Oakland as a Destination?

Whenever you think of the Bay Area you think of San Francisco, right? Well what I never realized in more trips than I can count to San Francisco is how much more there is beyond SF, like Oakland, Berkeley and the whole other side of the bay.

Oakland is about an hour from SFO on BART (usually cheapest place to fly into.)  Public transit in the Bay Area is pretty good so unless you're trekking to northern wine country i.e. Napa/Sonoma you don't need a car to get around. (But there IS wine country in Livermore! Go visit my friend's family winery!)

You can also fly to OAK and take a bus to BART (~$3/pp) and make you way to downtown Oakland. BART also makes it easy to get to other farther away spots in the bay area, like Freemont, Walnut Creek, Berkeley and of course San Francisco. I guess the warning is that BART, unlike a most subway systems does not have a lot of stops that are close together. They can be towns apart so be sure you know where you are going first.

The first great thing about Oakland is the hotels are about half the price of SanFran. Your basic Marriott Courtyard is under $200 most nights unless there is a NFL game. Oakland fans infiltrate downtown and take over the hotels on Saturday night for Sunday games.

Never let it be said that Oakland was not the start of a lot of grass-roots movements! I took these during the Oakland 99% movement (aka Occupy Oakland) on Ogawa Plaza in November 2011.  A lot of organizations got their start in and around Oakland. It's always been one of those places that incubates causes. Check out one of my favorites TransForm, which promotes walkable communities in California, among other initiatives, including climate change.

One of the things I love about Fridays in Oakland? The Friday Organic Market at 9th & Broadway. Great produce, awesome street food (love the chicken and rosemary potatoes guy!) Soaps and bath stuff and yes, there is even a lady who has a live fish tank truck who will filet the fish you select!

Friday organic Farmer's Market at 9th & Broadway

The downtown of Oakland is business-y BUT a very short walk puts you into Asia-town. You can find cheap Asian eats all over this area, along with markets and shops.

Asia town

One of the other things I love about Oakland is the tea shops. Granted you have to like tea, but you can find varieties of tea in Asia town you just don't find in your run-of-the-mill grocery store or Americanized tea shops. My favorite is Golden Tea Shop where there is always something interesting brewing!

Asia town - Best pedestrian crosswalk ever!

Also in the downtown area is the Oakland Museum of California, it is dedicated to all mediums of art, history and natural science.  I have seen some very cool exhibits here - the kind you become part of not just view.
The museum also has very cool gardens where you can just hang out with free wi-fi :) 





So next time you want to head to the Bay Area, give Oakland a try if you want funky, city, foodie, grass-roots and culture.