Bert and I spied this toward the end of last year but it hadn't yet opened. This time, it looked "fully operational"...
When I asked the guy when they opened, he said, "This morning" to which I replied (thinking he was being sarcastic to me), "No, really, when did you guys open?" and he said again, "This morning...literally". Okay, I got it then. I was assuming they'd been open a few days already. So yeah, the 16th of January was their very first day EVER. I'm really glad that North Park has pretty decent used bookstore. This one is pretty big with well marked sections. They had a mix of old and newer titles in a variety of genres as well as vintage books (some of which were encased in glass drawers). The vibe was relaxed and the folks working here were pretty nice and friendly.
Cool artwork on the walls as well...
What I walked away with was a Summer 1976 issue of the Journal of San Diego History, only $2. I actually already have this but I always like having an "extra" copy. There is an article inside which later became a book. I USED to have two copies, one of which was signed by the author, but it was either lent out or taken from me, never to be seen again (sob).
I came upon my copy of this book (same title as the article above) about 22 years ago. One of my friends worked at the school where the author's daughter attended. Adelaida Castillo (later Castillo-Tsuchida) wrote one of the first accounts of Filipino American history in San Diego by documenting the migrants presence in our fine city dating from post Spanish American War up to post WWII (during the heydey of American colonization in the Philippines). This was her MA thesis at USD and later became a published book which is pretty hard to find nowadays.
Northwards a block on 30th was one of our favorite coffee places, Caffe Calabria. Dark Horse had a line out the door and I didn't want to wait so we headed to Calabria instead. We got to sit in the back room with the coffee roaster. It's nice and quiet in there.
TC's spiced chai latte, Bert's Bicerin (espresso with Nutella and soy), and my macchiato served with a side of sparkling water. Calabria and Lofty are the only two coffee places I've been to that does that.
The drinks here are consistently excellent. They don't do any fancy mixed coffee drinks like Holsem but what they do, they do well.
Later, at home...TC's plant purchases.
The airplant from the hipster store, Pigment.
From City Farmer's nursery, her cactus, mini swordplant and succulent plugs. The cactus was $4.95 while the plugs were were .99 each.
She already named this pair, Fred and George...
As in Fred and George Weasley (the Weasley twins from the "Harry Potter" series and movies, played by real life twins, James and Oliver Phelps).
Of course. My friend C from Manitoulin Island also has a pair of ginger tabbies, also named Fred and George.
Verbatim Books
3793 30th St.
San Diego, CA 92`104
www.verbatim-books.com - It doesn't seem up and running yet though and reviews from yelp
Previous visit to Caffe Calabria:
September 2015
I have some older books I may want to unload at Verbatim. It's nice to see a bookstore of this nature in North Park. I remember when there used to be so many used bookstores all along Adams Avenue, downtown San Diego and in Hillcrest. Only a few remain from the late 80's/early 90's heydey.
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