What a lovely evening in The Creek. How different it is there than i the streets I more…read morecustomarily travel. So pale. So placid. Not in a bad way. A passel of patriots plied the portals of perfection for a handful of hours last night, passing from place to place, pleasing our palate with the plenty poured ... Stop. Sorry. It was a lot of fun. A dozen or so eateries and shops and a piano store to visit, each with a small sample of their fare or something they brought to get us in the door. The crowd wasn't huge, the beneficiary of the gate a lovely organization about which I'd like to learn more. I think I liked those little sausages in a taco proffered at Stelle Bistro the best of all. While my big hands made the sausages look so small once I wrapped my lips around them there was no turning back. I had two. They were so good. Nique, Jayzee, 'Nessa and I tripped those lights fantastically. The evening's end on the couches at Residual Sugar sipping the bubbles thank you very much for the bubbles, my dear, was as pleasant a group together as I've had in a very long time. We didn't Gallop. We strolled. We're from Oakland, after all.

Now this was one nice little fun walking adventure I must say! A self-paced guided tour of Walnut…read moreCreek, in which it was created to raise funds and help students of the Diablo Ballet. I can't say I've ever been to an actual ballet performance, but after meeting the staff and supporters that put this event together; I wouldn't mind checking out one of their shows in the future. Just to show my support. The great thing about this event was that it began at one of my favorite places, Massimo! We checked in, started out with a serving of Cesar salad, pasta, and garlic bread. A good starting location, as you explored that map and scheduled your adventure. I've already done over half of the places listed, like: Massimo, Walnut Creek Yacht Club, Lark Creek, Hamachi, SF Creamery Company, Lottie's Creamery, Silk Road, The Counter, and Peet's Coffee. But I would have to highlight where I stopped: ~Massimo's soft penne pasta bolognese! Perfect! ~WC Yacht Club's watermelon gazpacho with shrimp and pine nuts! Delish! ~Lottie's served up some floats! Loved the root beer and orange flavored soda! ~Silk Road had some fresh hummus and flatbread with chicken pomegranate. This was some serious stuff! I should've asked for a second serving. ~The Counter: Sweet potato, onion strings, and parmesan garlic fries. Ok, but not a fan. Highlights of new places I've never stepped foot in, until now: ~Steinway Piano Gallery - Served up some wine from Las Positas Vineyards. Sorry, didn't like the wine, but loved the background music from the pianist. ~SkinSpirit - Serving Laughing Glass Cocktails and L'Artisan Gourmet Parisian Macarons. Unfortunately I gave up drinking, but gave the drink a sip and knew it was too good for me to finish. As for the macarons, they were OK only a little too soft for me. ~54 Mint Forno - Wow, my third favorite stop. A new WC bakery discovery. Loved the samples, but recommend everyone to take home one of their quiche's. Egg buttery goodness! ~Opa! - My second favorite stop. Why? Because everyone should try their spanakopita. Super flaky and made just right. As was their dolmas. It wasn't overly lemony like most places make it. Damn near perfect! ~We Olive - MY FAV! Enjoyed the ladies that helped me out. I sampled everything and very much plan to come back. This place gets its own personal highlights because of the variety of balsamic and olive oils. Ellen displaying her Chubtastic Wine Bottle Art as well. I wish I knew of this place long ago. Oh, and the brownie/wine combo...mmm!!! Overall, if you haven't really explored Walnut Creek, then this would have been a great opportunity to do so. And also a great way of showing your support for the hard working ballet students. If this continues next year, I shall plan to gallop once again. My only negative star would be because, I didn't see fellow yelpers flaunting any Elite name badges :(

This year the honey and I decided we would try out a couple different Christmas Tree Lanes instead…read moreof just driving around hoping to find different lit neighborhoods. This Christmas Tree Lane is perhaps the ultimate Christmas Tree Lane, considering it's an extremely dense block where every single home is lit up with different displays. On one end there was a table with kids selling cookies and hot chocolate and in the middle there was a frosty ice cream truck. We got a bit lucky as it was less busy when we drove in around 6pm or so, but it was a madhouse by the time we wrapped up our visit. We later drove over to the San Ramon Christmas Tree Lane on Woodland Drive and found it to be much less busy and a bit more enjoyable as their streets were wider. All in all, this Christmas Tree Lane is definitely something to experience once, but unless you're local to Alameda I'm not sure I'd make it a yearly trip.

