This article, about free tours given by the engineers at Oakland's Caldicott Tunnel, really taps into one of my favorite things to do - tour funky and/or unusual places.
As traffic growled below, Rogers led the way to the concrete Art Deco structure above Bores 1 and 2 on the tunnel's west end, which masks the big exhaust fans. Despite its practical nature, the tunnel -- with its facade of subtle columns and carved designs -- won an award on looks alone, recognized in 1993 by the Art Deco Society."Those four carved plaques on the front are supposed to depict what goes on inside," Rogers said. "See, that one is depicting a fan. That one with the face ... I'm not so sure what it is. Maybe the God of Ventilation or something."
This is now my Quest. I must see the face of the God of Ventilation before I die. Who's with me? Anthony?
Now, in the interest of full disclosure, here are pictures taken by another tourist. If you think you could get claustrophobic, maybe we'll just hook up at the coffee shop afterward.
I'm IN!
Posted by: jo | June 21, 2004 at 05:01 PM
Picture it: a bloggers' visionquest in the tunnels of Olde Oaklande. Jo, Pam, Bob, and Molly. So far!
Posted by: pam | June 21, 2004 at 07:29 PM
All those years of going through that tunnel and I never realized it was either an Art deco treasure or that they gave tours. But since they've apparently stopped giving tours, Pam, we'll have to settle for going to New Mexico and taking a tour of Carlsbad Caverns, which combines claustrophobia, fear of darkness and fear of bat guano into one scenically impressive and anxiety-inducing experience. And if you ask the ranger nicely, s/he will tell you the difference between stalagmites and stalactites and you might even remember that very elusive fact long enough to win on Jeopardy.
Posted by: Anthony | June 22, 2004 at 08:22 AM
No, no - the Caldicott tours have begun again. Since 9/11, they've added new Terro-Detect-O cameras (tm) throughout. So I shall count you as "IN".
Posted by: pam | June 22, 2004 at 09:17 AM