frugal sightseeing Archives - Page 12 of 31

Walk into History, Redwood City

May 13, 2022Silvia

May is National Historic Preservation Month. What better way to celebrate history than to walk a self-guided tour of the oldest city in San Mateo County, Redwood City.

One of the most interesting facts while I walked along Redwood City’s historic path was a green paving, marking the previous waterfront. I was never aware of this but you are actually walking on water! Well, “the tidal basins have since been filled, channeled and culverted” the information signage says.

But I’m walking backwards. To see the buildings that had an impact at the time Redwood City was an up and coming logger town, you can check out the map for the self-guided walking tour from the Historic Resources Society. Or as I did, stumble upon it.

The information kiosk for the ‘Path of History’ is on the north-east corner of Broadway and Main. With four major buildings from the time period on each corner: the Diller-Chamberlain general store, the American Hotel, the Sequoia Hotel, and the Bank of San Mateo County. It is a great place to start your exploration into history. I love that the rotunda holds four signs that let you read the historic significance and then look up towards that specific building.

When you walk down Broadway to go to the Courthouse Square make sure to look down and see the green pavement marking the former waterfront. Of course the San Mateo County History Museum, the old court house, is part of the tour. But did you know that this is the second court house they built? Behind it on Hamilton is the Lathrop House, a large residence even for 1863.

The Fox Theater used to be the Grammar School and the movie theater across the street was occupied by high schoolers. If you stroll down Theater Way, and no one will blame you if you stop and have a bite at the many offerings, the historic path leads you down Middlefield to the library. The library used to be Fire Station No. 1.

If you take a left on Main Street, you walk by the Odd Fellow House. This used to be the Alhambra Theater and with 1500 seats was a major destination between San Francisco and San Jose.

You can download the PDF for the Path of History walk here.

Or watch the YouTube video here.

Have you ever walked a historic route?

Peek Inside the Art Kiosk, Redwood City

May 6, 2022Silvia

Whenever I visit Redwood City I make sure I press my nose and camera to the glass of the art kiosk on Courthouse Square. This tiny public exhibition space, a cube whose ground measures 152 by 166 feet and a height of 153 feet, gives (local) artists a space to express their connection to Redwood City.

First installed in 2019, this was only meant to be a 10 month collaboration between the FUNG Collaboratives and the Redwood City Improvement Association. I could not find an end date to this exceptional art display.

The kiosk has glass on all four sides, and artists usually use the space with full efficiency.

The latest installment, Blue Night by Kiki Smith, also incorporates the light that shines in through the windows. Blue and translucent acrylic sheets represent 18 animal constellations. Each animal happily deflects the sunlight, or at night spotlights help to set the tone reflecting blue lights and shadows.

Blue Night will be on display until May 15th, 2022.

The Art Kiosk is on 2208 Broadway, Redwood City.

Next installments for the Art Kiosk are:

Homero Carrillo-Leon Not Defined May 21 – June 26

Jennifer Cannon The Gown July 02– Aug 07

Valerie Mendoza The Destination Cafe Aug 13 – Sept 25

Ilya & Emilia Kabakov They Are Flying Oct 1 – Nov 13

Wendy Wischer In Search of New Growth Nov 19 – Jan 02

(dates are for 2022)

Have you peeked inside the art kiosk?

Experience 50 things to do in Mountain View, CA

April 23, 2022April 25, 2022Silvia

In 2017 I started my series of 50 things, a challenge to find 50 interesting things to explore in one city. Mountain View, CA was the first city I chose and it was about time to update it.

Many attractions I had previously mentioned changed. Places closed down, Android figures disappeared, and new gardens came to my attention. It’s clear that this project is constantly in motion and I will do my very best to keep everything up to date.

Luckily some of my favorite things are still around, like relaxing at Shoreline Park, the in-person festivals, and the farmers’ market on Sundays.

What are your highlights in Mountain View, CA?

Please let me know if there are any places you would like to see on this list, or have any comments.

Watch the YouTube video of 50 things to do in Mountain View!

