco’s historic streetcars that are currently running. Before I had a chance to close the tab, I noticed something unusual: one of the Blackpool “boat trams” was running! I decided to take a long lunch…
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Fairyland for Grownups
Children’s Fairyland is a small theme park attraction at Oakland’s Lake Merritt, and is normally only open to children accompanied by an adult. However once a year there’s a fundraiser organized by Oaklandish as a benefit for the park: Fairyland for Grownups. On Friday I visited Fairyland for my first time ever — I’d never…
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The murals inside Coit Tower’s first and second floors
First floor murals A couple years ago I visited the top of Coit Tower for the first time. In that blog post I noted: I should point out there is a second activity at Coit Tower that isn’t as well advertised, and I have yet to try it myself: in addition to the Depression era…
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Pony Express plaque on The Embarcadero
Today I stumbled on a plaque on the west side of The Embarcadero. It honors a long forgotten pier that once stood on the other side of the street facing Oakland: the Broadway Wharf. The plaque reads: Pony Express Wharf Nearby was the location of the Broadway Wharf, the wharf extended from Broadway and Davis…
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An oddly-behaved seal and the kindness of strangers
Walking along The Embarcadero this evening I encountered something unexpected. Near Pier 14 a small crowd had gathered. At first I thought a dog had somehow made it over the fence, but as I got closer I realized it wasn’t a dog at all, but a wild animal — a seal. Although wild aquatic mammals…
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Rest in ravioli
Over the weekend I wandered by a brand new mural by local artist Sirron Norris, whose cartoonish illustrative style and bright colors are instantly recognizable. This one’s located on a garage door in the Mission District. The imagery and the text “Soy de aqui” (Spanish for “I’m from here”) make the theme pretty clear: it’s…
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Tara Mechani
About two months ago Patricia’s Green in Hayes Valley became the home of a new temporary sculpture: Tara Mechani from local artist Dana Albany. Originally built for Burning Man 2017, you may have also seen the 17-foot tall sculpture when it was previously on display in San Jose. Tara Mechani’s built out of reclaimed materials,…
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In defense of medium-term housing
Recently it was revealed that a new housing development at Church and Market in San Francisco isn’t going to be typical apartments, but will instead be offered as “hotel style” or medium term apartments — or what we would have called corporate housing before Airbnb came along. There has understandably been some hoopla about…
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SFO Harvey Milk Terminal 1 Community Day
Today I went to SFO not to catch a flight, but for the free “Community Day” to see the new Harvey Milk Terminal 1. No flights connect to it yet, the old Terminal 1 is still in service. Despite everything looking shiny and new, part of it felt like a throwback — there’s no airport…
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The Peanuts statues of Santa Rosa
All over Santa Rosa’s downtown I stumbled across statues in the likeness of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts characters (Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, etc.) They’re all about the same height, but made from different materials and from different artists. These were all commissioned after Schulz’s death in 2000, apparently because he didn’t like the idea of statues…
About Eric
Travel, movies, comedy, tech, and whatever I find on the streets of San Francisco.
Contact: mrericsir “at” gmail.com
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Recent Posts
- Día de los Muertos in the Mission
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- Every Thing Computer
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