Greenberg's Train Show or How to Become a Booth Babe

My in-laws build and sell accessories for model trains. While most of the sales are through distributors and on-line, some are through train shows. Since 1976, Greenberg's Toy & Train Show has been the largest traveling show featuring operating model train displays, hard-to-find railroad items and much more according to their web-site. And despite the bad economy, model railroading is alive and well. This was the first time I had attended a train show. My previous experience with shows was when I was working with a jewelry designer and we did shows like the Smithsonian Craft Show in Washington DC. So I asked my mother in-law what the appropriate attire was for a train show booth babe. Should I bring a dress, a skirt, nice pants, specific colors to complement the booth? She just laughed and said to wear something that would fit in with bib overalls and train hats. Hmm..... do I OWN bib overalls or a train hat......and where might these items be purchased..... so much to do to get ready. I settled on tan pants and a variety of plain tee shirts in solid colors. Then I had to learn about my product. My father in-law designs, makes and sells power controllers for G scale (that's Garden scale or the big outdoor model trains) layouts. He has recently designed a controller for HO Scale (that's the Lionel small size that you may have had in a basement layout or under your Christmas tree). These power controllers have an excellent reputation and are sold under his company Bridgewerks. But they are VERY complicated if you are trying to quickly learn all the lingo and information about them..... like they are "pure DC" (I think that is direct current).... and they have volts and amps and that is not the same thing and the number is not the only thing you should think about and they are track powered and.... I decided that my in-laws could talk them up. I decided to stick with the latest product - billboards. My father in-law designed to-scale billboards for G scale layouts. They are made of metal with metal interchangeable signs and are built to be put in an outdoor layout  withstanding weather. You buy the billboards separately and because they have magnets on the back, you can change them. Recently, he designed to-scale HO billboards with refrigerator-type magnets that attach to the metal sign. Greenberg's was the debut for this new product. The billboards are sold under the company name Mountain Billboards. Now that product information was easier to learn.

Before we left North Carolina to drive to the show, my father in-law decided that we needed matching show shirts. So we got black and red Land's short sleeve polo shirts. And with our tan pants, we looked very professional. We loaded the mini-van and took off. The show was held in Timonium MD.... that's on the other side of DC. And no matter when you drive through the DC area, you hit traffic.... LOTS of traffic. We finally arrived, set up and headed to the hotel for dinner and bed.
I was very excited to be doing a show again. I lay in bed remembering all the wonderful art at the craft shows I had attended when making jewelry. And the amazing artists that I met.... and the lovely customers..... 
We arrived bright and early at the Exhibition Hall on the Fairgrounds. The show filled the space with not only rows and rows of tables/booths, but several large layouts.

I took a few moments to wander a bit. While most of the vendors were selling train related stuff, many were also selling toys - old old toys, not-so-old toys, comic books, Barbie dolls. When I went by the entrance, the lobby was packed full of waiting customers!

 

I hurried back to the booth to be ready. The doors opened and we were off. Now, I am an experienced booth babe. I know how to look encouragingly at the customers and make pleasant conversation while describing the features of the products. But that was all with ladies looking at jewelry. Model train shoppers are a bit different. First of all, the shoppers are mainly men. And second..... well, they aren't wearing Gucci and they aren't interested in how the billboard will bring out the colors in their layout. So I smile at the gentleman who is standing in front of the table studying the metal billboards tastefully displayed and I say (in my best salesperson voice), "Aren't they cute?" And he slowly looks up at me and replies, "Honey, you NEVER tell a man that something looks cute. That's death for the sales." I suppose I should describe this shopper... he was quite tall and bald with an earring and a belly and he looked like the motorcycle was parked outside. So, maybe "cute" was the wrong approach....
Sales were busy Saturday morning when all the serious model railroaders rushed in to get the ONE thing they needed for their layout and then left. The afternoon was D-E-A-D! And Sunday was all families with small busy children who wanted to touch and play with everything. By 2:30, things were not selling and we were beat. So at 3pm, we started to pack up. Now, for those of you who haven't done shows, the show organizers really don't like vendors to pack up until the show has officially closed. Some organizers will even penalize vendors who start to pack early. Our show ended at 4pm. But we threw caution to the wind and were packed and outta there by 3:40pm. I must say that, overall, it was a great time. And I am happily looking forward to the two shows in December. I'm thinking a bit of greenery and ribbons to brighten up the booth.....

