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+--- Thread: A night in Berkeley and Oakland (/showthread.php?tid=8938)
A night in Berkeley and Oakland - King Bob - 07-16-2026
We were invited to a wedding reception for the daughter of one of Christina's oldest clients (and a friend). Christina was doing hair for one of the brides as well. She wanted to spend the night, and had always wanted to stay at the Claremont. I didn't want to spend that kind of money, but held my tongue since she first mentioned it about 30 years ago.
I had time to kill while she did hair, so I walked down Claremont to Dark Carnival, a bookstore that specializes in SF, fantasy and horror. That's probably 75% of the store. A few crossover titles that other store might put in the general fiction section are interspersed as well. This place is amazing and I heartily recommend it to all DOOMers! Way better than Borderlands in SF. It's almost all new except some vintage mass market, but some titles are marked down, possibly remainders. There are a lot of UK imports as well, and some of those were very nice. Lots of authors and titles I'd never seen before. I bought three books and spent all my cash but wanted many more. Oddly, when I went to pay, the shopkeeper sent me two doors down to the Comic shop to get rung up. And there's a coffee shop almost next door.
Reception was at Pizzaiolo on Telegraph, and I recommend it as well. Excellent pizza and all the food was delicious, notably the arancini. The wedding cake was also delicious. We were seated next to an SJSU alum (math) who told me that Stevie Nicks also went to SJSU, which I didn't know.
IMO the hotel was a bit of a letdown. The room was nice, but clearly fairly recently remodeled (bldg is from 1916) and had no charm. I've only stayed in a couple of fancy hotels but the St. Francis in SF had more charm.
In the morning we walked down to a nearby bakery called Fournee which was excellent. I had a croissant with gruyere and manchego, but was torn because I also wanted the date roll. Everything looked fantastic, and people were lined up before they opened.
RE: A night in Berkeley and Oakland - Greg - 07-17-2026
Obviously you haven't talked to DM enough about Stevie Nicks, then.
RE: A night in Berkeley and Oakland - Drunk Monk - 07-17-2026
So obvs
Why do you think I went there?
Actually it was just to be able to beat the Yeti in foil until he enrolled...
RE: A night in Berkeley and Oakland - Greg - 07-17-2026
(Yesterday, 09:15 AM)Drunk Monk Wrote: Actually it was just to be able to beat the Yeti in foil until he enrolled...
How'd that work out for you?
RE: A night in Berkeley and Oakland - Drunk Monk - 07-17-2026
It worked well... until he enrolled.