Martinez

Where can you find a beautiful marina, a charming downtown, an Amtrak station, John Muir's former home, Joe DiMaggio's birthplace and the county seat of Contra Costa County? In historic Martinez, that's where. 

On Saturday afternoon the hazy winter skies and unseasonably warm temperatures greeted me as I arrived in downtown Martinez to explore and shoot off some photos of this colorful locale. Come take a look...

Like so many other small towns, Martinez has its welcome banners, too...

From the marina you can see views of three bridges: 

the old Benicia-Martinez Bridge, 

the new one, and the old railroad bridge...

Stop in at the museum to learn more about the city's colorful history...

The majestic Finance Building and County Courthouse line Court Street...

The old clock tower - unfortunately, not keeping correct time...

There's lots of interesting architecture in this town...

As well as lots of public defenders...

Hopefully you never need to set foot in this place...

Late afternoons and sunny skies create interesting shadows...

Like antiques? Martinez has plenty...

More colorful buildings...

Creative "No Parking" signs...

The office of the local paper...

Lovely tall grass near Alhambra Creek...

The old city hall building...

Ornately decorated buildings...

Another cute boutique...

And charming architecture...

Trees awaiting the arrival of spring...

Time to take down the holiday wreath?

The old hot dog and hamburger joint...

The historic train station...

Martinez has it all!

Sunol Water Temple

The Sunol Water Temple is a beautiful architectural monument well worth a visit. It was designed in 1910 by famed San Francisco architect Willis Polk, who modeled it after the Temple of Vesta in Tivoli and considered it to be his masterpiece. The Temple is situated at the end of a long, narrow road and is surrounded by picturesque oak trees and meadows with views of the nearby hills.

First you pass through the temple entry gates and then drive down

the roadway - parking is next to the temple...

Twelve concrete Corinthian columns support the conical wood and tile roof...

The inscription around the ring of the roof reads,

"I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry lands springs of water.

The streams whereof shall make glad the city. S.V.W.C. MCMX."

Dolphins resting on the crown of the roof...

Looking up toward the roof and paintings...

A close up of one of the ornate columns...

The decorative wood paintings...

The restored ceiling of the temple - the empty sections were never completed...

A look through the columns...

That's California - The Dry Lands...

A beautiful monument so close to home...

If you decide to visit this jewel, check out my post about Niles Canyon and Sunol - both are interesting and fun places to visit and are nearby the temple.

Bishop Ranch Open Space

Happy cows in California? You bet - especially if they land a grazing spot in Bishop Ranch Open Space. Because the weather yesterday was so spring like and warm, I decided to take a quick photographic journey to the hills near my home. I've put up images of this place before. Click here to see those: Bishop Ranch Regional Regional Open Space. This time, however, I wanted to capture the late afternoon sunlight. Take a look at where San Ramon's happy cows hang out... 

Our cows are pretty lucky, huh?