                                                 Boys and their toys

Learning to Play Again

I have just spent a week with my six year-old nephews. And I am exhausted. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. I have always wanted to be the Auntie/Grandmother that PLAYED with the kids – not just visited them. And Andrew and Brian are GREAT playmates. As soon as I arrived, they wanted to play our special game of “Cosmic Space Spider”. But we had to change it a bit as the space spider went to where broken toys go…… So now it was Cosmic Space Snake…. Or Dragon….. or whatever stuffed animal the boys selected. I have to tell you that I made up the game. But I no longer know the rules as the boys kept pointing out. “No Auntie Sharon! You have to hold the Black Hole up more.” The “Black Hole, by the way is a hula hoop. I sit on the floor in the upstairs hall and hold the hoop up and wave it about and growl and make cosmic space noises and try to catch the boys as they run past or dive through the hoop. The space animal comes in as my assistant trying to attack the boys who are squealing and laughing and running and jumping and having a great time. We also play the Cosmic Quicksand Game…. That’s when the hula hoop is laid flat on the floor and swirled around and the boys have to jump over it as it swirls. Sometimes the quicksand gets rowdy and starts flipping and flopping around and it is much harder to jump over it. And the quicksand LOVES little boy toes. So you had better be quick! If I don’t perform correctly, I’m reminded – No Auntie Sharon! Keep the quicksand on the floor! I have a digital camera which makes a very good toy. I take photos of small boys flying past me and then, with Photoshop’s help, they become aliens from outer space. They find this hilarious. It has been very interesting watching their sense of humor evolve. I have seen a big change with this last visit. They are developing “school boy humor”. You know, where ANY word related to bodily functions sends them rolling around on the floor. And the sillier the joke the better. I now realize why all those really bad knock-knock jokes keep surviving…… They were MADE for school boys! And if one pig snort will make you laugh, how about 30 in a row really fast? Knocking your socks off yet? And then there is the one where they say something cute and you laugh and then they say a wacky version of the same thing and you HAVE to laugh…. Because they are and they are just so darn cute! So even if “snickerdoodlesillypuff” isn’t hysterical, just look at that sweet face eagerly waiting for your guffaw. Another great advantage of being a playing Auntie is that you have to keep up on all the latest kid movies. So I took Mark to see “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” because I heard that when I got to the boys’ house, I would be receiving sorcerer lessons. And I HAD to go out and get black shoes as you can’t be trained wearing flip flops – the plasma balls might land on your feet. I missed “How to Train Your Dragon” which was a real liability. The boys tried hard to bring me up to speed so that I could assist with dragon training and care….. I don’t think I did very well …. We didn’t play that game for very long. And now the boys have met Harry Potter. Granted, they have only watched the first 4 episodes. It does get a bit dark after that and they are only 6. But now, we wear Harry Potter scars on our heads that have the amazing capacity to shoot lightening bolts at bad Cosmic Space operators when the Cosmic Space Hole/Quicksand starts to misbehave. I know when the punishing bolt is about to arrive – Harry grabs his scar in pain and winces and then….. I’m done for. So I have to play the “Cosmic Space” death scene. We also play the Guessing Game. Coral, the stuffed coral snake blocks the hall way with the hula hoop and she tells the boys that they have to guess the password. They usually want AT LEAST one hint. And of course, Coral has QUITE the personality. She sings (albeit not well) and she promises not to eat the boys or bite them if they feed her…. So we get piles of stuffed animals and pretend possums (I guess that’s what coral snakes eat…. Oh and lots of ribs…. Hmmm….) and, of course, they guess the word. So Coral cries and they have to hug and kiss her and make her feel better. And I learned about Ben Ten and that you can pull yourself up the stairs pretending that it is a mountain. Playing sure is fun! But I think I need a nap.

Gilroy Has Garlic!

The area around San Jose is noted for agriculture. Before all the techno businesses moved in and built sprawling campuses, the land was covered with crops and fruit orchards. You can still find clusters of fields here and there. And we are fortunate to have many capitals near us…. That’s agricultural capitals. We have Castroville, the artichoke capital of the world. And Stockton is the Asparagus capital of the world. We have Holtville – Carrot capital, Greenfield – Broccoli capital, Oxnard – Lima Bean capital, and Fallbrook – Avocado capital just to name a few. We even have the Poison Oak capital of the world – Forestville (in the Wine country). But the best one of all is Gilroy – Garlic capital of the world. And to celebrate its fame, Gilroy has an annual garlic festival. And, of course, we had to go! Out here, garlic is planted in October, harvested in early June and then dried for six weeks before it is ready to sell. So the festival is in mid-July each year. The festival, established in 1979, features cooking demonstrations, professional chefs competing, Gourmet Alley with a zillion food booths all serving stuff made with garlic, craft booths, music stages…. On and on. We drove down US101 and knew we were getting close when we could SMELL the garlic from the highway! No kidding! You can really smell garlic – even with the windows rolled up. And then we got in a car line with all the 100,000 other people attending. Mark heard from another commuter on Cal Train that you DON’T want to go on Saturday as the crowds are REALLY big. So Mark, Natalie and I went early on Sunday. The festival opened at 10am – we were in our car line that started at 101 by 10:30. It took us over 30 minutes to make it to the parking lot and walk in to the Festival. We entered the gate by all the commercial booths like Foster Farms. They had 2 giant chicken balloons floating over the park and chickens you could stand next to for a photo op and drawings for chicken and much much more.

