An afternoon in the south part of Bay Area
Replies: 14 - Last Post: Nov 5, 2012 4:56 AM Last Post By: trekker502
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An afternoon in the south part of Bay Area
I am flying into Oakland this Thursday around noon and have to meet some people in Fremont for dinner. Anyone have ideas on how to fill an afternoon? I like history and nature. Art sometimes. Have been to Jack London Square and the Fremont Mission. Will be going to Berkeley for a football game the next day.1
Are you taking the BART to Fremont, or are you renting a car? The BART and buses can also take you from downtown Oakland to Berkeley's Shattuck Avenue. Walk up Dwight Way alongside the Berkeley campus and walk onto the campus to browse. There are cafes along Dwight Way. Telegraph Avenue, south from Dwight Way, may still have a hippy aura about it -- it has been a few years since I have lived in the area. Moe's and other excellent bookstores. I know that People's Park no longer exists. College Avenue, which runs between Berkeley and Oakland, also has nice shops and bookstores. A Sierra Club office is along the block at Berkeley/Oakland border. Check out the Claremont Hotel just east of College Avenue in Oakland. A nice neighborhood for browsing.If you have a hotel room where you can freshen up after exercising, there are many opportunities to go hiking up in the Oakland/Berkeley Hills. You could hike up steep Strawberry Canyon in Berkeley above the Greek Theater. There is a botanical garden along that road.
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Trekker has some good ideas. I will suggest The Oakland Museum http://museumca.org/ is very good! Be sure to allow for traffic going to Fremont for dinner.6
I assume that the Fremont Mission is Mission San Jose? A bit further south is Alum Rock Park, a San Jose City Park since 1872. A largish canyon and creek with trails and a Junior Museum, picnic facilities etc. A nice place for a walk or hike through the largely natural vegetation and trees (Oaks, Bay Laurel, Sycamore, Eucalyptus, Pine etc. Trails are well marked. Free I believe. I grew up near here and roamed this place and hills as a kid.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alum_Rock_Park
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The Oakland Museum of California has very interesting California history & art collections & exhibits. Good food in nearby Chinatown.8
Hell if you're renting a car drive into San Francisco. Seriously, one the greatest cities on the planet. Drive down to the Marina and walk over to the Palace of Fine Arts. Or drive into Golden Gate Park and walk around. Or drive into North Beach, climb Coit Tower, have lunch, then head on down to Fremont. Go 880 or 101 and cross over the Dumbarton bridge. Or hop off fthe plane, get your rental and head on out to Mt. Diablo for some hiking. Or better yet grab the rental and head south and explore this great little park: http://www.ebparks.org/parks/coyote_hills Personally if the weather is good I like this spot to ramble: http://www.fws.gov/desfbay/ Lots of options. Oh and ROLL ON YOU BEARS!9
Hell if you're renting a car drive into San Francisco. Seriously, one the greatest cities on the planet. Drive down to the Marina and walk over to the Palace of Fine Arts. Or drive into Golden Gate Park and walk around. Or drive into North Beach, climb Coit Tower, have lunch, then head on down to Fremont. Go 880 or 101 and cross over the Dumbarton bridge. Or hop off fthe plane, get your rental and head on out to Mt. Diablo for some hiking. Or better yet grab the rental and head south and explore this great little park: http://www.ebparks.org/parks/coyote_hills Personally if the weather is good I like this spot to ramble: http://www.fws.gov/desfbay/ Lots of options. Oh and ROLL ON YOU BEARS!10
I prefer "ROLL OVER BEARS"All good suggestions. It just occurred to me that I have never been to Half Moon Bay. So I might check-in to our hotel, then cross over the Dumbarton Bridge, pop up on the ridge above Palo Alto, continue north until I can drop down to Half Moon Bay. With some time for walking on the beach that ought to fill the afternoon.
Thanks to all. I still might consider them, especially if the plane is late.
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Half Moon Bay is a decently cute town but probably not worth that big a detour, particularly since your plan would dump you into rush hour traffic returning home from Silicon Valley via the Dumbarton.How about wine tasting near Livermore? At least you'd be going against traffic heading to Fremont.
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Let the Huskie do what they want. Let them experience some NoCal South Bay late afternoon gridlock. Serves em right. The route from the ridge(?) above Palo Alto is 280 N to 92. Drops you right into HMB.13
To close the loop, after checking in at our Newark hotel, I did pop over the ridge to Half Moon Bay. It was just what an ex-Washingtonian now living in New Mexico was looking for. I loved the beautiful dark redwood forests along King Mountain Road and Skyline. I drove through Half Moon but spent my time walking on the bluff above the beach. Again views different from my normal scene. From there I drove down 1 until I hit 84 and followed it back across the Dumbarton. There was really not much traffic, even on the part of the 84 that uses 101.The next morning, my friends and I went out to Don Edwards wildlife refuge for a hike. We chose it over Coyote Hills simply because we had a NPS Senior pass and thought it would be free. It was free even without the pass versus $10 to park at Coyote. We did drive out to Coyote after the hike and next year for the Stanford game if blessed with similiar weather we might try hiking on Coyote. Thanks for the tips.
Out of respect for clodbod, I will not mention the game other to say it was the most poorly played game by both teams AND the officials that I have seen in a long time.
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I know of many New Mexicans who flee to the ocean during their summers -- several who have cabins in Maine and a number who travel the Alaska-Canada Highway to Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula.
