Spenger’s is the oldest restaurant in Berkeley according to the Berkeley book. From the Berkeley Library:
Begun as a tiny crab stand and bar by Johann Spenger in 1890, the establishment grew into one of the East Bay’s most popular eateries. At one time, Spenger’s operated its own fishing fleet and boasted that it served more meals than any other restaurant west of the Mississippi. Several generations of East Bay residents enjoyed family dinners in the restaurant’s maze of dark dining rooms.
My sketch group, SF Urban Sketchers, likes to go there occasionally for all the cool stuff to draw. Here’s one of my sketches, see the rest on our blog http://urbansketchers-bayarea.blogspot.com/
swordfish, marlin, tuna (I think)
My mother gave me this Chanel in about 1973 or 74. As you can see, I use it sparingly, but it is getting down to the bottom of the bottle. It’s still one of my favorites. I recently went into a Macy’s, saw some for sale with a “tester” — it smells the same!
I grew up with these statues, which, for some reason, we always called Hoover and Roosevelt. They were carved by my uncle William, whom I never met as he went to war and didn’t return. These statues, 20″ to 27″ high, were carved from redwood burl from the Big Sur coast where they lived on 160 acres under/adjacent to what is now called Bixby Creek Bridge. They are quite dark now, you used to be able to see the rich red burl grain. Maybe he intended them to be the two presidents, or maybe my mother or my brother and I just named them that.
There are a few evenings when I have hours to spend on art, but this was not one of them — I had a glass of wine, and enjoyed doing this little watercolor sketch. I had a bunch of fun earlier designing book covers for some musicians I happen to know!
