A couple of Splash Pad News readers have asked me why the walks are titled, “Exploring Our Neighborhoods on Foot and with Camera.” That title is in homage to a book I bought at The Bookmark Bookstore, 721 Washington Street, operated by the Friends of the Oakland Public Library (disclosure, I am on the FOPL Board). “Through the Alimentary Canal with Gun and Camera,” a 1963 edition of a 1930 book,  is an elaboration of a talk that Robert Benchley, the early 20th-century humorist, presented at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston. Chappell’s book has chapter titles such as, “Into the Oral Cavern” and “Great Doings in the Peritoneum” and cartoon illustrations such as, “The One Man Sub with which I Navigated the Aorta” and “We Shoot the Rapids at the Confluence of the Gall and the Spleen.”  

The seven walks posted so far pretty much cover the canonical Splash Pad neighborhoods: five start in the business districts of Lakeshore or Grand and venture into Trestle Glen, Crocker Highlands, or Piedmont, while the other two explore Adams Point or Haddon Hill/Cleveland Heights.  

Please let us know if you would like to see more “On Foot and with Camera” walks in adjacent neighborhoods (Uptown, Chinatown, Glenview, Piedmont Ave., Bella Vista, Lake Merritt Parkway, etc.).

Sheila McCormick Walk Archive