CALIFORNIA: SAN FRANCISCO'S

NEIGHBOR, THE EAST BAY

by Lee Foster

East across the Bay from that grand tourism capital, San Francisco, stretches her sunnier neighbor, the Oakland-Berkeley East Bay. Those of us who live in the East Bay are quite content to let San Francisco carry the heavy burdens of tourism fame as we enjoy the many amenities and good life of the less pretentious East Bay, which we also enjoy sharing with visitors.

Oakland, a brawny port city, one of the largest containerized freight ports on the West Coast, is a salt-of-the-earth laborer and a rapping, streetwise ghetto dweller. However, Oakland also has large numbers of resident artists and writers because it is one of the few places in the Bay Area where people in the arts can survive financially. The East Bay, especially Oakland, also includes one of the largest U.S. concentrations of immigrants from diverse Asian and Pacific Island regions.

Neighboring Berkeley is the intellectual and liberal political mecca of Northern California, home of the University of California Berkeley, the state's most prestigious public university. Berkeley is Oakland's cerebral counterpart, whether the revolution is 1960s politics or contemporary cuisine. An observer might think of Berkeley as the whiz kid scholar and trendy culinary explorer. It is no accident that some observers call the city Berserkeley, shaking their heads over Berkeley's apparent need to have its own foreign policy or to take other eccentric actions. The city has the most-used library in the state, but you have to check out your books yourself because the librarians don't want to get carpel tunnel. Berkeley is an easy target to bash.

Rising above Oakland and Berkeley are the East Bay hills, which include 53,300 acres set aside for recreational use as part of the East Bay Regional Parks District. It is easy to steal away from the urban area to Tilden Park in the Berkeley Hills, epitome of these public spaces. Few walks exceed the pleasure of a stroll on the spine of the hills from Inspiration Point in Tilden Park.

When we want to travel far, far away, we use the relatively un-congested Oakland Airport, a few miles south of downtown Oakland along the Bay. This is the easiest airport to use in the Bay Area and is actually quite close to San Francisco, only a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train ride away. Those of us who live in the East Bay make heavy use of the convenient BART trains to get around our area and into San Francisco. If we drive into San Francisco, we cross on the Bay Bridge, which was completed in 1936, the same year as the Golden Gate Bridge. The Golden Gate will always be seen as the more beautiful of the two bridges, though the Bay Bridge has similarly graceful suspension lines. The Bay Bridge is definitely the workhorse of the two, when one considers the number of cars that cross per day.

OAKLAND'S WATERFRONT ORIGINS

The city of Oakland grew up along the bay waterfront, now Jack London Square, a multi-block area of shops and restaurants struggling for identity, even as the author did.

Jack London is the town's favorite son and the main luminary around whom one could build a themed waterfront area. At the Square you can view Jack London's cabin, his Yukon abode from the winter of 1897-98. Next to the cabin, quench your thirst at Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon. Built in 1880, Heinold's was a bunkhouse for the oyster fishermen. At Heinold's London acquired some of his self-made literary education. Inside you'll find Jack London photos and memorabilia.

Popular attractions here include shopping at places like Cost Plus, book browsing at a large Barnes & Noble store, and dining at the fish restaurant, Scott's. A Sunday Farmer's Market draws large crowds looking for everything from heirloom apples to goat cheese. Franklin Roosevelt's Presidential yacht, the USS Potomac, a National Historic Landmark, is now permanently berthed at Jack London Square. The public can tour the 165-foot boat, a coastguard cutter that became the "floating Whitehouse," and participate in yacht excursions out on the Bay. The Jack London Cinema features nine state-of-the-art theaters. A bright night spot in the Jack London area is the jazz club known as Yoshi's, which also features Japanese dining. At Jack London Square you can kayak in the estuary with equipment from California Canoe and Kayak or experience a yacht overnight with Dockside Boat and Bed. Loft living is popular in the Jack London area. Former governor and current mayor Jerry Brown has a loft at 2^nd and Harrison.

From Jack London Square, walk up Broadway into downtown Oakland. A spirited civic group of volunteers sponsors free architectural walks around downtown Oakland each Saturday. At 9th Street, looking a block west to Washington Street, you'll see renovation and restoration in progress. This "Old Oakland" restoration consists of shops and restaurants, supplementing the long-lived Ratto's international market and restaurant, 821 Washington, a kind of culinary mirror of the city. Around Old Oakland are new office buildings that have changed the face of the downtown.

