July 4 Meetup at Oakland Rose Garden

Date: July 4 Saturday
Time: 10:30 am to 12:15 pm
Location: Oakland Rose Garden, Jean Street entrance

Meet Janet at the Jean Street entrance to the Oakland Rose Garden,
next to the Roman columns on the south/uphill/left side of the entrance.
We can meet back here to share sketches; this spot has the option of
ducking under the roof over the columns, in case of fog drip. Expect rose lovers,
picnickers, dogwalkers and folks taking kids to look at chickens next door.
Park volunteers maintain both the garden and reflecting pool, without signs
of algae or peeling paint.

The Oakland Rose Garden stands as a living monument to government
infrastructure for the public, completed in 1935 with mostly state funding.
This meetup offers respite from endless White House 250th anniversary
splurbs, by way of a public open space devoted to flowers. Folks rediscovered
this park during the Covid-19 pandemic. The garden is a great place to chill and
sketch roses, people, trees and crows, not necessarily in that order. There are
also a lot of pre WW2 houses in the neighborhood, some with notable gardens.

There are benches and lawn throughout the park's 7 acres, and the public
bathrooms with running water are usually open during daylight hours.
Safeway is around the corner on Grand Ave. and will be open even if the
restaurants are closed. Street parking is both legal and free on the holiday.

Driving Directions: From 580, exit at either Grand Ave. or Harrison Street.
From the Grand Ave. ramp, turn left and away from Lake Merritt, proceeding
straight at the Mandana/Grand stoplight. At the next stoplight on Grand, turn left
onto Jean Street and look for parking. From the Harrison/Oakland Ave exit, go
uphill east and stay on Oakland Ave until you reach the stop sign for Oakland Ave
and Monte Vista, where you'll turn left and downhill onto Monte Vista Ave.

Mass transit: From 19th or 12 th Street BART stations, take AC Transit # 12 bus
which will follow Grand Ave around Lake Merritt, then inland and under I-580 up
Grand Ave, where you can get off at the Jean Street stop. Cross Grand Ave and
the park is only a block up Jean Street.