By Peter Fish, Sunset editor-at-large

Partly because last Wednesday was Talk Like a Pirate Day, and partly because we were about to journey to a TOP SECRET EVENT THAT WILL BE FEATURED IN SUNSET NEXT YEAR, my son and I made our way down to 826 Valencia Street in San Francisco and Dave Eggers’ Pirate Supply Store. We wanted to acquire pirate accoutrements and attitude—not so much Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow as, say, Errol Flynn in Captain Blood. 

You should go, too. Yeah, 2007’s Talk Like a Pirate Day is past, but it’s not too soon to prepare for 2008’s, and Halloween is coming up. And, in a larger sense, shouldn’t every day be pirate day? 

Because 826 Valencia is a pretty great place.  Eggers is the author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and the more recent What is the What and the creator of McSweeney's magazine and has just won a Heinz Award. The main business of 826 Valencia is instilling a love for literature and writing in kids age 6 to 16. So don’t come here expecting cheesy Halloween Headquarters polyester pantaloons and plastic swords.

Instead the mood is quirky and quizzical. You can buy peg legs and nicely sewn pirate shirts, also pieces of eight and the requisite eye patches, not to mention glass eyes. But there are also cabinets filled with items that look like oddities brought back from a long sea voyages, and a fair number of surprises. Take, for example, that sign that reads I WAS MOPPED. WHY? WHY ME?

What could that mean?  I am here to affirm that I know, but I am not going to tell you. As Jack Sparrow or Peter Blood must have said somewhere,  there are some voyages you must make yourself.