inspired by an event in a meetup group i’m a member of (but haven’t participated in due to scheduling conflicts), i took a quick trip up to Crockett [map], a small, sleepy town i only knew literally in passing (i.e., on the drive to my parents’ house).
i was reading up on Crockett last night before bed and learned from Wikipedia it not only is the home of the C&H Sugar factory you see from the freeway, but was set up as a company town for the plant.
(speaking of, am i the only one who remembers the jingle from the ’80s?)
anyways, back to Crockett (as always, more pictures on Flickr):
the c&h refinery
according to Wikipedia, the refinery here processes all of the output from the company’s Hawaiian factories. if you stand in the right place, you can totally smell the sugar — sort of like what it smells like when it’s heated and melts. unfortunately it’s not open to the public but there are some decent vantage points along the railroad tracks.
the town and overpasses
the town itself is perched up above the western end of the Carquinez Strait at San Pablo Bay. while its heyday has long since passed, it’s full of older buildings that, from what i can tell, are slowly being occupied by more and more younger artsy people. also, thanks to the Carquinez Bridge, there’s a great set of overpasses that form some amazing curves in the sky.
eckley pier
before the Carquinez Bridge was constructed, the town of Eckley was a thriving ferry landing. currently there is a fishing pier past the railroad tracks (part of a larger regional park with trails) with a great view of the Carquinez Strait.
carquinez bridge
did you know you could walk across the newest span (well, new being circa 2003) of the Carquinez Bridge? neither did i, until i drove past the beginning of the path [map]! so of course, i had to. luckily it was much easier than last weekend’s Bay Bridge walk.
