Yesterday we took the dog down to the Nelson to run on the lawn, and then we walked back up through the Rockhill neighborhood and up Gilham Park. Enormous vintage homes in the former, and acres of greenway in the latter--both so grand. Here is a cool photo from the Nelson sculpture garden, via a blog by photographer Eric Bowers:
Then we had coffee at Oddly Correct, where each brew comes in a Pyrex beaker without milch or cream (store policy) and is vividly described on a short hand-printed menu. The attitude is like that around fine wine or craft brewing. A Buddy Miles record was on the turntable--I had to ask--the one with "Down By The River" on it. Bad-ass.
.jpg)
Then our non-Black Friday got a little touch of gray. We went to Urban Mining, an vintage and antique collective on Main by Harlings and Clint's Comics. There we found an old wooden toolbox to use as a coffee table, and a retrofit, cleaned up sheet metal cabinet for dishes. It has been painted or powder-coated white, with a sturdy grooved surround applied to the bottom, and an inlaid formica counter. This is really cool modified vintage stuff--very affordable. Urban Mining is open every first weekend of the month.
It turns out the folks we bought the cabinet from host the Rockabilly Mood Swing show on KKFI. So, as their son was loading our cabinet into a truck painted to look like a P95 Mustang, mom and dad were off to spin records half a block away. All of this within a few blocks of our place.
I also learned from the Midtown Facebook page that Charlie Parker lived three or four blocks from here, as a child. His dad was a janitor at one of the large apartment buildings just down the street. Back then, this neighborhood was affluent and middle class.
