All text and photos, copyright Caroline Arnold. www.theintrepidtourist.blogspot.com
My second home is Oakland, California, and one of its charms are the shops that feature various Oakland themed clothing and gifts. Recently, I was given a hand towel decorated with some of Oakland's notable sites. Included was a card with a few facts about the city and its history:
The earliest known inhabitants were the people of the Huichun Tribe, who lived there for thousands of years. The Huichun belonged to a linguistic grouping later called the Ohlone (a Miwok word meaning "Western People")
Oakland was first incorporated as a town in 1852.
In 1870, Lake Merritt became the nation's first formally declared wildlife refuge.
Walt Disney took inspiration for Disneyland from Oakland's own children's Fairyland.
Rocky Road ice cream was created in Oakland in 1929.
Oakland is full of fascinating facts and places to go. Here is a selection of posts from The Intrepid Tourist about sites featured on the hand towel:
USS Potomac, FDR's Floating White House
Joaquin Miller Park: Nature and History
Mountain View Cemetery: Bankers, Chocolate Kings and Ordinary People
Chabot Space and Science Center
Oakland Zoo: New Baby Giraffe
Huckleberry Trail in the Oakland Hills
Oakland Rose Garden
