Lonely LimeBikes a common sight in city
They are the new homeless. Parked LimeBikes have become a rather sad sight in some Peninsula communities these days and nights. Left by their riders who are finished using them, the spiffy, new rental bicycles can sit for days on end out there in the open, rain or shine, if no one else wants to ride them; they appear to be unwanted and uncared-for.
The innovative LimeBike premise is based on “dockless” bike- sharing. In other words, you can rent a bike ($1 for 30 minutes, 50 cents for students) and leave it locked outside your chosen des- tination.
In theory, another renter (maybe the same person) is expected show up at some point, unlock it and utilize those wheels to get somewhere else. It’s all accomplished via a mobile smartphone app. Very tidy.
But some bikes become what amounts to temporary, unloved quasi- orphans out there in the winter elements. One block from our abode, a lonely, solitary LimeBike sat pathetically for five days and nights without being moved. Finally, just after noon Sunday, someone picked up the forlorn item and rented it or removed it for other opportunities.
LimeBike, barely a year- old, is operating in South San Francisco and Burlingame, among other Peninsula towns. Head- quarters are located in San Mateo. We wish the LimeBike creators/investors well.
Grabtown resurrected
It came as something of a surprise. KRON-TV’s seemingly nonstop evening news was focused on last week’s rain during a midweek broadcast.
As usual, a digital map of the Bay Area was spread across the screen. Various cities and towns were highlighted with colors indicating rainfall totals. Nothing unusual about that.
But one Peninsula hamlet briefly stood out: Grabtown. Excuse me? Grabtown? Yes, there it was west of Portola Valley in the rural mountains not far from Skyline Boulevard.
It had to be a mistake. No. It wasn’t. Grabtown, though barely known today, did, in fact, exist at one time. Grabtown, according to historians, was a small community that served the Peninsula’s extensive logging industry in the latter portion of the 19th century.
The tiny village was located off what is now Tunitas Creek Road in the Kings Mountain area.
The origin of the name is rather fuzzy at this point but speculation persists that the moniker came about because of the tendency of Grabtown’s inhabitants to grab, or claim, land or just about anything else they could latch onto in those largely unregulated and wide- open days.
Very little physical evidence of where, and what, Grabtown was re- mains today. But someone laboring at KRONTV obviously has a clue. Grabtown. Who knew?
Just Things
Looking for a local time capsule that preserves a bit of our past? Sure you are. So check out Just Things on San Mateo Avenue in downtown San Bruno. Established in 1960, the venerable antique store contains a dazzling mix of interesting stuff (toys, photos, posters, notions, etc.) that goes back to the Great Depression and beyond.
For me, it’s the old electric trains, with their fading colors and careworn look, that bring back memories of a much simpler time.
Depot Cafe
Sorry to learn that one of the best breakfast/ lunch spots on the Peninsula is scheduled to close later this month. The Depot Cafe, located in the old San Carlos train station on El Camino Real near downtown, has lost its parking lot due to housing construction work on the Caltrain property. That circumstance has caused business to drop off considerably.
According to longtime devotees of the dining establishment, it’s been in operation for 35 years. Its last day will be Feb. 18.