Further up Broadway, at 2025, is the Paramount Theatre, one of the loveliest and most lavishly gilded art deco movie palaces of the 1930s. Fans of Art Deco can participate in guided Saturday tours of the 3000-seat Paramount, which is now used for concerts, ballets, and other theatrical events.

West toward the 980 Freeway is another intriguing Oakland development, Preservation Park, between 12^th and 14^th Streets. Preservation Park includes 16 Oakland Victorians, now gathered and restored, all housing non-profits. Adjacent is the Pardee Home Museum, 672 11^th, home of George Pardee, a former Oakland mayor and California governor. The house, built in 1868, was kept in the Pardee family right up to 1981, when the last spinster Pardee sister died, leaving intact all the family belongings, including obsessive collections. In the mansion you see the objects gathered by three generations of Pardees. There are guided tours on Fridays and Saturdays.

East from Broadway, between 9^th and 12^th Streets, you can walk into a thriving Asiatown. It could be called a Chinatown, but there are also Koreans and Vietnamese. The morning scene here is lively, with the selling of produce and wriggling fish. If you indulge in a dim sum lunch at Peony, 388 9^th, you will see more insiders than outsiders. Asiatown is a pageant of family cohesiveness and thrifty concentration on getting and spending.

Further east, beyond Asiatown, is Lake Merritt, a saltwater lake in downtown Oakland. Two major pleasures at Lake Merritt for a traveler are the Oakland Museum of California and the Lakeside Park and Garden Center.

Lake Merritt is a 155-acre saltwater lake and a popular recreation area. On the north shore of the lake lies the country's oldest waterfowl refuge, founded in 1870. You can rent sailboats, rowboats, and canoes at the boathouse on the west shore. Many Oaklanders enjoy walking and jogging around the lake in the usually sunny weather.

The Oakland Museum, 1000 Oak Street, is a major cultural force in the entire Bay Area, both for its permanent collections and its changing shows. The museum was one of the first to present whole environments, possibly "the American kitchen in the 1940s," rather than static collections, such as seashells of the world. Separate floors cover California art, California history, and nature in California. The museum architecture is noteworthy, with the building sunk into the ground and roof gardens atop each tiered floor. One of the popular annual shows is the Mycological Society's Fungus Fair, in November, which displays the season's offerings in wild mushrooms. Similarly, there is a Wildflower Show each April.

Along the edge of Lake Merritt, at 666 Bellevue Avenue, you'll find one of the outstanding public gardens in California, the Lakeside Park and Garden Center, covering 122 acres that are intensely cultivated throughout the year. Permanent displays include a Japanese Garden, Herb and Fragrance Garden, Cactus and Succulent Garden, Polynesian Garden, and a tropical conservatory. The chrysanthemum displays each autumn are famous, but fans of specialized plants might single out a preference for the bonsai show in autumn or the dahlia root sale in spring.

BERKELEY'S UNIVERSITY LEGACY

Berkeley had its start as a modest land grant university in the 19th century. Though the city was subdivided in 1862, the early scene was bucolic. A big population influx occurred, however, when twenty thousand escapees from the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 decided to stay on the east side of the Bay.

A tour of the University is one of the major pleasures of Berkeley, starting at Sather Gate, the entrance to the University in an earlier trolley-car era. Tours of this thousand-acre landscaped campus, with its 20 libraries, start at 10 a.m. each morning from the Visitor Center in the Student Union. Landmarks include the Bancroft Library, with its nine million books. For an impressive view of the East Bay, ride to the top of the campanile tower on campus. Be sure to see what's showing at the University Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way, and the Pacific Film Archives. The Robert Lowie Museum of Anthropology on the campus often hosts impressive shows of archaeological finds. The University has a huge influence on the East Bay. About a fifth of the 122,000 people in Berkeley are students, faculty, or staff. It is said that the University has about a billion dollar annual impact.

Around the campus extend the vital streets, pulsating with craftspeople, dreamers, and gourmet groupies. Many of the streets of Berkeley were named with more purposefulness than in most cities. Streets running east-west were named after men of arts (such as Blake, for the poet) and streets running north-south were named after men of science, such as Bowditch (who made contributions to navigation science).

