Oakland

Prior to the last weekend in June, I had only been to Oakland for baseball games or use of the airport. People don't normally speak favorably of Oakland and I just never made an effort to explore the area. I am still no expert on Oakland and I'm pretty sure I never want to get too lost in that city, but I now know that there are some great spots there.

The purpose of the excursion was what my new friend Victor termed a "LinkedIn" evening - just a gathering of random people for dinner and a show. I naturally got lost en route to dinner (not too lost), but still managed to arrive on time. Actually, most people showed up well past the slated start time. I'm still adjusting to perpetual lateness out here. Anyhow, dinner was at Everett & Jones, which claims to be the Bay Area's finest barbeque, and it was very good indeed. After dinner, we headed to Yoshi's, a jazz club, for a blues show. Even though I was wiped out from my trip to Napa earlier that day, I rebounded with an Irish Coffee and thoroughly enjoyed the evening.