This was our first time going to Christmas Tree Lane here! There are not much areas with Christmas…read moredecoration / lights in this area, so it was nice to be able to find an area with beautiful Christmas decorations and lights. Not much parking that was close by and it was a bit cold / windy during our visit, so we just drove down the street and it was beautiful still.

My friend & I had a great time at Gourmet East Bay. I'd rate it a 3.5 due to some issues, but the…read morefood was good and I would return next year. The food will be different every year (take a look at the pics for some examples of this year's offerings), so I'll just list the issues that I hope they can work on for next year: - Lines at every single food/wine station. This was inefficient and annoying. As someone in line in front of me said, "I didn't pay $70 to wait in line" lol. I'm not sure how to alleviate this except a larger space/less people at the event... - Although they were good, the band was WAY too loud. They should be background music since this event was not a concert. It was uncomfortable to be anywhere near them and we spent most of our time in the back of the room. Even there, it was still pretty noisy! - As Shari V. noted, there was only one booth that offered desserts! Coffee doesn't count... - There was a major problem with booths running out of food. Many stations were out of food by 8:30. Koi Palace had the largest line and was out of food by 8:15 (event goes until 10 according to the ticket). Kudos to the ones who came prepared! Food highlights/lowlights: Postino was our favorite Kinder's had largest portions! Desserts from The Park, since they were the only ones, stood out as being good :) Koi Palace & Forbes Mill were totally out of food very early on Other notes: Dress code was interesting. Ranged from "I'm here to get a husband" to "I'm here taking a night off from my hordes of children". All in all though, we had a great time and met some very nice and interesting people (Hi Ron, Wood & Gayle!) I would love to come back next year and this is an event for a great cause, so I can't knock it too much. Please work on fixing these issues for next year!

What is most impressive about this event - besides the exquisite line-up of restaurants, bottomless…read morepours of wine, and rockin' cover band - is the price! Only $60 (with the Yelp ticket discount) is a crazy good deal considering the amount of food, wine, and entertainment flowing all night. I can easily spend that much on a dinner out, but at Gourmet East Bay you get to eat at 30 restaurants instead of one. Tough sell, huh? You might expect a Walnut Creek foodie event to be a tad, well, snooty. But the crowd is surprisingly vibrant, young (at heart), and fun-loving at this event. By the end of the night, you can expect the dance floor to be filled with a proud display of wine-drenched smiles and 'white people dancing' moves. Good, innocent fun. All the restos give generous small plate samples. Highlights this year were the porcini mushroom polenta from Postino, and the lemongrass marinated burger from Eleve. There were a ton more tasty and indulgent bites, so many that if I tried them all I'd have to opt for my elastic waist jumpsuit. This time, I went with a party dress and a smidge of self-control. Regrets? Perhaps. It's a little tricky to find the location, as they literally put a big fancy tent over a parking lot in Broadway Plaza (though, it looks way cooler than it sounds!) But, once you're there you'll feel like parking lot royalty. Most definitely worth the ticket price! Sidenote: judging from past reviews, looks like Gourmet East Bay used to be a restaurant week type of promo, but nowadays it's one big bash. Woohoo for you!

***GRAND OPENING*** for 'Off the Grid' in Pittsburg, California…read more Got off work and battled traffic on hwy 4 to get home and enjoy a beautiful Friday afternoon in my town. The excitement of something fun and cool finally gracing downtown Pittsburg with it's presence was overwhelming! Parking was tough, everyone in Pittsburg turned out for the event. I would suggest carpooling with friends in the future. The weather was perfect, the people were in great spirits, the music was on par, low riders, motorcyclists, show cars, ***the works***. !!! There's no place like home !!! There were four food trucks and a small trailer for beer. The lines were tremendous at each truck. Off the Grid truly failed to plan for this event. I can understand that many of my favorite OTG trucks would not make the journey out and sit in traffic for this event. However, if Off the Grid promises to deliver...they should do just that. I chose to stand in line for 39 minutes at the taco truck because I spotted the small, square, green sign indicating gluten free options. They had one gluten free taco to offer and I'm certain cross contamination was present (I had a reaction after consuming the delicious taco - dang Celiac!). The ice cream/fruit freeze truck may have had something gluten free, but due to tremendous wait times, boredom in line, and frustration I didn't check them out. I wish there were more vendors/trucks, it would've made the experience so much better. The lines would not have been as long, people around us wouldn't have been so frustrated, and I would have stayed longer (and spent more $$$). Most of the people were bunched together in the same area creating congestion and making it difficult to explore and wiggle through to the other trucks. Perhaps they should spread out more so people can disperse and comfortably make use of the large open space provided. My friends and I left disappointed but hopeful things would improve with future event. It would be very exciting if Curry Up Now made the journey out (please please please come!) To conclude: Downtown Pittsburg is the perfect chill location for off the Grid events. Unfortunately the first one fell short of expectations.

