Hedonia

Walk with me, dammit

It's that time again, friends. Loyal readers will know that I am a volunteer walking tour guide through City Guides, and that May and October are months wherein we lead special tours, such as new tour debuts, or just less frequent tours that benefit from the better weather.

This year we are doing something very special indeed. Saturday, May 5, we will be walking six tours from the newly republished book Stairway Walks in San Francisco by Adah Bakalinsky. I will be leading the Eureka Valley walk, which really encompasses both Noe and Eureka Valleys. My tour starts at 2 pm at the corner of Elizabeth and Douglass, and will involve a strenuous hike over hill and dale to some remarkable hidden corners of the city. We're talking lots of stairways, so bring good knees. If you're especially hardy or masochistic, you could theoretically catch one of the 11 am tours and still make it to my neck of the woods for another Bataan death march. But hey, that's up to you. And if you cannot make any of the tours because, say, you're too busy getting drunk on margaritas for Cinco de Mayo, then I command you to buy the book, simply because it is a wonderful way to experience our fair city.

A few other highlights from the schedule of May tours:

Fairmount Hill, May 6, 10 am:
Tour cottage-dotted streets and see impressive views, a modern architectural showcase, and the Poole-Bell Mansion. Also hear the story of the Bells and Mary Ellen Pleasant.

Vistiacion Valley, parts I & II, May 19, 10 am & 2 pm respectively:
Explore little-known Visitacion Valley, named by 18th-century Spaniards lost in the fog and part of the only local land grant deeded to an Anglo. Part I: This tour's focus is on the valley's commerce and transportation--past, present, and future--with a foray into the Spanish-style Little Hollywood enclave west of Bayshore and a stop at Silvestri's statuary showroom. Part II: This tour concentrates on the valley's community life--all reflecting the rich history and emerging promise of the "Valley of the Windmills."

Diego Rivera Mural, May 19, 11 am:
See the last and largest of the murals done by Diego Rivera in the U.S.: Pan American Unity, painted for the Pacific Exposition of 1940.

Mission Dolores Neighborhood, May 20, 12 pm:
Learn about the Spanish Mission that formed the neighborhood, the people who gave their names to San Francisco streets, and the lake that has vanished from the landscape. Explore an area created by diverse groups who still have ties here. This tour runs every Sunday, but I am leading the one on the 20th.

Tenderloin, part I & II, May 20 and 27 respectively, 9 am:
Part I: Learn about famous madams, see where Billie Holiday was busted for opium, and discover the neighborhood poker clubs. Flower nurseries and forges to the madams and gamblers of the uptown Tenderloin. Part II: Explore the Tenderloin from the isolated rural village beginnings to the San Francisco bootlegger wars and the start of the California movie industry. Learn about famous madams, see where Billie Holiday was busted for opium, and discover the neighborhood poker clubs. High rollers and card clubs, gangsters and jazz, and the Vietnam era.

And so many more! What are you waiting for? Get off your duff and walk with me, dammit!

One year ago today ... I enjoyed a nibble at the bar at Incanto. Remind me to tell you about the last several visits.

Walk with me again

I sort of took a hiatus on City Guides tours during the month of June, after the glut of them I took in May. At this point I do not have any firm plans to attend other tours (though if the mood strikes me, I'll go). However, I am leading the following tours this summer:

Sunday, July 9, 12 noon: Mission Dolores Neighborhood -- meet at the golden fire hydrant, Church and 20th (top of Dolores Park)

Sunday, July 23, 11 am: Castro: Tales of the Village -- meet under the big rainbow flag, Market at Castro

Sunday, August 20, 11 am: Castro: Tales of the Village -- meet under the big rainbow flag, Market at Castro

I've just come from a fascinating private tour of the GLBT Historical Society Archives, so I'm kind of psyched to integrate some new info into the Castro tour. And the Mission Dolores tour is always a favorite of mine. It's the tour I started with in City Guides, and the neighborhood I lived in at the time. Won't you come walk with me, and see these two vibrant and interesting neighborhoods through my eyes?

Walk with me: Dogpatch and Potrero Point

For the next in our series of May walks with City Guides, we did the Dogpatch & Potrero Point tour. And what a glorious day for it! Under a sometimes baking sun, we strolled through this industrial yet entertaining neighborhood, learning a bit about the geology, geography, architecture and (occasionally sordid) history along the way. And, yes, we also got a gander at the Hell's Angels headquarters too.

This is the kind of tour I love most -- getting under the skin of a neighborhood whose history and appeal may not be immediately apparent. I also have a thing for industrial landscapes, so this tour worked for me on every level. If you want to take it, stay tuned for the summer schedule to see if it will be offered again then; otherwise you may have to wait until October.