We quickly moved through all of that looking for garlic. We found the gourmet cooking stage and watched a local chef prepare salmon. The chef and her husband started the Garlic Festival 32 years ago to highlight the farmers in the area. We were hoping to see Fabio from our favorite cooking show – Top Chef – who was master of ceremonies. But he wasn’t on until later when the professional chefs started competing.

After a while, we wandered over to the Crafts. Garlic is the theme with garlic-shaped hats, garlic handblown glass, garlic Christmas tree ornaments. We had heard about garlic ice cream. And, yes….. they were serving free cones. So we got in line and had a taste….. imagine a not-very-good vanilla ice cream with garlic powder liberally mixed in. Hmmmm……. NOT in the shopping cart for us!

And every time I saw a garlic photo op, I made Natalie pose....

 The Garlic Festival is a non-profit that uses volunteers. All Gilroy community groups are given a percentage of the profits based on the number of hours that the group volunteers. In the 32 years of the Festival, over $8 million has been raised. In 2009, the Gilroy High School choir raised $10,604.32. And Mrs. Block’s classroom at Rucker School raised $23.24. It reminded me of the Clam Festival in Yarmouth ME.
Gourmet Alley was the highlight of the event. Anything that can be eaten was mixed with garlic and served. We found garlic sausage several ways, garlic stir fry, garlic fries (covered with parsley and little chunks of raw garlic – more garlic than fries and VERY yummy!), garlic chocolate, scampi with garlic, mussels with garlic…. You name it, it was there. It was hard to wait until lunchtime. I found a delicious local sausage with sauerkraut (the sausage was full of garlic). And once we were full and reeking of garlic, we headed over to the booth selling garlic braids. We bought several along with garlic pesto. And we were given little bags of garlic to be planted with instructions on how to grow garlic.

By now, we were hot, dusty, slightly sun burned and the crowds were getting pretty bad. So we trudged back to the car and headed home. My friends couldn’t believe that we were going until they heard that we had never been. Oh, I guess you have to go at least once – they said. But I must say, that it was rather fun. And, after all, anything with garlic HAS to be good!

Dancing with the Buddha

 In July, Buddhists celebrate the Obon Festival. This festival and memorial service are in recognition of a story found in the Ulambana Sutra. The story concerns one of the Sakyamuni Buddha’s ten great disciples, Mogallana. In the sutra, Mogallana learns the true meaning of gratitude through the life of his deceased mother with the help of Sakyamuni Buddha. It was said that at this realization, Mogallana’s joy was so great, that he began to dance. In commemoration of this legend, one of the highlights of the Obon festival is the Obon dancing. Japantown is noted for its large Obon Festival. So of course, we had to go. It seems that Buddhists are not early risers as things did not begin until after lunch. We wandered down in the afternoon to check it out. In addition to craft booths, there were many delicious foods for sale. And lots of people dressed in kimonos and the boy version of jackets and bathrobes. We especially wanted to attend the Buddhist temple’s Buddhism 101. We learned that all Buddhist sects and denominations are tied together by the Three Treasures – Buddha (the Awakened One), Dharma (Buddha’s teachings), and Sangha (the Buddhist order). It was lovely to step inside the cool building and smell the incense. The temple was started by the first Japanese immigrants to settle in San Jose. It belongs to the Shinshu tradition of Buddhism. The temple served as a focal point for Japantown in its early years. During WWII, most of the Japanese Americans in Japantown were interred in prison camps. A San Jose attorney took care of the temple until after the war when the Japanese could return.

The biggest highlight of the festival is the dancing. Fifth St is closed off from Taylor to Jackson St. Three platforms are placed down the center of the street and lines are drawn creating an oval space. It looks like lanes for a race track with viewing stands on the outside edges. As the start time grows closer, kimonos, jackets and bathrobes begin gathering at the far end of the oval. Small groups mount the stairs to each platform and take their places….. the music starts…. Or at least I THINK it starts as the speaker at our end of the oval is not working and we can’t hear anything. The dancers on the platform in front of us look confused until they see the dancers on the center platform dancing. Then they quickly jump in. I look to the end of the oval and see this endless mass of color start to move in unison down the lanes in front of us. I assume that some can hear music because they all seem to be keeping together. And the song continues and waves upon waves of kimonos/jackets/bathrobes on adults and teens and children file past. And then I notice that many of the dancers are NOT dressed up but have stepped out of the crowd along the edge and are dancing… and there are some cub scouts and some adolescent girls all dressed up and giggling and  adolescent boys NOT dressed up but dancing along with the girls. And the song ends and I think that the show is over and it was very interesting and my neck (which has NO sunscreen and recently has lost its protective covering of long hair) is getting painful. And then the music starts again. But this time, everyone has whipped out a fan (hidden in the big sash/obi on the ladies and who knows where on the jackted/bathrobed men. This dance entails waving the fan and bending and swooping. Now imagine a Kentucky Derby-type race track FILLED with lanes of people all waving fans and bending and swooping to music that you can’t hear. It was a bit surreal. And just as I was really getting into it, the sound crew fixed the speaker in front of us and music came blasting out. And the fan dance was over and fans were tucked away only to be replaced by castanets…. Well, I know that they probably aren’t CALLED castanets. But that’s what they looked and sounded like.

