take the kids Archives - until suburbia!

Tour the Jelly Belly Factory, Fairfield

April 18, 2025April 18, 2025Silvia

The Easter candy of my youth was chocolate eggs. So, it was surprising to me to learn that the creator of Jelly Belly was a German immigrant. I always thought of these bean-shaped candies with the most unusual flavors and bright colors as very American.

I had planned to recommend the tour of the Jelly Belly factory as a fun Easter activity. But the production is on hold for 3 weeks (until April 23rd, 2025). You might think that the Easter Holiday would be the last time of year when they would stop production to clean. We took the tour last week anyway. And even though the factory was not producing, we paid the full admission of $8. Again, you might think ….. This is a self-guided tour with videos informing you throughout the walkway. They also added some interactive stations with video games and Ronald Reagan memorabilia. Reagan is the President who brought Jelly Belly to the nation’s attention. Jelly Belly is very appreciative.

I did enjoy the factory setting as I am a fan of production line equipment – like Boichik Bagels and Cocohodo. I can also appreciate that everything got a good cleaning, for the next flavors of jelly beans. And, we were able to admire the large, shiny vats used to polish the beans – you got a very clear view of the entire factory as you walked the glassed-in walkway one story up.

The kids might enjoy the little train ride across the parking lot to the museum. The museum is included in the admission. There are a lot of photo opps here. The end is currently a big Easter blow-up art scene. I do think the artwork created out of jelly beans is impressive. We admired Harry Potter and Star Wars characters at the factory entrance.

Wishing you a Happy Easter (if you celebrate).

The Jelly Belly factory is located at 1 Jelly Belly Lane, Fairfield. Tours are $8 per person, $4 for children ages 3-17, free for under 2-year-olds. The self-guided factory lane tours and museum experience is open from 9:15 am to 4 pm daily, 7 days a week. I’d advise you to check their calendar for special events and closures before you go.

What is your favorite jelly bean flavor?

I am not affiliated with Jelly Belly.

Rolled cookie butter ice cream with fresh strawberries from Kween's in Mountain View

Roll up your Ice Cream, Kween’s in Mountain View

April 4, 2025Silvia

The trend to roll up ice cream comes from Thailand. It is sometimes known as stir-fry ice cream because the process of making it reminds you of stir frying. A liquid mixture is stirred constantly on a plate that brings down the temperature. Once frozen, it gets divided and rolled up.

Kween’s in Mountain View is a women-owned sweet treat dream. Besides the rolled ice cream, they sell scoops and freshly baked ice cream cookie sandwiches. I enjoyed a cookie butter roll with fresh strawberries. My friend let me sample her treat, Thai iced tea with crumbled up Oreos and condensed milk – also very yummy.

Kween’s has a few tables inside; we cherished being able to hang out and chat while eating the ice cream.

You can find Kween’s at 292 Castro Street in downtown Mountain View.

Have you tried rolled up ice cream?

I have no affiliation with this company.

Admire From Life at the Mare Island Art Studios

March 21, 2025March 21, 2025Silvia

The art show From Life, at the Mare Island Art Studios, curated by Jean Cherie, is open to visitors each weekend in March from 11 am to 4 pm.

The exhibit shows works of art inspired by life models. I had the pleasure to meet Jean Cherie, one of the main artists in this show and curator. She pointed out how one model was sculpted and painted by different artists. This arouses different viewpoints of this model and puts the observer in a situation detecting similarities.

Besides the exhibit, they offer quick draw and sculpture sessions. A great hands-on approach to create art from the model yourself!

Jean also took me around to see some of the artists of the Mare Island Art Studios works. There are a variety of media being displayed, from pottery to mixed media. I was especially impressed by Priscila Soares mixed media work where she used wings on the ears of a woman to illustrate her own experiences of being hard of hearing.

I also enjoyed the outside area with sculptures, a succulent garden, and a beautiful view of the Bay.

The Mare Island Art Studios are on 110 Pintado Street in Vallejo, CA. The gallery is open on weekends from 11 am to 4 pm for the art show, regular hours are Sundays from noon to 4 pm.

