This weekend my family played a version of “musical chairs” so to speak. My sister needed a cat sitter in Martinez, I needed my brother to paint my apartment in Oakland, so everyone switched locations.
I haven’t spent a weekend in my hometown of Martinez in years. I only do day visits, so revisiting the inland weather for more than a day is always an adjustment. I don’t do hot weather well, never have. When I was a small child I got a fever from the sun and my mom had to give me baby aspirin and put me to bed. It’s like, no matter how much water I drink, my body won’t cool down fast enough. It’s as if I don’t have any coolant in my system. I’ve been to Hawaii exactly twice and felt like passing out from the heat each time. No it’s not paradise when you feel dehydrated.
I arrived Friday evening and strolled the downtown area for a quick meal at Market and Main. As I ate my fish and chips, I overheard a crowd cheering and I saw a man get on bended knee to propose to his girlfriend. They’ll probably be married forever.
Man, how Downtown Martinez has changed from when I was growing up. There are so many more restaurants and coffee shops. Back in the day, I only remember Main Street having antique shops, Franco’s and Crenshaw’s Flowers, Hilson’s Department Store and a McDonald’s. The locals didn’t want fast food in the downtown area, but it was put in for those serving jury duty at the courthouse. Martinez being the County Seat and all.
Saturday morning, I walked over to Starbucks (I can’t believe they have a Starbucks now!) and then headed off to look for some geocaches within walking distance.
I found one at the bottom of Snake Road, I mean, “Carquinez Scenic Drive”, over by the cemetery. We used to party on that road which explains these new signs:
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! The cops were always chasing us. I wonder where the kids party now.
Then I walked over to Rankin Park. I hadn’t been there in years.
DEER!!
We used to have Pop Warner cheer practice there. And the football players practiced there as well. I have a very specific memory of walking up to practice and noticing the girls were no longer cuffing their Jordache Jeans anymore and I quickly followed suit.
Speaking of, – check this out – Pac Sun is selling the exact jeans we wore in Junior High, for 80.00:
On my way to grab dinner that evening, I walked past Del Cielo Brewery, which was closed for a private party. I peeked my head in and there was a wedding going on. Inside the brewery. Is there something in the Martinez Marina water?
This morning I grabbed another Starbucks coffee in search of a geocache near a place that used to be “Pounders Peak” – another place where kids would party. I never did party at Pounders though. If memory serves, the class of ’85 was probably the last class to party there, but I remember hearing about it. Anyway, it was too far of walk so I turned back.
Later on, I got in my car and headed over to the Mount Wanda Trail to look for another geocache:
I confess in all my years in Martinez, CA, I have never been on this trail until today:
It was very pretty, but too warm for me, so I quickly found the cache and headed back down the trail. I got in my car and drove to an air-conditioned movie theater where I watched Ben Affleck play a role he was not born to play, and I left before the movie was over, during the final scene where everyone was shooting each other. By then the weather had cooled off significantly. Thank God for the Bay breeze.
Martinez is such a cute town with a lot of character, but it’s just too hot and too far away from the ocean for a girl who has no inner coolant.
Sunday, May 18th, 2025:
Theresa Donahoe 