 So now we have music and clacking and bending and swooping and stepping and my neck MUST be getting burned. But wait! There’s more! The music ends, the castanets are tucked away (no wonder they need that wide sash!) and off come the neck scarves! The scarves are flapped and waved and twisted up as everyone bends and swoops and hops and the masses of people dance slowly around the oval. By now, we have seen everyone dancing as they passed us by. We have even picked out our next door neighbor’s granddaughter who is dancing for the first time this year. Apparently the local experts ( those are the dancers on the platforms) give lessons for several weeks before the festival. Anyone can take the classes and join in the dancing. As the scarves are neatly returned to dancers’ necks, I think that we MUST be at the end…. But no. I look at the program and finally notice the TWO COLUMNS of dances listed. Oh my. I look at Mark who is also getting burned despite the hat he has on. And we both agree that it is time for us to dance our way home. We discuss the Buddhism class on the walk back and agree that we would like to attend the evening Dharma classes in the Fall to learn more. And I suggest that maybe next year, we even take the dance classes. I think Mark would look sooo cute in a bathrobe and I have a fan. Who knows?

From Scraps to Robots

During one of my summer trips, I found myself in Durham NC. My nephews were celebrating their sixth birthday and I HAD to be there. My nephews are very special people in my life. My own children have been very slow in producing grandchildren and I NEEDED to be a grandmotherly type person. So when Brian and Andrew arrived, I just decided that being an Auntie type person would be just as good. It is a privilege to see the world through the eyes of a small person – to be able to forget about mortgages and bills and worldly worries and just play cosmic space spider or build with legos. I have learned about robots and dragons and read great new stories. Now, when I am in Durham, Kit (mother of twins) fills the days with lots of great activities. One of these was a trip to the Scrap Exchange. This place collects clean industrial discards and reuses them. Or puts them in bins and stacks and piles and invites people to come in, be creative and reuse them. The store collects all sorts of things from businesses in Durham and then sells them for very reasonable prices. It is staffed by funky young people who enjoy making art out of found objects. And, if you need to build a robot or a space ship, this is the place to go. Andrew, Brian and I could hardly wait to go! Once there, you collect a plastic bag – you would recognize the bag as the one that your mattress pad or sheets came in (the one with a zipper around three sides). You then wander up and down the aisles pawing through bins of stuff until you find the perfect parts for the engine or the body or the wings. And then there is the bin of medical IV tubing that works well for carrying lubricant to the joints of our robot. Or maybe we could build a house out of these cardboard bricks….. or color on this cool paper…. Oh look! Parts of a lamp! And a wall out of old VHS tapes? Why not! The boys and I happily filled our bags and headed to the checkout to pay… until I saw interesting arrangements of mannequin body parts…. And then I HAD to take pictures. So if you are ever in Durham, stop by and let your creative juices flow!

I'm Back....

Summer is the time for vacations. And, while all of the last six weeks haven’t been spent in some luxurious resort, some of the time has been spent on the road. When we first arrived in San Jose, life was simple. I did not join every group or organization I found. I stayed home and sewed and read and recharged. And I discovered blogging. I enjoyed sharing my experiences in a new place with friends and family. I wasn’t sure that people really enjoyed my interpretations of events. But I have had several comments about the lack of blog posts lately.

Life has gotten busier. I still have not joined groups. But I have been traveling more. In June, there was the trip to North Carolina for the twin nephews’ sixth birthday. And then a trip to Maine to reconnect. And then family coming to NoCal. So the blogging disappeared. But I have still been experiencing new and exciting things here in NoCal. I will catch you all up on the unusual events….. like the Scrap Exchange in Durham, Gilroy Garlic Festival, the Obon Festival in Japantown and, of course, another wine dinner. So forgive the silence and enjoy the new posts.

The Graduate

The first of our pack graduated recently from McGill University in Montreal. It was a happy and sad moment for us. We are glad that he finished. But we are sad that we won’t have a good reason to visit Montreal. If you have never been to this city, I encourage you to go. It is a great place to visit. And McGill is a great school. Now, I have been to lots of graduations. In fact, I have been a part of lots of graduations as a graduate and as faculty. But this one was a bit unique. First of all, it was the last of 12 commencements held in a HUGE tent over 6 days. Each school has its own ceremony with the School of Music the last. The dignitaries are piped in to the tent by a piper and the graduates have 2 pipers that escort them in. After all, it is MC Gill. Most of the faculty have those darling black velvet floppy hats with a big brim and a bit of gold braid. And McGill’s school color is red so the black robes are trimmed in scarlet. The color of the hood for music is “mauve” which really looks like lavender. Each baccalaureate graduate wears one trimmed in fake white fur. Also very cute. Now, each graduation has the required parts – the lengthy speech by someone distinguished, the granting of degrees to PhD/EdD/MBA….. well, you get the picture, and then the undergraduates get their degrees. And sometimes they will award honorary degrees. We had it all.





