Visiting Alameda...

Last Saturday I took Andy to Alameda for his birthday surprise. I had a great many things planned but it ended up that the first one was so fascinating we stayed there over 4 hours and didn't do any of the other things I had on my list (and I had thought we would run out of things to do! Hah! Silly me!)...

Our day started with a filling breakfast from the Wren's Cafe, nestled along Highway 80 about 35 minutes out of Sacramento. Here is a photo from their Facebook page because I totally forgot to take a photo of it that morning!

Then we drove down 80 to 880 and into Alameda. I had not been there for probably 40 years and had never been to anything historical there so this was a treat for me too.

I had several places on my list:  USS Hornet, Alameda Naval Museum, a microbrewery, the Pinball Museum... a little history and hopefully a lot of fun!

The USS Hornet has quite a history, both in wartime and with the space program. HERE is info all about it and how to get there if you are in the area. I took a ton of photos but here are just a few to show you the vastness of it all...

HERE is my Flickr album if you would like to see more photos from the USS Hornet excursion.

After spending 4+ hours at the USS Hornet though, we were hungry and went searching for lunch at 2 pm. Found it in a delightful deli on Webster Street too! (Forgot to take photos of the food, we were so hungry!)

Then Andy decided he would rather do the Pinball Museum another time and so we took off for another old favorite, Port Costa and the Warehouse Cafe. We hadn't been there for several years so we stopped in for a brew before heading home. An eclectic biker bar dive if you've ever seen one, but lots of brews and that afternoon a very funny bartender who kept us amused.

I was glad Andy enjoyed his birthday surprise as it is sometimes quite a challenge to come up with something inventive for him, especially after he has surprised me the month before for my birthday!