WIDE OPEN WALLS

This past Sunday, Lou & I spent about three hours driving around downtown Sacramento with a not-to-scale, not detailed map of Wide Open Walls searching for new murals on the walls of various buildings throughout the city. It was almost like a treasure hunt of sorts as we found many of this years new murals to view & photograph.

This California mural is actually ten different murals created by ten different artists. Lou took this photo with his panoramic setting since it was too large to include in one normal picture.

Here is some detail in the "C" which was probably at least ten feet tall.

Each of the letters in California depicted an artist's rendition of our beautiful city & state.

This is the third year of Wide Open Walls, also called the Sacramento Mural Festival. I believe it is a city sponsored event which now showcases over 100 murals around the city. Wide Open Walls promotes diversity through artistic expression and believes that art should be part of daily life. The festival brings local, national and international artists together to transform our region with amazing street art.

These three were my favorites. They were all along the same wall by the same artist.

The artist's use of roses on the faces & backgrounds especially intrigued me. Who knew studying the walls of warehouses would be as fascinating as exploring art museums.

I loved the color scheme using all my favorites - pinks, purples & blues.

Wide Open Walls ran from August 8 to 18 featuring 44 artists & 30 new murals in the greater Sacramento region. This year’s lineup included internationally renowned & returning local artists. These artists are given 10 days to create their masterpieces which showcase the talents of a diverse group of painters.

These are just some of the creations for Wide Open Walls. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be any explanations of what the artists were attempting to convey so we were on our own to decide.

The river, canoe & trees that made up this woman's hair was quite interesting. Maybe that is what she was thinking about?

Most didn't even have titles but this is some detail of a really long mural called, "Mars 1".

Trying to capture photos without cars, dumpsters, lights, wires & signs in them was a real challenge but I did my best.

Lou thought this looked like the inside of an otter. At first I thought it might be a dinosaur of some sort but he may be right.

I liked the colorful decoration that adorned the sides of buildings. Employees will see this everyday as they walk into the office.

The side of a parking garage across the street from Golden 1 Center, our downtown arena, where the Sacramento Kings play.

This appeared to be a large warehouse building that now houses a cafe & some shops.

Your guess is as good as mine. Looks like a cross between a bumble bee & an airplane with a radial engine that appears to be on fire!?!?!

SIGHTS & SOUNDS OF ORACLE PARK

Okay, I can't actually convey the sounds of the ball park in a written & photo blog but suffice it to say there was lots of cheering, yelling, singing, thwacking & some booing which I'll explain later. Lou & I took off for a Giants-Phillies game at Oracle Park in San Francisco early last Saturday. It only took 11-1/2 hours of our time to drive to Alameda, take the ferry, watch the game, take the ferry back & drive home with a dinner stop.

A view of San Francisco & the Bay Bridge as our ferry boat crossed the bay from Alameda.

As we passed Yerba Buena Island in the middle of San Francisco Bay, Lou took this photo of Yerba Buena Lighthouse on the southeast corner of the island. The Bay Bridge passes through the island in a tunnel. Man made Treasure Island is on the other side.

More detail of the city of San Francisco skyline as we approached the ball park. Notice the Salesforce Tower at 1070 feet near the center that is now the tallest building in the city.

Oracle Park from San Francisco Bay. The ferry docks literally steps from the entrance. You can see the kayakers who patrol McCovey Cove for home run & foul balls that make it to the water.

Oracle Park opened in April 2000 with the name Pacific Bell Park (PacBell Park). It received country-wide rave reviews with its classic features & breathtaking views. It was later known as SBC Park & AT&T Park before becoming Oracle Park when the software company purchased the naming rights prior to this season.

There is a new high tech scoreboard in center field this year. Both Lou & I thought there were too many things cluttering it up that changed frequently. It wasn't easy to see the balls & strikes or pitch count. 

The iconic Coke bottle & baseball glove have been fixtures at the park since it opened in 2000.

A new Oracle Park sign at one of the park entrances. The statue of Giants pitcher Juan Marichal with his high leg kick is at this corner. Willie Mays Plaza down the block has a statue of the superstar outfielder. And across McCovey Cove is a statue of the beloved first baseman who recently passed away.

Life long Giants fans, Lou & I cheered on our team through three World Series Championships - 2010, 2012 & 2014! But lately our cherished Giants have fallen on hard times. I believe we have had an amazing run & maybe, just maybe, it will happen again in my lifetime.

Our players lined up for the National Anthem sung by a teenage girl who really belted it out! We had gulped down our Doggie Diner hot dogs & sodas (for a cool $26) just making it to our seats in time for the Star Spangled Banner.

First baseman Brandon Belt leading off. He has been slumping lately but hopefully he will get hot soon. Didn't happen yesterday.

Jeff "The Shark" Samardzija pitched a great 8 innings giving up only 1 run & 2 hits.