The new Chancellor spoke to the gathering about the importance of taking care of your health. An interesting subject for young music graduates. But he was quite elderly and he did stress that if you took care of yourself, you would be less of a burden on society. Hmmm…… And we did have an honorary degree award. Olivier Latry, the organist from Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris France was given a doctorate. As part of the ceremony, the honoree is usually expected to give a speech – on health or whatever they want to talk about. But THIS dean pulled a fast one on this guy. He opened a sealed envelope and handed the man a piece of paper. Latry was then escorted off the stage and taken out of the tent to Redpath Hall (a huge old granite building on the quad). This building used to be the library when the school first began. Now it houses the University’s mammoth manual organ with LOTS of keys and LOTS of stops.

In Redpath Hall, Latry is then expected to improvise for a very long time on the two little tunes he found on the piece of paper. And the tunes are very different. One is a chant – Ave Maria – and the other is this little wisp of notes that swoop up and abruptly stop and then swoop again and stop. And with a bit of dissonance thrown in. Now, this is no ordinary music school. It offers degrees in music recording and videoing. So while Dr. (almost) Latry is in a building to our left, we-in-the-tent can see him on these giant TV screens mounted above us.

AND we have surround sound to enjoy his performance. So, he starts by playing each little tune. And then he is off. And I never hear ANYTHING that even REMOTELY sounds like one of those tunes again. And he plays on…… and on……. And I feel that the whole experience is a bit musically intellectual as the faculty on stage and the students up front are smiling and swaying and looking like they are eating the best piece of chocolate EVER. And then it is over and he bows and we applaud – can he even hear us? And the ceremony continues. Now, he has just gotten a doctorate and he never even uttered one word. Another cute custom at McGill is to hit the graduates as they cross the stage to get their diploma. If you have never gotten a degree before, you get hit on the head. If you have a degree and are getting another, you get hit on the shoulder. No one was injured although several reached out as if to take the stick from the old guy hitting them…… or were they trying to shake his hand and he would have none of it?
And then all are graduated and all are piped out and we can go to Redpath Hall (of organ fame) for a little light refreshments. All 500 try to get through a set of very narrow old doors and, of course, the caterers put the wine RIGHT by the door so that everyone stops to get a glass and then just STANDS there. Mark and I get our wine and grab a brownie and hug our kid who has done so well and look for the exit. Thank goodness we have a while before the next one.

Sake to Me

We want to be a part of our community. So when Japantown has a festival, we attend. And the latest festival was the Sake Festival. So, of course, we went. I know almost nothing about sake and have only had it on a rare occasion. I do know that it is made of rice and usually served with Japanese food. But I didn’t know that there were over 1400 varieties and that only about 600 are imported to or made in the US. And I didn’t know that sake can be dry or sweet or fruity or bubbly. But after attending the festival, I learned a lot. I bought our tickets early – 700 were sold before the event with another 200 expected to be sold at the event. Once we turned in our tickets, we were given a map of all the places serving sake – 28 to be exact – and a bracelet saying we were over 21 (they never asked us for ID so I guess we look old enough). While registering at the Senior Center, we were entertained by a Japanese drumming group that competes in the area. Then at 5:30, we headed out to taste.

Now, I have shared the “Hop and Shop” phenomenon that NoCal seems so fond of. There was the quilt hop and shop, the wine hop and shop and now the sake hop and shop. When you reached a station – usually in a store or restaurant – you were given a small plastic cup (like the ones used in McDonald’s for catsup) with some sake. You tasted and then had your booklet stamped. When you had visited ALL 28 stations, you could turn in your completed booklet and be entered in a drawing for a mixed case of sake.
We started at Station 15 to avoid the crowds. We were handed our little cup and took the first sip. Now, I have learned the proper etiquette for sipping wine – the twirl of the glass to aerate the wine, the sniff of the bouquet and then the sip. I wasn’t sure what to do with the little catsup cup of sake. If I swirled, it would all end up on the floor. So I passed on the swirling and went right to the sniffing….. which is hard to do with a catsup cup. And as I quickly noticed, no one else was sniffing. OK, so no swirling and no sniffing. On to the sipping…. And, with wine, I would swish it around across the palate and suck air through my teeth (trying hard NOT to leak anything out of my mouth) and then spit or swallow contemplating the flavors – a little hint of blackberry, some oak from the barrel, nice finish – all the while staring off into space with a very intellectual look on my face. So I sip the sake and start to swish – and OH MY GOD this stuff tastes like turpentine! But trying to maintain the intellectual look, I try to suck air and that doesn’t help matters at all. And I’m sure I’ll start to dribble any minute. Forget the swish and suck! I just hope I can live through 27 more of these. And then we find out that this sake is probably one of the best we will be tasting. The gentleman overseeing the pourings is from a sake store in San Francisco. He starts to explain to Mark all about the process of making sake and what makes this one so incredibly amazing. I listen half heartedly as I am still sipping. We get our station stamp and move on to the next station. And after about 10, the taste is beginning to grow on me. We taste one sake that tastes like lychee nuts – very sweet, like fruit juice with a kick. Too girly for Mark. And then at the Hawaiian crepe store, we tried a bubbly one that was pretty tasty. And the little deep-fried chocolate filled goodie they gave us was even better. Oh, did I forget to tell you that there was FOOD at every tasting station. So you nibble and sip…. Nibble and sip as you wander through Japantown. One of the stations was in the brand new Japanese-American museum that will be finished the end of August. A local ukulele band was playing while we sipped several different brands of sake. And another station was in the old hospital that has been converted into offices. The hospital was mainly used for deliveries and is a beautiful old building with a lovely garden in back. As we got to the half-way point, I was determined to finish all 28 stations. AND to make sure that we put our tickets in for the drawing. But as I got closer to the end of the list, I realized that I’m not sure I really like sake. One station encouraged us to go BACK to the stations we really liked for MORE sake. Oh dear. I wasn’t sure I’d get through them all once. And then Mark asked what we would do if we WON the case of sake. Oh dear again. But being a Type A person, I just HAD to get all my stamps. And we did. And, thank goodness, we did NOT win the drawing. Better luck next year….. NOT!