Search out a Little Free Art Gallery, San Jose

April 15, 2022Silvia

Little free libraries are present in a lot of neighborhoods and worth seeking out. Not only do they offer free reading materials, but some extended their selection during the pandemic with canned foods or seeds. I also admire the creativity people invest in making these small cabinets.

The little free art galleries are an extension of this genre. The principle is the same as the little free libraries, come to see some art, grab something that catches your eye, or contribute to the fun. As far as I know San Jose now has two of these neighborhood gems. One of the galleries is stocked by Jennifer Hart, a local artist, who enjoyed the challenge of creating small art. The gallery is located on Booksin Avenue in Willow Glen. You can also see the current inventory at her Instagram account “Hart Little Free Gallery”.

The second gallery is nearby, in the Reed Elementary School area. SJFLAG is also on Instagram, but it asks that if you want to know the exact address you should PM them. I did not realize this on my quest, so it took me a little while to find the SFMOMA inspired box.

Smooth Ray of Trumansburg, NY created a directory for free little art galleries.

Have you been to a little free art gallery?

Resources:

https://sjctoday.6amcity.com/free-little-galleries-san-jose-ca/

Slide with Airport View, Junipero Serra Park

April 8, 2022Silvia

Junipero Serra Park is a 108 acres of trails and other outdoor enjoyments, like two playgrounds and picnic tables. Its hilly location leads you to an impressive view over the Bay right in view of the San Francisco airport. The Meadow View playground is near its highest point. There are some climbing structures, but the two parallel 54-feet metal slides are the focal point of this playground.

Imagine a speedy slide while watching planes land and take off. The playground is in the middle of a woody area and has plenty of shade. Parking is $6 and you can pay right next to the playground.

I also hiked part of the 1.2 mile Quail Loop Trail which starts next to the playground. On my visit I saw some wildflowers, but not the Douglas Iris that an information sign talked about. Overall it was a pleasant hike with some elevation and a spectacular view!

Junipero Serra Park is just east of 280 at 1801 Crystal Springs Rd, San Bruno, CA 94066. Parking is $6, dogs are allowed on leash.

Are you a slide enthusiast? If so, you should also try the Magic Mountain slide in San Mateo. At 55-feet this is the metal longest slide in Northern California!

Hand Down Black History – Domini Hoskins Black History Museum, Redwood City

March 11, 2022March 11, 2022Silvia

Open sign for the Domini Hoskins Black History & Learning Center. Sign reads: Black history is American history. Hand dwon the history. March1-March31 from 11 am - 5 pm, closed Mondays (Special Groups by appt only) For more infromation, contact 650-921-4191 Carolyn_Hoskins56@yahoo.com https://www.facebook.com/hbhlc

I enjoyed the article by thesixfifty about the Domini Hoskins Black History and Learning Center. Somewhat fitting for Black History month, Redwood City has enabled Carolyn Hoskins to display her collection of African American historic artifacts downtown at the former World Market. Lucky for us they are open for another month!

Part of the mural by Jose Castro, showing a black fist with the words: Power to the people.

Admission is $5 to see this vast display of what American black culture means. The volunteer at the door explained the history behind the collection. Carolyn Hoskins was asked by her grandson Domini about any other famous Black people, because he was tired of writing about Martin Luther King again. I am not sure if Carolyn suggested her late husband, Robert “Bob” Hoskins, a former 49er, as one example. Nevertheless Bob has a special place right at the entrance.

The exhibition begins with historic figures from the slave trade, mixed in with literature references, for example Alex Haley’s Roots. There are tables with black inventors, sports legends, famous women, the first black president and the first lady. The pop culture section was designed by Carolyn’s daughter Kathy. In fact you can see Black history displayed over 22,000 square feet.

Part to the mural by Jose Castro, showing George Floyd and the words Black Lives Matter

This amazing collection of Black achievements can be seen until the end of March, 2022, at 890 Jefferson Ave. in Redwood City; or hopefully longer. It is open every day except Monday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friendly volunteers are on-site to answer questions. No photographs are allowed, except of the Black Lives Matter mural by Jose Castro in the back.

MLK of course still plays a role in this museum. To dive deeper into his writings and accomplishments you might want to visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University.