Telegraph Avenue, which extends south from near Sather Gate, is the most active of these streets, populated by students, artisans, and the homeless. The street was originally named after the transcontinental telegraph, which reached here. A browser will find a lot of interesting places to explore in a three-block stretch. Several coffee shops offer venues at which to sip a cappuccino and watch the parade, with Mediterraneum Caffe claiming the longest Bohemian legacy. There's an out-of-the-60s head shop, Annapurna, plus Smart Alec's for veggie fast food and Larry Blake's for a beer and some evening jazz music. The huge Moe's used book store is a major intellectual force. The patch of greenery named People's Park, one block off Telegraph, has always been a contentious area. In 1969, when the University tried to build dorms, the local populace protested and Ronald Reagan called out the National Guard.

A few blocks west of the University, running north and south, is Shattuck Avenue, the center of "downtown" Berkeley.

If you walked north on Shattuck to between Cedar and Rose, you would be at the heart of trendy culinary Berkeley. Alice Waters' landmark Chez Panisse restaurant is at 1517 Shattuck. The restaurant still manages to excite the palate with the fresh ingredients and imaginative cooking that were its hallmark when founded in the 1970s. One aspect of the magic is that Alice Waters seems to encourage offspring, so every waiter and chef sees a stint here as a journeyman ritual in the path to his or her own establishment. Next door is Alice Waters' more casual restaurant, Cesar, where tapas and a glass of wine can be enjoyed. Across the street is the legendary cheese and bread shop, the Cheese Board, and the ultra gourmet supermarket, Andronico's, with its large entrée takeout section for those who like to eat in but dine well.

The downtown Shattuck area, about six blocks south of this "gourmet ghetto," is blooming as a cultural force. Here is the Addision Street Arts District, anchored by the highly respected Berkeley Repertory Theatre, which actually has two large theatres. Next door is the innovative Aurora Theatre, a more intimate scene. Also on Addison is Jazzschool (with 600 students) and the Copeira Café, with its Brazilian music. A block away is the lavish YMCA of Berkeley, which has an amazing 11,700 fitness enthusiasts partaking of its facilities. Downtown Berkeley nurtures some quality restaurants, such as the contemporary Downtown (that's its name), 2102 Shattuck. Two fine regional Italian eateries are Mazzini Trattoria, 2826 Telegraph, and Venezia, 1799 University.

Still another notable Berkeley Street, running from the University south to Oakland, is College Avenue, two blocks east of Telegraph. If you stroll down College, you pass intermittent cozy apartment/condo and shopping clusters, all part of one of the most livable neighborhoods in Berkeley, known as The Elmwood. At the corner of College and Ashby, you might pause for a coffee at the Roma Café, where perhaps half the patrons will be lounging about with their laptops.

The Elmwood also happens to boast the most distinctive lodging in the East Bay. That would be the Claremont Resort & Spa, which is tucked into the hills a few blocks up Ashby. This white fin de siecle palace of gentility has been recycled and repositioned by its owners as an "urban resort" with a spa. On a clear day you can enjoy a drink at the Claremont's Paragon Bar and watch a panorama of San Francisco, the Golden Gate, and Berkeley unfold in front of you.

Walking further down College Avenue to Claremont, you would come upon another cluster of those small shops that Oakland/Berkeley people like so much. In the block of College south of Alcatraz is VerBrugge Market, where you can procure the finest seafood and meats. Adjacent is La Farine, where they bake all the baguettes and pastries right on the premise. On the other side is the wine merchant, Vino, where you could pick out a good Merlot or Chardonnay. Two doors down, a Burmese clan runs the Yasai Market, where the freshest produce and herbs are an easy pick.

From Jack London Square to Elmwood, there is a lot to celebrate in the relatively sunny East Bay. Collectively, the area will never be as "famous" or as foggy as haughty San Francisco. But to us locals, and to our visitors, the easy-going East Bay is livable and immensely interesting.

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OAKLAND-BERKELEY: IF YOU GO

Contact the Oakland Convention and Visitors Authority, 475 14^th Street, Suite 120, Oakland, CA 94607, 510/839-9000, www.oaklandcvb.com.

Berkeley's tourism source is the Berkeley Convention and Visitors Bureau, 2015 Center Street, Berkeley, CA 94704, 510/549-7040, www.visitberkeley.com.

This article was written by Lee Foster of Foster Travel Publishing. Contact him at his website www.fostertravel.com or by email at lee@fostertravel.com. Copyright Lee Foster.

Lee Foster's most recent travel guidebooks are Northern California History Weekends (Globe Pequot), which won a Lowell Thomas Award, and Adventure Guide to Northern California (Hunter Publishing).

Lee Foster's new literary book is Travels in an American Imagination: The Spiritual Geography of Our Time.

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