The Kingfish gets ready to move

The historic Kingfish bar is getting ready to move. I stopped in there Saturday after helping with the Oakland Urban Paths walk, and had a chance to talk with managing owner of the bar, Emil Peinert. Peinert was behind bringing the Kingfish back after it was closed for 18 months, and the quirky bar on Claremont is clearly something he's passionate about. When offered space in the new building that will be constructed on the location, he passed. When told by a contractor that it would be cheaper and easier to just tear the building down and build a new building, he found a new contractor.

The current schedule is to close on January 2. The move will occur on January 10. And if all goes well, they hope to be up and running in the new location about 2 months after that. The new location will have the old building and its decor, but it will also have space for a beer garden, and a second bar at the back.

new mural going up in Montclair Village

There's a new mural being painted in Montclair Village on the outside of the local Yogofina frozen yogurt shop. There are a few murals in the village and possible plans for another, but this is only the second spray paint art piece in the village, and by far the most visible. It's being painted by Lisa Pisa and Nite Owl. Read more about it on the new entry on the Oakland Wiki. Way cool.

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It's true. I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, even though it may seem like it. Between a nasty cold, lots of (needed) rain, and work, I haven't been out and about in Oakland much, and I've been blogging even less.

Oakland Urban Paths: Lakeshore to Park Blvd.

Saturday we had perfect weather as about 40 people and 3 dogs joined Oakland Urban Paths for a walk exploring the pathways and stairways between Lakeshore and Park Blvd. It's a walk we've done before, but there's always more to see. And Paul changed things up a little from the last time, in part because a stairway was closed because the city is doing some repairs and upgrades on it.

Part of the area originally belonged to Peder Sather, who Sather Tower (the Campanile) and Sather Gate at UC Berkeley are named for. Jane Sather allowed some of it to be used as a park, and that was the main destination of people riding trains over the railroad trestle that gave Trestle Glen its name.

We heard from Gerry Montemorency, former head of the Lakeshore Homes Association, the second oldest homeowners association west of the Mississippi. Among other things, the LHA created and maintains Oak Grove park, a privately-owned public space. We also talked about landslides in the area, including the 1926 Lerida slide which led to the destructuion of several homes, and Lerida Avenue being renamed Balfour.

We wandered up stairways and pathways to Park Blvd. where we stopped for a coffee break near the former Glenview Library. We went back via a different route along different stairways. One of the houses we passed was designed by Julia Morgan, but everyone agreed it was not her best work. There's also a house in the area (1041 Ashmount) designed by her mentor, Bernard Maybeck.

Another great walk, and the first half of a larger walk. We'll do the second part in December, when we go from Lakeshore to Piedmont Avenue.

Lots more pictures from the walk:

signs: Uptown Nightclub

I've posted a picture of the Uptown Nightclub before (wait...5+ years ago? How did that happen?) but that photo was during the day. It popped into the news with the announcement that they're closing next week. "Our lease is up and we've chosen not to renew." Bummer. In their honor, here's a night time picture of their great sign, plus a bonus of the smaller one in the window.

photo of the week: clearing storm

Unfortunately we didn't get much rain from Monday's storm, but we did get a glorious sunset.