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Bay seniors who think they’ve seen every specialized food shop imaginable, let me introduce you to the Pickle Shop in Berkeley They sell ten kinds of sauerkraut all naturally fermented in a brine with no vinegar or water. A typically obscure offering is Sea Kraut made of green cabbage, gold beet, burdock, ginger, hijiki, arame, […]

Bay seniors disheartened by the gray, dull lookalikes that pass for automobile design these days are advised to visit the Blackhawk Automotive Museum out in the plutocratic hills of eastern Contra Costa. It’s the most dazzling parking garage you’ve every likely to see with over 90 classics including the elegant 1933 Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow, as […]

Bay seniors may be forgiven for crowing about the blessed concurrence of our championships in both baseball and football. The only sour note is next year’s incarnation to the Santa Clara 49ers. A framed picture of Candlestick is a lump in the throat souvenir you can find in the 49er shop along with dozens of […]

Bay seniors looking to warm up their chilled bones and circulatory systems this season might want to consider Calvados, the glorious apple brandy from Normandy. The Geezer has located a shop that sells more than a dozen brands of this fine beverage though you’d never know it from driving by. Ledger Liquors, on a drab […]

Hey Bay seniors, why fool around with skeleton costumes this Halloween when you can have the real thing? On Solano Avenue in Albany the Bone Room has a macabre inventory of human skeletons, bones, fossils, claws and charmingly monstrous jewelry. In San Francisco the ever quirky Paxton Gate on Valencia has a selection that includes […]

Bay seniors with time on their hands might consider holding knitting needles in them. The world of knitting has moved way beyond your grandmother’s antimicassers. Check out a hip shop called  A Verb for Keeping Warm [what were they smoking when they came up with that name?] located in yet another unexpectedly gentrifying Oakland neighborhood. […]

Bay seniors who still can’t believe that all the 50’s stuff (avocado colored appliances,etc) we thought we’d left behind forever are cool again, are invited to check out the return of Heath Ceramics in Sausalito. All that Amish plain, Swedish modern crockery has roared back and is available in department stores and at Heath’s own […]

Bay seniors who remember “L’il Abner” might think the Dogpatch neighborhood is bumpkin city. Hardly. Board the 3rd Street light rail, pass the ghostly, monolithic new Mission Bay and get out at 20th Street. Stroll over to 22nd St. This industrial area of warehouses and 1860’s workers’ cottages is turning hip in a hurry.It’s easy […]