Native Rain Garden sign at the native plants garden in Bol Park

Learn about Native Plants, Bol Bark Palo Alto

February 18, 2022February 18, 2022Silvia

I found the 12,000 sq ft native plants garden by accident the last time I was in Bol Park to visit the donkeys. Beyond the playground near the intersection of Laguna Ave and Roble Ridge Rd busy volunteers have created a treasure trove of native plants. There is signage for every plant. It is great to learn the names of the flora. The walkway is a path covered in wood chips and bordered by branches.

A sign explaining the native rain garden system.

One info sign teaches the passersby the benefits of a native rain garden, installed in 2018. The practical reason here was to capture stormwater and reduce the flooding of the nearby bike path. An added plus is that the habitat creates homes for birds, insects, and wildlife.

I was delighted to see a blooming manzanita, one of my favorite trees from the Bay Area. But the other plants are also getting ready to impress. It is definitely fun to see the variety of native plants. If you would like a tour of the garden the Growing Natives Garden Tour offers docent led tours on April 2nd, 2022.

I also enjoyed the bench to relax in the shade.

The native plants garden is open year round and located at 3502 Laguna Avenue, Palo Alto.

Do you know many of the native plants?

Rise up for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Stanford

February 4, 2022February 4, 2022Silvia

Rise up exhibit at the East Asia Library

The exhibit at the East Asia Library at Stanford has about 4 yards of wall space and two cases, but the impact of the collected history is immense. With rising hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) this seems a very timely choice. But racism is historically embedded in the United States. It begins with the Naturalization Act of 1790, granting naturalization to “free white persons”, excluding everyone except white men from citizenship.

It took until 1943 to repeal all Chinese exclusion laws (Magnuson Act). After this, the immigration quota was still limited to 105 new entry visas per year.

Shooting death of 19 year old Fong Lee in 2006

As much as I’m impressed with Stanford University and the fact that they present this exhibit, it feels odd that one of the panels tries to defend Leland Stanford as a person taking a stance for the Asian community. It becomes clear very quickly that the president of the Central Pacific Railroad was not interested in the rights of immigrants but cheap labor.

The history lesson furthers the accord on violence and incarceration. Riots, massacres and ethnic cleansing between 1871 to 1907 are documented. The Executive Order 9066 that incarcerated 120,000 Japanese Americans has its 80th anniversary this year on the 19th of February.

Woman with child protesting. Sign read 'We belong here' and 'I am an American' — Cupertino AAPI Rally, April 2021, Photo by Zhang Qidong

Nevertheless this exhibit is named Rise up and elegantly shows important Stanford alumni of Asian descent, labor disputes, and other noteworthy demonstrations. It ends with pictures from various Anti-Asian Hate rallies from 2021.

The Washington Posts reported on January 26, 2022 that San Francisco’s policy recorded a 567% increase in anti Asian hate crimes in 2021. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/01/26/anti-asian-hate-crime-san-francisco-covid/)

How to view Rise up

While the East Asian Library is only open to Stanford students right now due to COVID protocols, they are happy to let you view the exhibit in their entryway. ‘Rise up’ is open until June 30, 2022. You can also access the virtual exhibit: https://exhibits.stanford.edu/riseup

Poster: Know History Know Peace Stop AAPI Hate

The library is located in the Lathrop Library building, 518 Memorial Way, just east of the Oval. Open hours are Monday – Thursday from 9am to 8 pm, Fridays from 9am to 5pm.

Have you risen up for AAPI?

I previously made a collection of 50 things to do at Stanford.

Immigrant House at Heritage Park in Mountain View

Admire the Tiny House at Heritage Park, Mountain View

January 21, 2022February 17, 2022Silvia

The entrance to the Immigrant House at Heritage Park in Mountain View and an information signage in front.

Heritage Park at 771 N. Rengstorff opened in 2016 to show off Mountain View’s history as a farm town. The grand jewel of the 1.2 acre park is the 1880s-area Immigrant House. Once thousands of these tiny houses were homes for the immigrant workers of the Valley of Heart’s Delight. With a footprint of about 400 square feet it is basically a tiny bedroom and a kitchen area. Immigrant House is Mountain View’s last such cabin.

