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Mable’s by Tomales Bay Now Serving Breakfast Daily
Some mornings start with fog still resting on Tomales Bay, and a plate of brioche French toast to match. Mable’s, the restaurant at Lodge at Marconi, now serves breakfast daily from 7 to 10am, right on the water. Two eggs any style, a breakfast sandwich with crispy potato hash, or a West Marin yogurt bowl with wildflower honey, best enjoyed slowly as the bay wakes up around you. View the Menu, then come find a seat. No reservation needed.
At eleven o’clock, the lights went down. The dancing stopped and a couple thousand people looked up into the redwoods.
Then white sparks poured out of the dark, falling from forty feet. A fireman stood off to the side holding a hose, just in case.
They called it the Firefall. Willie Frizzi built it — he lived in Larkspur for over 90 years.
Frizzi was born in Larkspur on November 8, 1897, and never really left. He spent most of his adult life in a house at 30 Cedar Avenue, growing grapes, strawberries and rhubarb, raising pigeons. He invented an electric flycatcher and used it around the house.
He was also the town electrician. Larkspur Past and Present calls him “a one-man electrical company,” which was less a compliment than a description of the local power grid. Frizzi wired Larkspur’s first pull-box fire alarm on Magnolia Avenue.
For many summers Willie Frizzi lit the Rose Bowl dance and put on an impressive show. The Rose Bowl was the volunteer fire department’s fundraiser. Attendance peaked at four thousand in the 1930s, with people coming from San Francisco and all over the Bay Area. Half an acre of redwoods at 476 Cane Street. A waxed hardwood floor, sanded every spring, dusted weekly with what they called dance powder.
Larkspur Heritage Preservation Board Archives
Frizzi designed the electrical rig behind all of it — the dimmers, the floodlights, the whole switching system. And for “many” years: the Firefall.
Give the firemen credit for nerve. A pyrotechnic finale, forty feet up, in a stand of redwoods — it takes no imagination at all to picture that going badly. It never did. Or at least no one ever wrote down that it did.
Frizzi was well known about town in the later years of his life, often hanging out at the bus stop just to chat about being the oldest native-born Larkspurian. He died in 1988.
The weekly summer dances ended in 1963. Apartments went up on the site a few years later, but the trees are still there. Walk by the apartments a block behind the Silver Peso and look up.
p.s. They revived the Rose Bowl dance for one-off nights in 2008, 2012, and 2024. And it’s back this year on September 19 at Escalle Winery. Cable car trolleys will transport guests and Tainted Love will perform, but don’t expect a Firefall. It benefits the Larkspur Community Foundation, the nonprofit that has a big local impact, including the new public library efforts.
Southview Park, Sausalito at high noon by Mario Simons, @simons_shoots on Instagram
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Because leaving Marin might take more planning. Look for our Marin events in the Wednesday email.
Have you heard of the Magic Castle in Hollywood? It’s a private magic club in an old mansion. You need to know someone who knows someone who is a member. Multiple rooms of varying sizes with different acts. Sounds a bit like what they are going for here with eight magicians, eight rooms. Friday and Saturday nights, prices vary.
This free festival runs Saturday and Sunday. Music, tie-dye, shopping, and of course the sea lions.
Foodies, this one’s for you. Saturday from 1-5pm: 7 chefs and 16 wineries. $183 (or upgrade for VIP). This is an inaugural event at Graton, I’m interested to see how they do at that price point, so let me know if you go!
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Please note that this property isn’t associated with the banner sponsor above or Marin Buzz in any way. It is just a unique home you might be interested in seeing, for entertainment purposes only!
$5M Home Next to Blackie’s Pasture in Tiburon
I didn’t realize there are luxury homes on Richardson Bay, just next to Blackie’s Pasture. Head down Greenwood Beach Road and there are about 20 homes perched above the water. The street ends with a small bike or walking path that connects to the public parking lot.
It must be pretty rare that one in this small stretch of homes hits the market. So I looked, and turns out there was a sale earlier this year several houses down. That one didn’t go so well: listed at $9.7M, it dropped in price for over a year before selling for $5.6M. However, just in front of that property is a public walking path.
This one is an older 1939 build, but well updated. The lawn overlooking the water looks very nice, how come they never stage with a hammock?
Kodi is a Havanese-Maltese mix and was adopted at about 7 weeks old in Oregon
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Michael Jackson’s Birthday Celebration
What better way to celebrate on August 29th than a dance party during the day? We will play songs from the movie Michael, now the top music biopic of all time, featuring hit songs by Michael Jackson, the Jackson 5 and The Jacksons, plus Jaafar Jackson — Michael Jackson's nephew, who stars as Michael in the film.
At Eria Sausalito just above the Trident with sweeping views of the Bay. There's a full bar and great food available to purchase. Lock in your $20 early bird pricing now.
Thanks for reading. We will be back with the regular events and activities email Wednesday morning!