More pics and notes after the jump.

Walk with me

As anyone who knows me knows, I am a proud member of City Guides, a group that offers free, volunteer-led walking tours all over San Francisco. I personally endorse all our wonderful tours, and recommend taking them whenever possible (especially the Castro and Mission Dolores tours, which I lead). But I really push the tours during the months of May and October, when the weather is generally more conducive, and because these are the months we have extraordinary or infrequently scheduled tours. I've slated the following tours for myself, and I encourage anyone to come along. Most of these tours are exclusive to May/October, and some of them are one day only. Click the tour name to see the description of each tour, or see the full schedule on the City Guides site.  Note: Weekday tours are tentative, pending my continued un- self-employment.

Monday, May 1, 11 am: Bawdy & Naughty -- meet at the east Maiden Lane Gate, off Kearny btwn Post & Geary

Saturday, May 6, 2 pm: Discovery Walk: Mission Creek -- Meet in plaza behind Caltrain Station, 4th & King Streets

Sunday, May 7, 11 am: Dogpatch & Potrero Point -- Meet at 18th St & Tennessee St

Friday, May 19, 11 am: Russian Hill Stairways -- Meet at Hyde & Filbert

Monday, May 22, 7 pm: North Beach by Night -- Meet in front of Specs Café, 12 Saroyan Place, just off Columbus, south of Broadway

Saturday, May 27, 10 am: Excelsior stroll -- Meet at Excelsior Library, 4400 Mission St at Cotter

Sunday, May 26, 10 am: Fairmount Hill -- Meet at Glen Park Library, 653 Chenery St

San Francisco City Guides
www.sfcityguides.org

The Columbarium

Taking a break from what seems like incessant recipe documentation, I schlepped out to BevMo while DPaul was getting his teeth cleaned. I'd not been to the one on Geary at Stanyan before. As I pulled out from the underground parking lot, I was faced with a glorious green dome rising over the horizon. How could I resist the opportunity to stop into the Columbarium?

I'd never been to the Columbarium before, and it has always been on my list of things to do in the city. I have a thing for cemeteries generally, and this one is exceptional. San Francisco has but two cemeteries where people are buried in the ground; The Columbarium is where you put your ashes to rest.

Built in 1897, it was the centerpiece of a large cemetery. However, in 1901 interment became illegal within the city limits of San Francisco, and in the 1930s all burial plots (except the cemeteries in the Presidio and Mission Dolores) were moved to Colma.

The beautiful Victorian structure has niches on four levels, surrounding a central portico under the copper dome. It's remarkable to see how people are commemorated -- some of the niches are austere and somber; some are elaborate; others are filled with whimsical items from the person's life. I was pleased to see a number of niches with rainbow flags, others with same-sex partners that have chosen to share the tight quarters. All in all, not a bad place to spend eternity. More crappy cell phone pics after the jump.

Neptune Society of Northern California
The Columbarium: Final Shelter [San Francisco Reader]

Shake it up, baby

I guess it's pure coincidence that on the day Gridskipper ran a piece on SFMoMA and the Legion of Honor's respective exhibits on the 1906 quake and fire, the Bay Area was rocked by two minor quakes. (Well, ok, not exactly rocked -- they were barely felt -- but a mildly freaky coincidence nonetheless.) To be sure, I'm very interested in seeing both these exhibits. The MoMA's 1906: A Disaster in Pictures offers a collection of photographs of the devastated city just after the quake and fires. The Legion of Honor's After the Ruins, 1906 and 2006: Rephotographing the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire takes it one step further, juxtaposing images of the destruction with contemporary images taken from the same perspectives, showing the rebirth of our fair city.

San Francisco CityGuides is offering three special tours in commemoration of the quakes: Phoenix Rising, It Can't Happen Here and Are We There Yet? As a CityGuide myself, I can vouch for the entertainment and education value of these tours.

Of course, if you're just too damned lazy to get off your butt and get some culture, there are three amazing online sources of images to peruse: The Library of Congress' American Memory collection's Before and After the Great Earthquake and Fire: Early Films of San Francisco, 1897-1916; San Francisco Public Library's image library's Earthquakes: 1906; and UC Berkeley Bancroft Library's The 1906 Earthquake and Fire.

1906: A Disaster in Pictures [SFMoMA]
Legion of Honor's After the Ruins, 1906 and 2006: Rephotographing the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire [Legion of Honor]
Phoenix Rising, It Can't Happen Here and Are We There Yet? [CityGuides]
Before and After the Great Earthquake and Fire: Early Films of San Francisco, 1897-1916 [Library of Congress]
The 1906 Earthquake and Fire [Bancroft Library]
Earthquakes: 1906 [SFPL]