Kevin Patrick Books

I just stumbled onto a wonderful local bookstore at the corner of Encinal and Walnut, Kevin Patrick Books. It’s open 11:30AM – 5:30PM, Mon-Sat, and Noon – 4PM, Sundays. I chatted with Kevin a bit, and loved the place. I’ll definitely be going back.

Driving on Oak Street

We live just off Park Street, which is a main drag in Alameda. So often we will take Oak St. to get where we’re going. Oak is one block north of Park and runs parallel to it. But here’s the deal: Oak St. is the road that apparently only attracts drivers who should have failed their driver’s test (except me, of course). Every Tom, Dick and Harry who drives on Oak St. refuses to 1) pull out into the intersections while waiting to make unprotected lefts, which means that the cars behind them can’t get by, and 2) pull to the right when waiting to make a right turn, again, so drivers can get by. It’s like we’ve got the geriatric set cruising on this street perpetually.

The Towne Centre

We live 1/2 mile from the local shopping center, called The Towne Centre (formerly known as the South Shore Plaza). This place is more than just a shopping center. It’s not terribly crowded, yet, and we go there just to walk around as much as to shop. It’s an all outdoor place, and so there are spacious areas to walk around in the middle of it, away from traffic. We let our older son run around in there, and he loves it. There’s a frog fountain, and he loves to chase the pigeons and hunt them down. We stop in at Trader Joe’s sometimes just to get a free coffee sample. Whenever my parents come into town, we inevitably go to the Applebees there. There’s a McDonalds that we like to go to sometimes for breakfast, and it’s always classic because the place is full almost entirely of Asians sitting around shooting the breeze and drinking coffee. There’s a 24 Hour Fitness Lite there, which my wife likes to go to sometimes. We like to hang out in Borders as well, though having our sons with us makes it a bit of a trick. We’ve made it a kind of tradition to go to the Panera Bread there for Sunday morning breakfast. Love the free refills on coffee.

The Towne Centre is a bit out of the way for most of the Bay Area, which means there’s not a lot of outside traffic here. For all that the Centre has, there’s plenty of parking. Certainly more people from Oakland are coming down, but it’s not a “destination spot” yet.

Our Neighbors

Our street dead-ends into a canal, which is nice because there’s no through traffic. We live in the upstairs unit in a nice little duplex. Our landlady lives downstairs and is a kind, thoughtful and enjoyable lady. There are a number of families with little children on our street, and Alameda seems to be a rather family-oriented place. Our street is a curious place. One man on our street has all of the siding stripped off his house, and to hear one neighbor tell it, it’s been off for 15 years. Another house on our street is ready to be condemned. It’s a huge house, but clearly has not been kept up for a good number of years. The roof is destroyed and, frankly, it looks haunted. Another little complex at the end of our street has a garage door that someone must have backed into rather forcefully, and so it is partially collapsed, but no one has done anything to repair it. Sometimes I go down to the end of the street with my son to feed the ducks in the canal. There’s also a wonderful Christian family on our block. They have four kids and homeschool them. So there’s an interesting mix. Some people keep up their yards and others don’t. There’s a few Victorians on the street and a few apartment complexes. We’ve made the acquaintance of some of our neighbors and are looking forward to meeting others.

We Moved to Alameda

My family and I moved to Alameda, CA, in December of 2009. We had been wanting to move here for some time. We used to live in Oakland and would come down to Alameda all the time to shop or walk along the shoreline. It’s such a delightful place, and has a great small town feel. So when when rents became more reasonable, we couldn’t resist moving here; and we’re really grateful. We now live 1/2 mile from the Towne Centre. The Towne Centre (formerly known as the South Shore Plaza) has Trader Joe’s, Safeway, Borders, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Chipotle, Panera Bread, Kohls, Office Depot, Applebees, Starbucks, Old Navy, TJ Maxx, and more. And there’s plenty of parking.

We’re also less than a mile from Shoreline Dr., which you can walk along and take in a spectacular view of the San Francisco skyline. We’re also 1/2 mile from City Hall and the “main street” area of Park Street. Park Street reminds one of a 1950′s style main street, with cute little shops, local restaurants (rather than mostly being chain restaurants) and wide sidewalks (see picture above). In northern Alameda, there is Webster Street, which is very similar to Park Street. One of our favorite cafes is there (Wes Cafe).

Life in Alameda, CA

My family and I moved to Alameda, CA last December, and we LOVE it. I started this blog because I wanted to have a place to record my learnings and thoughts on the city of Alameda. You see, I’m the kind of guy you takes pride in knowing the city in which I live, and knowing it inside and out. Wherever I’ve lived, I’ve always made it a point to become somewhat of an expert on the geography, streets, people, cool eateries and general culture of my local area. That’s one of the reasons I still love Los Angeles, because I spent the first 31 year of my life there and came to know it like the back of my hand. So I want to have a place to write down the things I’m learning about Alameda, and to post pictures of the lovely architecture and city life here. Most of my posts will be brief, and if you happen to enjoy reading anything I write here, so much the better.

(Above photo is of Ole’s Waffle Shop, a famous diner on Park Street that serves a most delicious breakfast. The line to get in on a weekend morning often extends down the street.)

-D