Clarion Alley, Part Three

feliz navidad, mission street

photo studio: quinceanera and martian greetings

santa carrying.....i'm not sure

another wacky santa

window: al's cafe good food

birds

near grand view park

portsmouth square

Sunset

At the beginning of the 1900s the Sunset was just sand dunes.  Today there are streets of tiny houses painted pastel shades, lots of restaurant choices from old diners to inventive Asian.  Take a walk along Irving and you'll find a dive bar next to a dry cleaner next to a Russian grocery store next to a hookah pipe cafe.  A few more blocks and you'll be at the ocean.

evening...

evening cloud rolling in, haight ashbury

market morning

A late October morning at the Heart of the City Farmer's Market.  Lots of colour...

Different varieties of apples, dark chocolate almond brittle, the last pluots of the season.  Also sugarcane, peanuts, walnuts, mushrooms...

The biggest crowds huddled around the fresh jujubes

At this market you can also get lots of prepared food such as rotisserie chicken and potatoes,

a thin crust pizza from a sidewalk oven,

or a warm fresh waffle dusted with powdered sugar

Or, the Whale

Have a listen to "Call and Response" by local band Or, the Whale from a 2008 show at The Independent on Divisadero.  Great energy!

Clarion Alley, Part Two

lovely libraries

The city has lots of little neighbourhood branches, light-filled architectural gems with arched windows, high ceilings, wooden shelves and ornate details.  Whatever time of day I stopped in to rest my feet and do a bit of reading, they were always quietly humming with life and community.

The first branch was opened in 1888 in a Mission storefront two blocks from it's present location on Bartlett Street.

The Richmond branch was the first of seven city libraries to be built with a Carnegie grant in 1914.  It is not too far from the Wing Lee Bakery where you can get a delicious egg custard steamed bun for only 80 cents.

The Sunset branch was built in 1918 on the site of an old barn used by young boys for target practice.  Locals were happy when it was torn down and replaced with a library.

The oldest existing library building, opened in 1909, is the Park branch in Haight Ashbury, nestled among the Victorian splendor of Page Street.  Look up at the painting on the ceiling and you will see that the forecast in here is always bright blue sky and puffy white clouds.

day in the park

A mild and mellow sunshiny afternoon in Dolores Park...

Clarion Alley, Part One

Vallejo stairway

Take a stroll down the Vallejo stairway...

... for some great views of Telegraph Hill and North Beach