Back From Reno

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We rode Amtrak’s passenger train, the California Zephyr, from Emeryville to Reno– an almost 7-hour trip through the backsides of towns– climbed the Sierra Nevada Mtns thousands of feet, captivated by the eccentric landscape cobbled together with other-worldly-looking boulders and rocks. The trip that never bored me was topped off with close-up views of the eastward flowing (one of the few in the West) Truckee River–a good companion during the last leg of the train ride.

At Sacramento we were joined by two members (Jack & Gene) of the railroad museum– docents, who provided passengers with a colorful narration of construction of the Central Pacific Railroad by the Big Four (Stanford, Huntington, Crocker & Hopkins).
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When I said the train passed through the “backsides” of towns (east of Emeryville), I mean there were fascinating scenes with abandoned broken cars, really good graffitti, litter and garbage, some of it artfully arranged and examples of dead industry.

Later we passed the errie sight of the “mothballed fleet”:
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Historic Roseville: DSCN0480.jpg

DSCN0551.jpg Climbing through the Sierra Nevada Mtns

ONE COMPLAINT: The food should be catered by Jeremiah Tower (former owner of Stars in San Francisco or Alice Waters)….This is California and there are plenty of great chefs. Why not have one on the Amtrak route between Emeryville and Reno?

…More later…Downtown Reno is changing quickly from the honky tonk town you may have known it as….

What is it?

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You can see it in the Pacific Ocean west of the Moss Beach Distillery–you can see it from the tidepools and the dreamy Cypress forest.

What is it?

It’s a concrete wall that dates back to WWII when it was erected to warn commercial fishermen and aircraft of the target practice range in the vicinity.

It’s west of the Moss Beach Distillery: Distill.jpg

Downtown San Mateo Needs A Sidewalk-Lift

I love what’s happened to downtown San Mateo. The new shops, the cute restaurants, the sidewalk cafes, very nice.

But when you look down at the sidewalks, mostly on 4th Ave, all the delicious appeal of dining out is lost. The sidewalks are grimy–downright dirty–in some places, filthy is the word.

Certainly doesn’t do much for enjoying a meal, particularly near the sidewalk cafes.

Don’t know whose responsibility the sidewalks are–but I’m not that anxious about showing off downtown San Mateo to friends from out-of-town.

Sybil & Louis at Tunitas Creek: (Short Version) (Part I)

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Dressed in ribbons and bows, Sybil Easterday was a precocious little girl who felt comfortable reciting poetry before audiences.

But as a young, eccentric sculptress at the turn of the century, she gained notoriety preferring the comfort of men’s trousers to the dainty frocks worn by her contemporaries.

Newspapers in New York City and San Francisco ran amusing pieces about the beautiful young woman from Tunitas Creek, south of Half Moon Bay. Sybil, a graduate of San Francisco’s Mark Hopkins School of Art, did not understand all the fuss.

She thought it quite natural to wear practical clothing while dipping her fingers into the tubs of wet, sticky plaster that she used to mold portrait busts.

As the sole female finalist in a competition to do a bust of President William McKinley for the City of San Jose, Sybil enhanced her reputation. She lost in the finals and took off for Mexico.

She thrived in Mexico’s artist colony, mailing smiling photographs of herself and new friends to her parents at Tunitas Creek. This may have been her happiest, most productive creative period.

Before the 1906 earthquake, she returned to the Coastside. But as time passed, Sybil painted and sculpted less and less. She enjoyed hosting large dinner parties and designed lovely, individually hand-printed menus for these affairs.

In late 1915, Sybil wed Louis Paulsen, a wealthy young bachelor from San Francisco. They probably met through the prominent Wienke family, who operated a resort hotel at Moss Beach–near the tracks of the Ocean Shore Railroad.

Sybil and her husband resided at the isolated Tunitas Creek home with Flora, her widowed mother.

Perhaps it was symbolic that Sybil’s life was interwined with the Ocean Shore Railroad, originally planned to extend as far as Santa Cruz. But the doomed Ocean Shore ran out of money and the tracks never got farther than Tunitas Creek, a few steps from the artist’s home. Passengers wishing to travel farther south climbed aboard a large touring car for the long, dusty trip to Santa Cruz.

…To Be Continued…

Photo: Courtesy San Mateo County History Museum. Visit the new gallerys at the San Mateo County History Museum at the historic Redwood City Courthouse in Redwood City.

Outside The San Benito House, HMB–1970s

OutsideSBHouse.jpg Stepping outside of the San Benito House in the 1970s.

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(Center Photo) In an earlier life the San Benito was known as the Moscone Hotel.SB 2.jpg(Photo Below, right) In the 1970s the San Benito House underwent a major facelift.

Back To New York: The Frick, My Favorite [Private] Museum

The Frick

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They have the original Vermeer “Mistress and Maid” [1665-70] –seen here. When you see this painting in person, you’ll see the maid she’s having a “conversation” with, and you’ll wonder what they could be talking about. It could be anything–you make it up.
They’ve got Rembrandts & Gainsboroughs & Turners & Whistlers & Titians & on & on, all in Mr. Frick’s historical home. Imagine how he lived while walking through his historical home.. Guaranteed to blow you awayPhoto: The Frick’s garden: DSCN0420.JPG

From the(1978) handbook: “The Frick Collection was founded by Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919), the Pittsburgh coke and steel industrialist. At his death, Mr. Frick bequeathed his New York residence and the most outstanding of his many art works to establish a public gallery for the purpose of “encouraging and developing the study of the fine arts.” Chief among his bequests, which also included sculpture, drawings, prints, furniture, porcelains, enamels, rugs, and silver, were one hundred thirty-one paintings. Thirty-eight additional have been purchased over the years by the Trustees from an endowment provided by the founder.

“Mr. Frick grew up in the vicinity of Pittsburg. From an early age he was interested in art, and his acquisitions recorded ov er a span of forty years show a continuing development of knowledge and discernment. After initially concentrating on Salon pictures and works by the Barbizon school, he purchased his first old masters around the turn of the century. In the next decade he acquired many of the distinguished paintings that established the character of the Collection as it is seen today. ….”

The collection will amaze you.

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