A bench overlooking the Bay at Point Pinole park

Visit Point Pinole Regional Shoreline Park

March 7, 2025Silvia

The first thing I noticed while hiking the Point Pinole Regional Shoreline Park was the typical Bay smell. Thankfully, it wasn’t persistent, and for me, it was an occasional whiff of offense. The smell is due to the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter in the sediment. I guess one can call it the smell of the low tide.

What struck me next were the many eucalyptus trees. Usually, you’ll find native oaks in parks, and eucalyptus is considered an invasive species. As the Oakland Side warned in an article in October of 2024, “Eucalyptus trees are simultaneously dry and filled with flammable oil. They shed long, shaggy debris, covering the ground with dry fuel for wildfires, and when they catch fire, the oil in them burns hot and fast. Their seed pods can explode in a wildfire, shooting embers across the landscape.” (https://oaklandside.org/2024/10/29/oakland-eucalyptus-trees-wildfires-history/).

But here in the park, the eucalyptus has an interesting history. They were planted as a buffer for explosions. From 1881 to 1960, this site was used as a dynamite manufacturing company, the Giant Powder Company. Dynamite, the invention of Alfred Nobel, was essential in the development of California, blowing through mountains and building roads. Nowadays, the eucalyptus are home to many wildlife species, like deer, hawks, owls, and Monarch butterflies.

The park was well attended on a weekday. Lots of people were exercising and enjoying the view of the Bay.

Point Pinole has two entrances. One is on 5551 Giant Highway, Richmond, and the other parking lot is on 3000 Atlas Road, Richmond. Parking is $5 between April and October.

Relax in a Native Garden, Martha Walker Gardens, Napa

February 21, 2025Silvia

It’s almost spring and time to think about your garden again. I always love to see other gardens to get ideas or to just relax. Martha Walker Gardens in Napa, a California Native Habitat Garden is a perfect place to relax. Part of Skyline Park in Napa, the garden, a 2.5-acre site, is a tribute to Martha Walker. She was a beloved resident and naturalist of Napa. She taught classes and even had her own radio show: “Let’s Go Into the Garden”.

The garden invites school groups, hikers, and natural lovers to explore. Almost 200 different species have been planted. I especially enjoyed the little redwood grove. Even if it is just a small part of the park, the garden has a lot of paths and benches to enjoy peace and quiet. The Napa-Solano Audubon Society donated fruit trees to attract birds.

The entrance to the garden is gated to keep the deer out. But the gates themselves are really beautifully crafted, just a little tricky to open.

Skyline Park is located at 2201 Imola Ave. Napa, CA and open 7 days a week. Parking is $6. They don’t allow dogs on trails and close the park at sunset.

What is your favorite garden to relax in?

Visit Historic Locke

February 14, 2025Silvia

Locke is the only town in the United States built by the Chinese for Chinese people. The first buildings were established in 1913. Due to California’s Alien Land Law of 1913, which prevented all foreign-born aliens from owning land, Locke’s residents rented the land from George Locke, Jr. Because the people hoped to return to China, these houses weren’t built to last, with cheap materials and metal roofs.

To experience how the people of Locke lived, you can visit the living museum town north of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. There are multiple museums, like the Locke Boarding House, the Chinese School, or the Dai Loy Museum, the former gambling hall. In 1990 Locke was made into a National Historic Landmark.

The boarding house offers a peek into the daily lives of the visiting farm workers. During its heyday, there were multiple restaurants, hotels, rooming houses, a grocery store, a fish market, a dentist’s office, and a Chinese school. But behind the storefronts, there were also gambling halls and opium dens. It became known as the “Monte Carlo of California”. When prohibition ended and the asparagus industry declined, Locke lost its visitors.

There are many fascinating facts about Locke. On Saturday, February 22, 2025, 12pm – 4 pm, the Locke Foundation invites you to celebrate Chinese New Year in Locke.

The Boarding House Museum is open Saturdays and Sundays 11am – 3pm, 13916 Main Street, Locke.

The Dai Loy Museum is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday 12pm – 4pm, 13951 Main Street, Locke.

Educate yourself on African American History, AAMLO, Oakland

January 31, 2025Silvia

Oakland stands for a rich culture and history of African Americans. The African American Museum and Library (AAMLO) preserves this history with its ongoing exhibit and events.