Our third baseman, Evan Longoria, just before he hit a home run early in the game.

One of my favorite players, shortstop Brandon Crawford, who is from Pleasanton, California. 

With McCovey Cove (named for Giants great Willie McCovey) just beyond the right field wall, there have been 79 "Splash Hits" (home runs hit into the cove on the fly). Most of those are owned by Giants outfielder Barry Bonds who holds the all time home run record of 755.

Right field in Oracle Park. Levi's Landing is about 4 rows of seats in front of McCovey Cove. There is a walkway before the water of the cove starts. On TV Friday night, two balls were hit into McCovey Cove. The first was by our backup catcher, Stephen Vogt & the second by Phillies star Bryce Harper. Our fans, me included, boo Harper mercilessly when he comes up to bat. He was a free agent last year & the Giants tried hard to get him but he chose the Phillies over us. I never really liked him anyway & was glad he didn't come here. As he rounded the bases on Friday night, he put his finger to his lips shushing the fans who just booed louder.

The view from our seats.

Local boaters always enjoy coming to McCovey Cove for games in various boats, rafts, kayaks & assorted floating devices. A couple weeks ago some guys had a giant white inflatable swan that held four of them & an ice chest full of beer.

More boats in McCovey Cove.

We were fortunate to see two of our Giants, Evan Longoria & Kevin Pillar, hit home runs. The weather was beautiful.  And we won the game 3-1 behind some great pitching & power hitting - always makes for a nice day!

Our closer, relief pitcher Will Smith, has been doing great this year including a trip to the All Star Game. We saw him record his 28th save of the year.

The last out of the ball game as the Giants beat the Phillies 3-1 &
Bryce Harper went 0 for 4. Woo Hoo!

The high five line after the victory. It will take some doing but they are still in contention for a wild card if they can win more than they lose the rest of the season. Go Giants!

ALOHA, OAHU!

After saying "Aloha" to Darrin & Charley at the Lihue, Kauai airport, Lou & I boarded our flight to Oahu. Twenty minutes later we touched down in Honolulu. We picked up our rental car, grabbed some lunch & headed to our first stop, the Hawaii State Capitol.

The Hawaii Capitol building is totally different from most of the Capitols we have visited. There is no dome & nothing to indicate that it is a state capital. It looks pretty much like any other building.

The courtyard is open air with the offices around the edges of the building. The Senate & House chambers are located in the basement & weren't open to the public. Peeking in the windows they weren't anything special or decorative.

This is the Lieutenant Governor's conference room. The government workers were really friendly showing us what they could. I think they were glad to have a diversion from their normal work day.

From the Capitol, we drove to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific located in Punchbowl Crater in Honolulu. Over 13,000 soldiers & sailors who died in World War II are buried there.

The entrance to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Turning 180 degrees from the above photo was this view of downtown Honolulu with Diamond Head in the background.

The cemetery still flies the POW-MIA flag near the Vietnam Memorial to honor the soldiers still missing & unaccounted for - those without a proper burial.

Next we found our high rise condo near the Honolulu Airport & squeezed the rental car into the tiny parking space in the condo garage. Turns out the condo was just about as tiny as the parking space! But it was fine for what we needed. I used VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) for both condo rentals. I was happy with the service.

With property being at a premium there are a lot of high rise condo buildings. Ours was 28 floors tall & we were in a corner unit on the 27th floor. The entire apartment - living room, kitchen, bedroom & bath - was about 40 feet by 40 feet. It was fine for a few days but no way would I want to live in a tiny space that high up!

This is a queen bed which pretty much takes up the entire bedroom. Being a person who does not do heights well, sleeping a couple of feet from a 27 story drop was not conducive to a good night's rest. There will be a whole another post about that experience at a later date.

The Five Regents condo building where we stayed. Our place was on the upper right of this photo one floor below the top.

Our first stop the next day was the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum (formerly the Pacific Aviation Museum) on Ford Island. My military ID allowed us to drive our car onto the island rather than take a shuttle to the museum.

This was the control tower on Ford Island when the Japanese attacked on December 7, 1941. However, the red & white tower was added later after the attack. Only the small tower was in service that infamous day.

This is a Stearman that George H.W. Bush trained in. It has been verified that the plane is indeed one that was flown by the former president & war hero.

This is a rare Nakajima B5N2 Kate aircraft. I believe the docent said it is one of only two that still exist in the world.

These four women were instrumental in petitioning our government to use women pilots to ferry aircraft to various military institutions. It took over a year but they were finally allowed to help out the cause during World War II with their flying skills. One of these amazing women, Cornelia Fort, died while serving her country.

Hangar 79 is one of the original hangers from the Pearl Harbor attack. Today it  is part of the museum & houses some of the historical aircraft. It also serves as the restoration area for many recovered airplanes.

