In Seattle, there's an underground tour. It seems that way back in the olden days, the streets were 15 or so feet lower than they are today. I don't remember why it was that way then and different now, but it is.

So there's this tour where you go and see what used to be the street storefronts and whatnot, underground, and when you look up, there are these purple glass tiles where the sidewalks are now.

I don't know if Oakland used to be underground, too, but I see these everywhere. Jefferson at 10th Street.

Your source for goat. 9th and Franklin.

Handy hint from Amanda: instead of one side each of cole slaw and macaroni salad, ask for two sides of macaroni. D'arby took this one. 15th at Franklin.

I keep meaning to try Jimbo's. I'm pretty sure with a sign like that, you can't go wrong. 15th and Franklin.

Beauty Supply?... (where Wile E. Coyote shops.) 12th and Webster.

...or College of Engineering? Oakland's got it all. 12th at Harrison.

From what I hear, the Hotel Menlo used to be quite the spot. No, really. 13th and Webster.

The recently-closed Roselyn Dress Shop had a gigantic — and by gigantic, I mean huge — bra in its own window. 14th and Webster.

I would always take out-of-towners to see it, accompanied by the anecdote that the fear of riots breaking out here in 1992 moved the owners to put bars over the window. I think that's funny, the idea that the enraged underclass would break in to steal an enormous bra.

I used to go to El Reventon when it was a reggae club. Good times. Nice space. Webster at 14th.

8 Letters is run by one of my neighbors who is a curator at Yerba Buena. I've only met her briefly once, but been in her shop several times. Lots of reasonably-priced local artists' pieces, a small selection of cutey Japanese stuff, and a quality assortment of retro furnishings and accessories. Jefferson at 10th.

That dome in the middle has absolutely no purpose at all except to sit there looking pretty against the backdrop of the magnificent Tribune tower. City Center.

If you whirl around real fast and look up, it matches. Skywalk between the Federal buildings, about 14 floors up.

There's a little museum at the top there, but last time I tried to go, they wouldn't let me in. They're like that now. Federal buildings lobby, 13th and Clay.

Several blocks of Old Oakland were restored in the late '80s, just when I was moving in here. 9th and Washington.

I think they did an all right job.