One thing that I really wanted to do when we were out west was go to a flea market/swap meet. Today we went to the Oakland flea market near Laney College.
It was pretty crazy. Much like the Hometown Auction, but with less kielbasa and more tortillas. And instead of most things for sale being knock-offs, most stuff here was hot. It's not uncommon for your bike to go missing only to find some ruffneck selling it on Sunday.
I bought this rad purse for a couple dollars.
And some ties to make camera bags. Here is a chicken tie I gave to John.
Here is Sasha wearing it later.
Here is a shot of the flea market.
This is one of the dresses I bought. I got a bag of cute tops and dresses for 9 bucks. I'll post when I wear them.
Afterwards, we went back to Johns to eat. Here are some shots of John's street.
And some of the houses.
We made this pulled chicken and let it sit in the crock pot all day. John is in love with crock pots right now and wants to write his own cook book. This is a take-off on my Arizona Ranch chicken wings.
Basically, it is three bottles of hot sauce: Crystal, Franks Red Hot and the Chicken hot sauce, plus a half a bottle of ranch, assorted spices and a little butter. About 8 chicken legs hung out in it for 8 hours. Get ready for the hot - it will kill. Here are our used bottles.
After lunch, we went to this movie theatre turned speakeasy to see "29:95 frames per minute" and the Hood Games awards. Hood Games is a organization that sets up skate parks in rougher neighborhoods to inspire kids to skate instead of join gangs. Very impressive and worthwhile org.
The traditional seats were gone and instead replaced with couches and chairs from IKEA. You can sit at tables and eat pizza and drink beer. Who doesn't love that.
After the show, I went across the street to take the shot above and this was on the ground. I think that this says it all about the Bay Area and the rapid decline of affordable housing, let alone the culture.
We stopped at Johns and then walked down to Piedmont to look around a local magazine/book shop called Issues. Here are some highlights of the walk.
This is the biggest Hens and Chick I've ever seen. It's as big as my head… if that tells you anything.
Finally, Issues.
Here is the journal that I bought. It's really pretty cool. It instructs you to destroy it page by page.
That night we went to Pacific Coast Brewery. I had an Apricot Wheat which was better than any that I've had before, including the Bullfrog.
It is in downtown Oakland.
We got this huge plate of cheese, bread and apples. This is part of the reason I came back from Oakland a little chubby. That is a whole wedge of brie and what is left of the cheddar. The giant granny smith is gone by now. I was so excited I forgot to take a picture before I dug in. It is the BEST cheese plate EVER - better than the Irish Pubs'! And trust that I am a hunter of cheese plates. It was only 7.99. Kick ass.
So, we drank some beer and went back to John's and drank some more. And watched some videos on YouTube, including this one. You can thank me later for bringing this into your life.
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