Tourist Part 3 - Down by the Bay

To give Meredythe a FULL NoCal experience, Mark and I decided to take her to Monterey. After all, it seems sad to come ALL the way to the WEST coast and not SEE the West Coast. And, we had a family membership to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We (foolishly it seems - see Tourist Part 2) also planned to drive through Carmel and the woodsy peninsula just south of Monterey. We got a "Meredythe-early" start and had a pleasant drive. Now, I have to share one of my foibles  - I don't like seafood. I don't even like pet fish. They smell bad and are slimey and swim in their own poo and pee. What self respecting Virgo COULD like something like that? But I am happy to watch fish swim around in someone ELSE'S aquarium that someone ELSE has to clean. So I do enjoy the Monterey Aquarium. And Meredythe did too. No matter what day of the week or what time of the day you go, you will ALWAYS find TONS of children there. School groups and families flock to this entertaining and very educational place - which is good.... unless you are trying to see anything. Another great part to this place is that you can take pictures.... LOTS of pictures. And with the new digital cameras, many of them even turn out. The Aquarium has created many exhibits for small children where you can prop your little one up inside the giant clam shell or next to the giant sea horse to get that great family photo. We had to wait our turn so that Meredythe could squeeze inside the clam shell for a photo op. It reminded me of years long ago....
I have two favorite parts at the Aquarium - the jelly fish and the seahorses. The staff have done an excellent job of creating a space for the jellies that make them appear to be floating in air. There is no sense of top or bottom or wall behind or glass in front. The room is dimly lit and the tanks are dimly lit and these shapes undulate in a blue space dancing together.

I have more pictures of them and could spend hours watching them flow and swirl. Many different shapes and sizes and species are on display. Each one is a treat for the eyes.

The seahorse display is also fascinating. I didn't know that there were so many different kinds of seahorses. We have some off the west coast and there are some off the east coast as well as exotic species in warm Asiatic waters. And the fathers carry and give birth to the young. How liberated is that? The mating ritual is a dance of entwinement and twirling and tail wrapping.... and then she rubs up against his belly leaving her eggs and heads off to the spa. He tenderly cares for the little squirming things growing in him and then, when it's time, he contracts his tail and pouch and out they pop. And HIS waistline is never the same.... I didn't notice if sea horse males have stretch marks.

This species disguises itself by looking like seaweed. So predators will just swim by because who in their right mind would eat seaweed? There is alot of propaganda in each display. The Aquarium is making a huge effort to educate the public on how to protect the oceans. And they take their fight all the way back to the farms on land with a display of a cow and how it crates methane and what that does..... They hand out cards of the best type of seafood to eat - most sustainable forms of growing or catching - and what to avoid because it is rare or fishing practices are detrimental to other species like sharks and sea turtles. Monkfish liver is on the bad list. I am VERY happy to NEVER eat monkfish liver in my life. There! I'm doing MY part. At first, I felt a bit arrogant and self righteous as I scornfully passed all the "save our planet" displays. After all, didn't we downsize, give up a car, commute to work by bike, walk more, buy locally etc, etc.? And then I watched some of the families reading each display carefully - grandmothers and small children, fathers and mothers and sons and daughters who may NOT have understood the issues or how to make changes. And I realized that I can do more too. Even if I don't eat fish.
After reading every display and looking in every gift shop and photographing fish AT LEAST once, Meredythe was ready to head home. And, no. We did not have time for Carmel or the trees..... maybe next visit.