Some of the remaining bullet holes from the Japanese attack in Hangar 79. The docent said, "This hangar not only houses history, it IS history."

The restoration area of Hangar 79.

With my military ID we were able to drive to the USS Utah Memorial on Ford Island which is not open to the public. The training battleship was torpedoed during the raid on Pearl Harbor & 58 men lost their lives. They are still entombed in the ruins of the ship. Some survivors have requested that their ashes join their crewmates upon their deaths.

Following lunch at the air museum, we drove back downtown to tour the Iolani Palace, the royal residence of parts of the Kamehameha Dynasty & the Kalakaua Dynasty ending with Queen Liliuokalani.

The palace is beautifully furnished & has a great audio tour that takes about an hour to complete.

Iolani Palace is located just across the street from the Hawaii State Capitol.

A smaller dining room in the palace. 

This display showed an exquisite dress for a formal occasion. Look at the portrait where the woman is wearing this same dress in the painting.

Just a few days before we left for Kauai, Lou & I celebrated our 18th anniversary. We decided to enjoy a fancy dinner in Honolulu & make our few days on Oahu our anniversary gift to each other. Darrin had recommended La Mariana, a tiki bar & restaurant that he loves. It was near our condo but when we called to make a reservation we learned it was closed for renovations. Damn!

After some discussion, we decided to head down to Waikiki Beach & eat at Duke's (named for the father of surfing, Duke Kahanamoku).

As expected the parking was terrible. We found a garage near the back of the International Marketplace. As we walked through the area to Kalakaua Avenue, the main drag along Waikiki Beach, we kept looking around saying, "Where is the International Marketplace?" Asking at an information booth we discovered that the vendor stalls & shops had all been replaced by an upscale shopping mall in 2016! Apparently, they saved a few places for vendors down the street & around the corner.

The front of the new International Marketplace. From what I could see they turned Waikiki into a mini Rodeo Drive. It is all high end stores & fancy restaurants (with the occasional ABC Store thrown in). I remembered lots of little shops & funky eateries back 25 years ago when I was last here. I liked it better back then.

It turned out that the wait at Duke's was 1-1/4 hours for dinner. We found this place in the International Marketplace called Shorefyre. If you look at the previous photo, the balcony where we are sitting is above the Tesla sign. The food was good & of course, the company was even better.

Following dinner we walked across the street to the Royal Hawaiian for a drink at the Mai Tai Beach Bar. I had a $13 Blue Hawaii & Lou had a $15 Mai Tai.

Waikiki Beach at night taken from the Royal Hawaiian Beach Bar.

Our last full day we decided to drive around the island & enjoy the scenery. My recollection of the rest of Oahu was that it was pretty remote & fairly uninhabited. That was wrong, too, just like my recall regarding Waikiki. Our first stop was the Dole Plantation.

We stumbled upon the Dole Plantation on our drive around the island. I was here about 45 years ago & remember taking a tour (there are no more tours, just gifts galore). I recall a drinking fountain that had pineapple juice come out of it but that is long gone, too.

Some of the scenery around the Dole Plantation. There is a train ride & a garden tour but we passed on both of those activities.

We did however indulge in the pineapple flavored soft serve ice cream. Yummy!

No, I'm not a two-fisted ice cream eater - just held Lou's while he took the picture.

While the beaches & scenery were indeed spectacular, it was far from uninhabited. We ran into huge traffic jams near Waimea & Sunset Beach. I'm assuming that since it was the Fourth of July many people were off work & heading to the beaches to enjoy the holiday.

The beach at Bellows Air Force Station - another benefit of my military ID. The recreation facilities are open to the public on the weekends but this was a midweek holiday which still restricted admission.

Makapuu Point Lighthouse. It was a 1-1/2 mile hike to reach the lighthouse so we just zoomed in for the photo.

Some of the gorgeous views of the turquoise waters of the Pacific Ocean.

More of the breathtaking, beautiful blue waters of Hawaii's coastline.

Diamond Head Lighthouse. Lou made the trek up to the top of Diamond Head but I didn't even try. Given the time constraint (the park was closing in less than two hours), the heat & humidity, it seemed like a much better idea to sit on a bench in the shade.

The rainy view of Waikiki Beach from the top of Diamond Head.

Our 27th floor condo allowed us some great views of various fireworks in the Honolulu area celebrating our country's birthday.

It was nice just sitting on the couch with a glass of wine enjoying the fireworks.

Looks like this was part of the grand finale. Lou took these & gets photo credit on many of the pictures in this post.

I always try to look for something unique to a place we visit. These Women & Men restroom signs caught my eye this time. There were several versions of the idea in many areas.

I loved the added touch of a lei & a flower in her hair for the women's room sign.

And, of course, the man had to be wearing a Hawaiian shirt.