Have you got a dog? If you do, you could do worse than a walk round Lake Chabot, which is in Anthony Chabot Regional Park in Oakland and San Leandro. Dogsitting for the weekend, I thought to myself, self, it would be easy to just take said dog to one of many neighborhood parks. We could walk down the street for a latte. Perhaps there would be biscotti. BUT this is a chance to get out and see something new. And so! On to Chabot Park.
Getting there is a tad confusing. I would say: head for the Lake, not the Golf Course, which does not link to the lake and has lots of people wandering around in bad polo shirts, which are very distracting/blinding. Yes, it's best to just take the Grand Ave exit off 580 east and head straight for the Marina. From downtown Oakland, this should take 20-25 minutes.
We parked on the road (thus avoiding the $5 parking fee, though not the $2 "dog fee" -- which comes with a Milk Bone, bonus). It was warm, and many people with picnicking, some with what we decided was an excess of barbecuing acoutrement. Really, if you are going to haul some enormous full-sized gas grill all the way to a local park, you had better be hunting your lunch *at* said park and then camping there afterwards (they have campgrounds) to actually make it worth your while. Especially since Chabot Park nicely provides picnic tables and grills.
Anywho, on the walk! We only walked part of the lake, but it was gorgeous -- a lovely path, with bikers, walkers, and dogs and dog owners a plenty -- but not so many that it got crowded or irritating. The lake is beautiful -- enormous, shaped rather like a deformed bicep, and with surprisingly few boaters. Didn't see anybody swimming, but some kind of bird was diving for its lunch with great success, so the fish were a'jumpin, water was high, living was easy, etc etc. You get the idea. California at it's best... which is pretty damn good.
We were actually a tad overdressed for the heat, so we repaired to our nearest diner -- this one, Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe in Emeryville, is a truly fantastic place. I forgot to take pictures, but the milkshakes are un-friggin-beatable, especially the espresso shake and the Shakin Jesse, an espresso-Guiness-ice-cream combo. Yum. Rudy's has fantastically weird decor -- plastic dolls embedded in the tabletops, Barbies in Rudy's shirts on the walls -- and a great mix of hipsters, bikers, and every other kind of east bay resident. Two thumbs up! I imagine it would be a fantastic late-night oasis, should you be looking for one.
Getting there is a tad confusing. I would say: head for the Lake, not the Golf Course, which does not link to the lake and has lots of people wandering around in bad polo shirts, which are very distracting/blinding. Yes, it's best to just take the Grand Ave exit off 580 east and head straight for the Marina. From downtown Oakland, this should take 20-25 minutes.
We parked on the road (thus avoiding the $5 parking fee, though not the $2 "dog fee" -- which comes with a Milk Bone, bonus). It was warm, and many people with picnicking, some with what we decided was an excess of barbecuing acoutrement. Really, if you are going to haul some enormous full-sized gas grill all the way to a local park, you had better be hunting your lunch *at* said park and then camping there afterwards (they have campgrounds) to actually make it worth your while. Especially since Chabot Park nicely provides picnic tables and grills.
Anywho, on the walk! We only walked part of the lake, but it was gorgeous -- a lovely path, with bikers, walkers, and dogs and dog owners a plenty -- but not so many that it got crowded or irritating. The lake is beautiful -- enormous, shaped rather like a deformed bicep, and with surprisingly few boaters. Didn't see anybody swimming, but some kind of bird was diving for its lunch with great success, so the fish were a'jumpin, water was high, living was easy, etc etc. You get the idea. California at it's best... which is pretty damn good.
We were actually a tad overdressed for the heat, so we repaired to our nearest diner -- this one, Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe in Emeryville, is a truly fantastic place. I forgot to take pictures, but the milkshakes are un-friggin-beatable, especially the espresso shake and the Shakin Jesse, an espresso-Guiness-ice-cream combo. Yum. Rudy's has fantastically weird decor -- plastic dolls embedded in the tabletops, Barbies in Rudy's shirts on the walls -- and a great mix of hipsters, bikers, and every other kind of east bay resident. Two thumbs up! I imagine it would be a fantastic late-night oasis, should you be looking for one.
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