Janet's Smiles

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

A to Z 2021 – K is for Kerouac Alley and Kite Hill

Hello and welcome to the letter “K” in our A to Z Challenge this year. In an effort to be completely transparent, I am using one of the locations that was a disappointment for me, Kerouac Alley.

I mean, reading the description that Wiki has for it and even looking at some of the pictures that Trip Advisor has made it seem like a really cool place to go and it filled one of the more difficult (for me) letters in the challenge. When I got there, it was early in the morning so admittedly none of the shops were open yet, however, I didn’t even attempt to go down the alley to look for the inscriptions that are supposed to be there.

My initial disappointment was in the street sign itself. The other side had a bunch of stickers over it so you couldn’t even read the name. This side had no stickers but it did have an electrical wire wrapped around it. I mean, come on folks.

Looking down the alleyway, I could see someone standing around there and since I was by myself, I didn’t think it would be smart to go down.

City Lights is a famous bookstore and it would have been nice to be able to go inside but it wasn’t open yet and, again, there was someone standing around (I purposely avoided taking his picture) so I didn’t feel comfortable getting any closer.

So all in all, that was not the exciting experience I was looking for, but as I said, in the spirit of transparency, I’m including it. Maybe if my husband had been with me we’d have ventured farther down the alley.

Then I had to scramble to see if I could find another “K” spot. OMG I did and what a good one it was! Much like the Ina Coolbrith Park, Kite Hill Open Space is tucked away in a corner in the middle of a residential area.