About to cross the bridge near the Middle River in Stockton...
Highway 4 went through the boonies...we saw a lot of farmland here.
The restaurant below is the Union Point Marina Bar & Grill. From what I saw online, this is the spot to go for folks when "boating on the Delta". It seemed so out of the way though, like in the middle of nowhere.
More signs...
McCafe drinks from the McD's at Bay Point (formerly known as West Pittsburgh). We needed a pit stop and to stretch our legs for a few minutes. One drink was a mocha and the other had caramel. Nothing special but good enough to keep us refreshed.
As we drove through San Pablo Ave, one of the main streets in El Cerrito and Richmond, I noticed this cool Googie sign. Had we known it was the only place in the East Bay to get authentic pupusas, we would have stopped! I thought it was a regular Mexican joint, but this was both Mexican and Salvadoran.
First stop before hitting Thane's (since they weren't quite home yet) was our return to Catahoula Coffee...it's been three years!
As you enter...
Menu:
Cool cup art:
Our macchiato proper and my espresso con panna. This was a double shot with housemade whip.
I wasn't expecting such a big cup for this but man, this was really good. The espresso was really smooth and not bitter at all (at least to me). You know it's good when you don't need sugar or anything to drown out the taste.
Bert's macchiato was prepared perfectly. The guys working here were really nice...
As you exit...
There was still time to kill. Thane and family were finishing up at a kid's birthday party in the City. He and his wife have alway been accomodating to us whenever we've stayed the night.
The building below is Puphut, which serves burgers, hot dogs and sandwiches. I was having a field day with the old eateries around here.
We ended up stopped at this bead shop in Richmond which also sold clothing, jewelry supplies, incense, candles, crystals and ethnic knick knacks from Africa and Asia. It was a family owned business and the lady and her daughters were very helpful. I ended up getting shell pendants (for future earring projects) while TC bought two tubes of henna for cheap.
The banners along this stretch of San Pablo Ave is named after Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza. I later learned that the Anza Borrego Desert is named after him. A high school also bears him name in Richmond.
Nation's Burger are all over the Bay Area. This burger chain was founded in El Cerrito. We enjoyed our burgers seven years ago at the Daly City location. This was the Nation's on San Pablo Ave and Central; the hill behind it is Albany Hill Park where I'm sure the homes have fabulous views of either the Berkeley Hills or the Bay.
Nearby, Al's Big Burger in Albany...
and Caspers, a hotdog place established in 1934 by Armenian immigrants.
Wow, that restaurant is old than my parents! Who knows what stories the walls could tell at Big Al's and Caspers!
Over on Solano Ave, we browsed the shelves at one of our favorite bookstore up here, Pegasus Books (there is another outpost in Berkeley).
This historic theater is no longer in use (they closed in 2011).
I liked the signs' messages of inclusion on the bookstore windows.
Plus this...
Now THESE are oven mitts that I would use in my kitchen!
They still have these around? This phone stand is obviously out of commission. They should just get rid of these.
When we finally made it to Thane's...we were pretty much exhausted as was his family. He ordered Vietnamese takeout at a nearby eatery where he and Bert picked up the food. While waiting at his home, TC and I entertained his two younger sons; the older one who is six, can draw pretty detailed mazes for Pac Man. The younger one (nearly three) enjoyed jumping on TC and also listening to her read stories. We watched some educational videos about the solar system, (no cartoon swill here not like when we were young children, ha ha) which soon became tiresome. The videos had the different planets "singing" about their various attributes
Here is a sample of what we had to endure. Oops. I just realized this is ALL of the videos in one. Yes 39 minutes of this, but hey, little Junior will know all there is to know about dwarf planets, (Uranus clocks in at 2:17, heh heh) at the end of this video.
But back to the food...
Here's the pic that Bert sent me, this was just a few minutes down the street...
Bun with pork:
Bun with beef:
Bun with shrimp:
His wife called this a pancake; I believe this was banh xeo (herbs were in a separate container)...
Dessert was a homemade apple tart made by Thane's wife, YSquared. He was pretty excited to show us his nifty vegetable/fruit peeler...
Not a bad way to end the evening. Now it was time to get some rest!
Lucky Handicrafts
12641 San Pablo Ave
Richmond, CA 94805
(510) 232-3830
luckyhc.com + reviews from yelp
Previous visit to Catahoula Coffee:
March 2014
Huong Tra
12221 San Pablo Ave, Suite 8
Richmond, CA 94805
(510) 234-7428
huongtravietnameserestaurant.com + reviews from that four lettered site
Our day in order:
Spring Break Trip 2017 Day 1 - Highlights
Full posts:
Spring Break Road Trip 2017 - Day 1: Tustin to Lost Hills + TC takes over
The Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) National Museum
Papa Urb's Grill, Stockton
Murals, Coffee fails in Stockton + drive by pix of businesses
The former Rizal Social Club, Little Manila
and this last post!
2 comments:
looks like a fun little trip. that bead shop is cute and so are those oven mitts. i suddenly have a craving for vietnamese food though. gotta stop reading around food time haha!
I need to start my Day 2 posts, Lynn. Man, I haven't been motivated lately...too tired when I get home from work. I usually do a mass post on the weekend where I backdate the posts. The bead shop was really cool and their prices were very low as well. The oven mitts, ha ha.
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