Go Directly to Jail - Tourist Part 2

Meredythe wanted to spend two days in San Francisco touring a long list of places. So the first day, I suggested we take the Caltrain up as parking and driving in the city is NOT fun. Now, if you don't know Meredythe, let me fill you in on some of her endearing qualities. She LOVES to sleep. We discussed BEFORE she came out that she wouldn't see much if she slept the entire time she was here. So she made a tremendous effort to be up and ready to go at a reasonable hour most days. Unfortunately, our day to San Francisco by train was not one of those days. So we didn't get to the city until 1pm. We hiked over to Powell St and caught the cable car at the start of the route that goes through Union Square and over the hills to Fisherman's Wharf. I suggest that if you ever want to do the cable cars, do it this way. The line at Fisherman's Wharf is HUGE. We toured and tasted at Ghirardelli Square (delicious!) and walked through Fisherman's Wharf (pure kitsch!) and then hiked up Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower. And, yes, we saw and heard the parrots. And yes, we rode the creaky old elevator to the top of the tower to see the views. And yes, we admired the 1930's WPA murals on the walls in the base of the tower. And then it was time to jump on a bus and head back to the train station for the return to San Jose.
To complete the still-long list of places-to-see in the second day (and because we were staying in the city for dinner and a show), we drove. I dragged Meredythe out of bed, poured coffee into her and stuffed her in the car. We had tickets for the 11:30am boat out to Alcatraz and we had to find a place to park. So I wanted to get to the pier area early. We made it on the boat with time to spare. As you cross the 1.6 miles of cold windy water, you are greeted by empty derelict buildings clinging to the windy rocks. Alcatraz was first a military outpost to protect the bay. It was then used as a military prison until 1934 when it was turned into a federal penitentiary. It was closed in 1963. It also has the oldest lighthouse on the West Coast (which still functions today). As part of your entrance ticket, you get an audio tour with former prison guards as narrators.

Walking through the corridors of cells - which are VERY small - and seeing the narrow cot, metal fold-down table and seat, and toilet and sink was a bit unsettling. It is hard to imagine spending year after year in such a small space and having guards watch you sleep, read, and go to the bathroom. It made the Mouse House look very spacious and private. On the tour, you hear about the 1945 or 46 big shoot out - prisoners tried to escape, overpowered the guards and took several hostage. The Marines were called in and dropped tear gas and other explosive things (the narrator tells you to look at the cement floor in the space between the 2 corridors of cells to see the damage to the cement caused by the explosions). And you look into the cell where several of the guards were held captive by the prisoners. One prisoner started shooting into the cell and killed one of the guards. His photo and a vase of flowers are displayed inside the cell where he died. You also hear about the only "successful" escape from the island. In 1962, 3 prisoners made dummy heads, tucked them in their beds and crawled out the vents in the back of their cells. They made it over the roofs and to the beach. They planned to swim the 1.6 miles to the city. But they were never found or heard from again. The water temperature and very fast currents make the swim almost impossible.

Just when I thought that life for the prisoners was pretty bad, we arrived in D Block. These sets of cells were used when prisoners misbehaved. The bottom cells could be closed up so that they were completely dark. One prisoner stated that he would tear a button off his shirt, drop it on the floor and then hunt for it in the dark. When he found it, he would drop it again. The Birdman of Alcatraz was often housed here as he was very rowdy and hard to control.

While the cells were a bit depressing, the grounds were lovely. Prisoners were allowed out in an exercise yard. From this space, you have an amazing view of the Golden Gate bridge and San Francisco. It must have been hard to see and occasionally hear all the life and freedom and not have any. Some prisoners were allowed to create gardens. Along the western side of the prison, the space from the prison to just above the water has been turned into beautiful terraced gardens. The prison also had a library and prisoners could earn privileges allowing them to have books, paints and other recreational materials.

In 1969, after the prison had been closed, American Indians took the island over and held it for 19 months. They were protesting the treatment of Native Americans by the Federal government. This take-over is credited as the start of several other successful protests that led to the beginning of reform.
The island is now a national park and bird sanctuary. We were not allowed access to several places on the island as it was nesting time. The gulls, cormorants and egrets use Alcatraz as a major breeding site. We came across many nests in the areas we were allowed to go. The gull eggs were a beautiful green with brown spots. But, most interesting of all, was learning that the prison guards' families lived on the island with the guards. Apartments with utilities included were cheap and wives could take the boat into San Francisco making this a popular place to work. Children took the ferry to the mainland for school every day. And with the way the island is divided, the families had no access to the prisoners. When asked, families said that they felt safer here than in the city.
When the audio tour was complete, I looked for Meredythe (we got separated as her audio tour equipment wasn't working properly). I found a sunny bench and sat enjoying the view... and watching the birds..... and looking at my watch..... And then using the great modern invention of the cell phone, I tracked her down. She was able to join a group touring the upper floors of the prison where the hospital was. Apparently Al Capone had third stage syphilis and was very ill and very crazy. He spent quite a bit of time in a cell in the hospital ward. She finally showed up and wanted to see ALL the out buildings. So off we trudged to the derelict building where inmates had worked.... and the newer industries building where inmates worked.... and the social hall where families could go bowling and have a soda..... and the warden's house which is just a shell as it burned down..... and I looked at my watch and noted that it was 5:30. I suggested we head to the dock to catch a boat back. And as we headed there, we HAD to investigate the old military parts from the mid 1800's and look down the hole used as a jail and check out the cannons and take a picture of that amazing tree and wait - what about that building over there? And as we got to the dock, we watched the boat happily heading back to the city. Oh well. The last boat is still left.
I learned something more about Meredythe. She is a THOROUGH tourist. And keep the list of things to see VERY short. And pack a lunch and water and any other survival gear you might need. It could be a long day.

