{due west} 62 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM repurposed oil drums and fluffy toy alpacas from Peru to baskets from Senegal, painted pottery from Nicaragua and sterling silver jewelry from Niger. Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the gift shop doesn’t have a single paid employee, confides store manager Caroline Pease. “My friend said to me, ‘You can spare three hours. We’re really short of volunteers.’ That was 30 years ago. She promptly quit, and I’ve been here ever since,” she laughs. EXPLORE Nestled behind a lush garden, the Museum of American Heritage occupies the historic Williams House at 351 Homer Avenue, across from Palo Alto’s two-acre Heritage Park. Founded in 1985 by Frank Livermore, whose collection of antique mechanical and electrical artifacts outgrew his Menlo Park home, the museum features rotating exhibitions culled from a trove of over 6,000 objects. This spring’s new exhibit, Threading the Past, explores the history of clothing technology, while another room showcases vintage navigation tools of all sizes. Afterwards, browse through curated racks of classic threads at Blue Bin Vintage on Bryant Street, or pick up an exquisite bar at Alegio Chocolate next door. For those who prefer art to history, the Pamela Walsh Gallery on Ramona Street is set to host Reclamation, a group exhibition exploring the concept of the female form in contemporary art through a variety of mediums, starting on May 11. One block away, the Bryant Street Gallery’s show Black and White in Color features works by contemporary abstract artist Michael Shemchuk through May 31. If moving pictures are more your style, take in an arthouse film at the Aquarius Theater on Emerson Street. The two-screen movie house has been showing foreign and independent films since 1969, now with leather seats and larger screens thanks to a 2015 remodel. After the film, stretch your legs and walk a couple of blocks to Johnson Park, where you can soak up some sun as you stroll past community garden plots, joyfully shrieking children climbing the play structure and pick-up basketball games. With benches, picnic tables and a grassy expanse dotted by shade trees, it’s a great place to relax and enjoy a pastry from Mademoiselle Colette or the signature fish tacos from Sancho’s Taqueria (both on Lytton Avenue near Cowper Street). PHOTOGRAPHY: ANNIE BARNETT / COURTESY OF PAMELA WALSH GALLERY - CHELSEA STEWART
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