Interior of the Immigrant House, a kitchen setting.

Thanks to the Kiwanis Club, a grant from Google, Santa Clara County, private donors, and the Friends of the Immigrant House, the Immigrant House moved twice and landed at its permanent location. Currently, due to the pandemic, there are no guided tours for the inside of the house. But you can take a peak and see the lovely decorated interior. The front room shows a table with two stools, a shelf and a kitchen cabinet. The bedroom has a tiny bed.

The oven was also used for cooking. The information signage in front briefs us that the cost of rent in the 1930s and 1940s was $11 per month. A whopping $161 in today’s terms. To put this in perspective, farmworkers.org lists the farmworker wages between 1929 and 1933 to $1.90 a day.¹ Assuming a 6-day workday, monthly wages are about $46. This means rent would have been roughly 1/4 of their income, and clearly counts as affordable in today’s terms.²

80-year-old windmill at Heritage Park, Mountain View.

Other amenities of the park are the 80-year-old windmill, bees, and a community garden. The 130 trees originate from the previous owners and include 30 different varieties. There are tree identifiers placed next to them. Hopefully the annual Harvest History Festival, celebrated in September, can resume this year.

It is great to see the historic significance of the workers of the Valley of Heart’s Delight in the focus of this park.

Have you been to Heritage Park?

If you’d like to peek into local history I’d also recommend the Los Altos History Museum. They have another tiny house example of this time period, a tank house.

Footnotes

¹“As the Depression deepened, the growers slashed wages and laid off workers. Between 1929 and 1933, wages dropped from $3.50 to $1.90 a day.” https://www.farmworkers.org/strugcal.html

²Affordable Housing: Affordable housing is generally defined as housing on which the occupant is paying no more than 30 percent of gross income for housing costs, including utilities. https://archives.hud.gov/local/nv/goodstories/2006-04-06glos.cfm

Android Lawn Statues surrounded by caution tape

Hope for Reconstruction of the Android Lawn Statues, Mountain View

January 14, 2022January 14, 2022Silvia

Foam sculpture of a donut, partly destroyed.

The Android Lawn Statues were always an interesting excursion to show visitors. On my last visit, about a week ago, this place looked appalling. Caution tape was around the perimeter. The figures, which are larger than life sculptures of each new Android operating release, were either busted or completely removed. Named after sweet treats and candy, like Kit Kat and cupcake, these Android figures are made from foam.

Oreo Android figure wrapped in caution tape.

After the 2018 pie release, Google decided to go on a more boring route. The releases are now designed by numbers, starting with 10, which has an Android head peeking out of the zero.. For 11 and 12 you can see a virtual 3-D model. Interesting maybe to a nerd to find some inscription on the back – but unfortunately, it lost its cute appeal.

The lawn statues garden is located on 1981 Landings Drive; the Google merchandise store used to be steps away. Google decided to close down the store and now only has an online version.

Hope is on the horizon

Google's Charleston East building is still under construction.

Google’s Charleston East (Google’s futuristic new campus) is almost here and they promised to open the first floor to the public. Watch this video by Tech Insider (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGx-sYIFHmE). The circus-like canopy shape introduces another interesting office building to Silicon Valley, joining Apple’s spaceship and Nvidia’s triangular headquarter. Or like the Bjarke Ingles Group architects call it: “smile-shaped clerestories”. In a report from the Mountain View Voice in February of last year, Charleston East’s public access could be revised to just allowing non-Googlers to enter on the west side of the building. Amid security concerns the tech giant might also put a, none the less pretty, wall around its campus.

Funny also, that the Android Lawn Statues have a neglected Facebook page, with a link to an Android fan site, but no official Google page.

I understand that these are office buildings and there is no responsibility to share anything with the public. Nevertheless, visitors to Silicon Valley long to see evidence of the high tech giving back to the community – even if it’s only in the form of some large foam statues.

Have you been to Mountain View? Here is my list of 50 things to do in Mountain View.