I’ve become a fan of the Carnegie Libraries and the AAMLO is a stunning well renovated example of these philanthropic buildings. Oakland’s first Carnegie library, built in 1902, the building greets you with the slogan “Free to all” above the entrance. It was renovated after the 1989 earthquake and reopened in 2002 as the new African American Library and Museum.

Upon entering we were greeted by a friendly staff member who gave us a quick overview. The self-guided tours are for the permanent exhibit upstairs: Visions Toward Tomorrow: The African American Community in Oakland 1890 -1990.

The pompous barrel-shaped ceilings in the Beaux Arts style give the room an airy appearance. All around are information posters conveying the extensive history of people of African descent in the East Bay. Women, war heroes, and sports celebrities are next to the revolutionaries of the Black Panther Party.

The interior is set up for events. For example, you can join Zakiyyah G.E. Capehart for an afternoon of poetry on February 8, 2025, from 2 pm to 4 pm. Registration is required.

Visit the AAMLO at 659 14th Street in Oakland California. Opening hours are Monday to Thursday 10 am – 5:30 pm, Friday 12 pm – 5:30 pm, and Saturday 10 am – 5:30 pm.

Admire the Lights, Napa Lighted Art Festival

January 24, 2025February 3, 2025Silvia

From now until February 16th, 2025 Napa illuminates their downtown in their annual Lighted Art Festival.

Most of the holiday lights are taken down these days, but it is still getting dark around 5:30. Napa is taking advantage of the early sundown and lights up the night with eleven light art installations. Until January 26th you can also marvel at three projection artworks. The projection art is displayed at the Presbyterian Church, the Napa County Historic Courthouse, and the Native Sons. The church was especially impressive with a technical beautification by artists Leslie Epstein & Camille Gross. Elementa is a projection mapping artwork that presents a symphony of earth, wind, fire, and air fresco-like images.

[Due to rain this event has been canceled!]

On February 1 from 5 pm till 6 pm, Bookmine, Napa’s independent book store, will hold a storytime in front of the Oxbow Public Market. The Glow Party on February 8th, 2025, is a family-friendly art after dark experience. Find the party at the Pearl Street bus depot from 6 pm to 8 pm.

All of these ambient displays are fun to scavenger hunt all around downtown. You might even see an art installation that is there year round.

Download the map for the Lighted Art Festival and enjoy a fun free activity!

Paper bags filled with produce from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), Urban Tilth

Seed Power and Grow Justice at Urban Tilth, Richmond

December 20, 2024Silvia

When we arrived at the Urban Tilth, an urban farm in North Richmond, we struggled to find the entrance. But after we walked around it was clear we found much more than just a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) produce distribution center and urban farm. Urban Tilth’s vision is to be North Richmond’s farm and a neighborhood anchor for the whole community.

Multiple information signs show the future farm. Here are architectural drawings of a cafe, a native plant nursery, a workshop area, and many more ideas. You can see some of the buildings already in place. It was exciting to see how this idea takes shape. We also met some people working for the CSA. Everyone was passionate about being here. The produce looks great and walking around the old greenhouses we could see the potential.

They are not just organizing a fair food system. They want to transform it into a life-affirming system that creates a healthy, sustainable, and just community. I know they have the power to drive for change.

There are so many ways to become part of this movement. You can support Urban Tilth and get involved as a volunteer, learn about their educational programs, order their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) produce, or donate.

Shop for Local Art, aRt Cottage Gallery, Concord

November 22, 2024Silvia

The aRt Cottage Gallery is a charming gallery and art workshop space near downtown Concord. When I visited I was warmly invited to look at the current exhibit of Mark Jezierny and his Students. I entered the cottage while there was a class in progress, but everyone smiled at me and assured me that they did not mind the interruption.

There is much love for art in this place – from the cozy planters outside to the white wood-paneled rooms decorated with art. And love for the owner FROgard Schmidt who shares her space and this love for art with all visitors. That’s why aRt Cottage is spelled with a capital R for ours, stressing the importance of community.

If you like to gift local art you should visit the aRt Cottage during the Holiday season for their 13th Annual Holiday Boutique. Shop for large and miniature paintings, jewelry, tree ornaments, and much more. All items will be available until December 22, 2024.

The aRt Cottage is located at 2238 Mt. Diablo Street in Concord. You can visit Wednesdays – Saturdays 11am – 5pm.

Do you shop for local art?