The Peninsula has changed so much since I grew up in Burlingame in the 1970s and ’80s, that I sometimes wonder if I imagined the whole thing.
All of my favorite South Bay movie theaters, comic book stores and sandwich shops are long gone. Marine World Africa U.S.A.’s dolphin shows and waterslides were replaced by Oracle headquarters. Main drag Burlingame Avenue turned from a haven of small businesses catering to the middle class to a Boulevard of Things I Can’t Afford.
But what about B Street in San Mateo? The north/south boulevard with Caltrain’s San Mateo Station in the middle was once a magical place, anchored by Mexican markets on one end and Talbot’s Toy Town on the other. My first burrito and first “Star Wars” action figures were both purchased on B Street…