This place is AMAZING!!!…read more Sooo many places to eat under one roof. From cookies and milk to burgers, steaks, desserts etc.. the choices are endless. During my visit, the entire large building was very crowded as this is a very popular place. Located along the San Francisco Bay a mere feet from this beautiful building, stepping outside offers amazing views of the bay, boats and the surrounding area. This is is MUST see when visiting San Francisco

Duplicate Charge That No One Will Fix…read more I noticed that I had been overcharged for parking and called the hotel. A front desk staff member acknowledged the mistake and transferred me to accounting, but no one answered, so I left a voicemail. I also emailed the address listed on my receipt, but after a full day I received no response. When I called again the next morning, the front desk tried to transfer me to accounting a second time. After I requested the manager on duty, I was sent to the manager's voicemail and left another message. I still have not received any response. This is a simple billing correction, and other hotels resolve such issues immediately and provide updated receipts without difficulty. Unfortunately, that has not been my experience here.

This mural is on the end side of a long commercial building. The front end of the mural is blocked…read moreby a parked vehicle, preventing a video to be taken accurately. It was drawn over a period of years by various students, individuals. The style of same intimates the artists are talented amateurs, not professionals.. Creators: Clayton Valley Charter High School A. P. Art students, Mr. Hughes, Emma P, Kate A, Alessandra

We wanted to try a new plans decided on this place. We found this place on yelp. It's in a shopping…read morecenter so there's plenty of parking. It's a small place but there is a good amount of seating. As soon as you walk in you can see the menu. You can also see the refrigerator with all the fresh food. The man who helped us was very nice and helpful. I like that you can create your own sandwich place. I also loved that they had pepperchinis. The Dutch crunch bread was delicious. The portions are generous and they put a lot of meat. It is a little pricey but they definitely make up for it in the size of the sandwich. It was very filling I ate on half for lunch and the other for dinner. Definitely worth checking out sandwiches are delicious!

After our indulgent snacks, we decided to walk off some of the food, so upon leaving the Ferry…read moreBuilding, I made an executive decision and had us walked toward the direction of Pier 39. Shortly after, we encountered lots of street vendors selling hot dogs which is something new (for me). I mean, one or two here and there, I get it. But there were like rows of 10 all selling the same thing--grilled hot dogs. Bizarro! (Edit: My friend reminded me that some of them were selling drinks and they have alcohol. Not judging and I'm not the prohibition police, but Wow, this just continues to surprise!) And then we saw a bunch of people gathered for a labor strike. So maybe they were there to feed them? By this point, my friend was looking for a public bathroom. We found one but it was locked so we continued on towards Pier 39. Mission to find a bathroom aside, it was a great day for a nice walk on this historic path that used to be where all the ships were docked back in the Wild, Wild West Days. A lot of San Francisco was built on top of sand dunes and crumbling rocks, so you can really feel the history here, but the actual walkway is very paved and even so no worries. I used to work nearby and saw some skeletons of buried ships when they had excavation done when a new building goes up, and usually they just document and leave the ship buried and built on top of it. It's pretty cool and definitely part of SF history. And if you don't want to walk or can't, there are a lot of what I would call peddling tuk tuk (pedicab) offering rides for a price. Or you can take the F street car that goes from Market Street all the way down to Pier 39.

As a local, I walk down here on a daily basis. I love doing my evening walks. Although I must admit…read moreit does it busy during "tourist season". It's a long haul but I think it's a beautiful way to see quite a lot of the city. I do have a difficult time dealing with bikes riding on the sidewalk instead of being on the designated bike lanes.

The once-a-year cultural festival is one of Hercules's signature events. It had been on hiatus…read moresince the start of Covid. This weekend was perfect for a return. I am not sure if people would come from all over the area to attend. However, it is perfect for locals. This year there were a lot of good choices for food. Bands played and people danced. People sat on the lawn and visited and watched the local dance schools and marshal art schools perform. There were community and craft booths. All and all a nice community celebration.

Hercules' Cultural Festival is an annual event. Even though I've lived in Hercules for 4 years,…read more2008 was the first year I attended. It was smaller then I had expected. There's a kid's area where you can purchase tickets for games. The adult's area featured food, one of the two stages, vendors selling items and city services. A great opportunity for Herculeans to get out, sit in the park and enjoy the people watching.