Tour DAY California - Here They Come

Living in San Jose allows you to experience many unique and exciting events.... like the Tour of California. Now, if you are not a bicycle nut like Mark, you may not KNOW what the Tour of California is. It is becoming the US equivalent to the Tour de France. And there are some BIG names that ride in it.... like Levi Leiphammer and David Zabriskie and Lance Armstrong. You get it - REALLY important bikers. The tour started in 2005 and this hosted 16 teams. The race lasted 8 days and covered 800 miles. And...... Taylor St. (just 1.5 blocks from our house) was part of Stage Four! Isn't that AMAZING!! So, of course we HAD to walk down early to be sure to get a good spot to see the racers ride by. We were very lucky as our section was part of the warm-up before the riders ACTUALLY started racing. So Mark said that they would be going by slowly. Good. I put my camera on fast speed and got ready. We arrived on Taylor St. and there was no one there...... well, just the police blocking traffic and one race marshall's car. But no spectators. Now, we were 30 minutes early. But we wanted to be READY with the best photo spot and best view and chatting with the crowd about our favorite cyclists and all that other important stuff. And then, the person in the marshall's car got a message on his walkie talkie - the racers would be by in SIX MINUTES. My heart started racing. I would get to see Lance and all the other famous riders! We stared down the road waiting and waiting..... and then I saw something! Look dear! They're coming..... no, it's just more police cars..... and police motorcycles..... and official race cars with important people in them..... and more police cars. I began to think that this might be a great time to rob someplace in the other end of town. And finally! A wall of bicycles appeared in the distance moving towards us........

Oh My! Where's Lance? I quick started snapping the camera.... which didn't QUICK take the pictures...... and the riders were right here.....

And I was trying to make the camera snap quicker.... and then they were past and I never even saw ANY of them. But I did get some great pictures of cops and cars and more cars!

And NEXT year, I'll be better prepared..... I'll leave the camera home!

Being a Tourist - Part 1

There are always places in my home town that I never visit.... until someone comes to visit. And this past week, Meredythe was here from Maine. So we became tourists. And in San Jose, one of the more intriguing places to visit is the Winchester House. This Victorian "home" was built and owned by Sarah Winchester, the wife of the guy who sold the Winchester rifle. After her husband died, she became very superstitious. A psychic told her that the spirits of all the people who had been killed by the Winchester rifle were angry with her. To prevent her death, she must move from CT to the West and build a home. As long as she continued working on the home, she would not die. So in 1884, Sarah began construction. The work continued every day for the next 38 years until she died in 1922. The house rambles and has many wierd quirks - like stairs that go up to a ceiling, doors and cupboards that open onto walls, and unfinished spaces. Now, I must explain that Meredythe is a very thorough tourist. She must see what is behind EVERY door and in EVERY cupboard. In a house like this, that can be a problem. We took the Mansion tour - 65 minutes of walking up and down narrow twisty stairs and through rooms and hallways. The Victorian architecture, wallpaper and exquisite Tiffany stained glass windows alone are well worth the tour. Mrs. Winchester, being a superstitious person, had a seance room that only she could enter. At midnight EXACTLY a servant would ring the bell in the tower in the middle of the complex of roofs. The bell's rope could only be reached by climbing over the roofs and using ladders or by a secret tunnel that only the one servant knew about. Mrs. Winchester would don one of thirteen robes kept in her seance room and commune with the spirits. The spirits would then tell her what they wanted her to build in the house next. She would jot the directions down on paper and in the morning give the note to her foreman who would then instruct the building crews. After being trapped in her bedroom in the front of the house after the 1906 earthquake, Mrs, Winchester decided that the spirits didn't want her to work on the front of the house anymore. The front 30+ rooms were shut up and never reopened again. Many elements in the house have 13 parts - chandeliers, windows, ceiling panels. And all the support posts were installed upside down (on the porches). The original estate had acres of fruit orchards and an 18 acre walled garden next to the house. Mrs. Winchester had 2 ballrooms, many guest bedrooms and bathrooms but never had any guests. She did not like visitors and even refused to see President Teddy Roosevelt. After her death, the house was sold and became a tourist attraction. It was almost torn down in the mid-seventies to make way for I-280. But a local family bought it and had it designated as an historical landmark. I'm glad they did. It is an amazing place.