Vallejo Vignettes — A sturdy house and a love story

Send us your best Vallejo stories! They should be between 50 and 300 words, tell something fun, quirky or inspiring that has happened to you in Vallejo, and read like a short story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Email your submission to vallejovignettes@vallejosun.com. An editor will contact you if your story is being considered for publication.

A sturdy house and a love story

Back in the 20’s, my father was a banjo player with a large orchestra. To keep afloat, they traveled around the country doing gigs during “The Hard Times,” riding the rails, or hitchhiking. He fell in love with the climate and location of Vallejo. He also fell in love with a girl who lived above Napoli Pizza, 25 years before Rocco and Millie began making the best pizza ANYWHERE.   

My parents wanted to marry, but Dad agreed with my mother’s parents that she was too young. He told her that he would send her money from wherever he was, so they could get ready to settle down in his favorite town. This went on for five years, waiting for her to be 21, when she wed a 36 year old man. 

Dad got a job working for Yuba in Benicia as a machinist and then on to Mare Island for the war effort. He volunteered but was rejected when the Navy found out his profession was to build ships. They kept him in Mare Island.

He bought a lot, drew up plans, got an architect to make it all legal, and had a contractor build our home… for just over $6,000. We lived there until my parents passed. The house will probably outlast the Armageddon, since the contractor was new in town and wanted to show off his work. It has 12x12 redwood stringers, cedar lined closets and several built-in cabinets.

I began working for Pacific Telephone in Benicia in the 70’s and to my surprise, found a nearly identical custom home on Military East (which is ALSO still there). I took my mom by to see it and she was shocked. Not only was it the same design, but she noted that it had an outdoor staircase. Dad had it that way on the original plans but she had  asked him to change to an interior stairwell instead to avoid going outside to get to the laundry room & workshop.  

We figured that the eager contractor had stolen the CUSTOM plans as it was such a great design. I’m sure he felt safe since in 1940 the odds were slim that someone who even knew the house, would drive “all the way from Vallejo” to notice. To this day I wonder how many other clones are in other surrounding cities?

— Ralph Jensen

An unexpected Journey

Intintoli, Pixis, Vela, Lyra and Delphinus. These names are not known to all, but ferry riders of Vallejo are well acquainted with them.

I had taken up a job in San Francisco after finishing school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and moved to Vallejo. Like many commuters faced with this conundrum, I was determined to make my commute the least stressful I possibly could. After months of anticipation, on the first day of my work in August 2024 I received a distressed text message telling me to avoid the freeway due to an accident. And so I ended up taking the most unexpected mode of transport available to me: the Vallejo-SF ferry. 

In the weeks that followed, I experimented with almost every transportation option for my commute. After dealing with SF traffic, unexpected Muni delays and rideshare unavailability, I came to enjoy the gentle rocking of the Vallejo ferry. 

Commuting by ferry offered a lifestyle of its own, in which instead of sitting endlessly in traffic, waiting for the crowded BART trains or buses, I could enjoy an hour of uninterrupted time doing whatever I wanted. One could see people working, reading, catching up on shows, knitting or even chatting up their fellow ferry riders. In an increasingly busy and solitary society, watching people take the time to talk to each other during the ferry ride was truly amazing. 

The ferry welcomed its riders in the morning with complimentary coffee and sent them off in the evening with snacks and refreshments. In a fast-paced world, it offered an oasis of peace, a unique opportunity where one could enjoy their commute time while helping the environment. To this day my commute to work is pleasantly spent in the Vallejo-SF ferry.

— Priyanka Manandhar