Frommer's San Francisco 2012 - Matthew Poole [193]
By car from San Francisco, take I-80 across the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and follow signs to downtown Oakland. Exit at Grand Avenue South for the Lake Merritt area.
For a calendar of events in Oakland, contact the Oakland Convention and Visitors Bureau, 463 11th St., Oakland, CA 94607 ( 510/839-9000; www.oaklandcvb.com). The city also sponsors eight free guided tours, including African-American Heritage and downtown tours held Wednesdays and Saturdays May through October; call 510/238-3234 or visit www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours for details.
Downtown Oakland lies between Grand Avenue on the north, I-980 on the west, Inner Harbor on the south, and Lake Merritt on the east. Between these landmarks are three BART stations (12th St., 19th St., and Lake Merritt), City Hall, the Oakland Museum, Jack London Square, and several other sights.
What to See & Do
Lake Merritt is one of Oakland’s prime tourist attractions, along with Jack London Square (see below). Three and a half miles in circumference, the tidal lagoon was bridged and dammed in the 1860s and is now a wildlife refuge that is home to flocks of migrating ducks, herons, and geese. The 122-acre Lakeside Park, a popular place to picnic, feed the ducks, and escape the fog, surrounds the lake on three sides. Visit www.oaklandnet.com/parks for more info. At the Municipal Boathouse ★ ( 510/238-2196), in Lakeside Park along the north shore, you can rent sailboats, rowboats, pedal boats, canoes, or kayaks for $10 to $25 per hour (cash only). Or you can take an hour-long gondola ride with Gondola Servizio ( 888/737-8494; www.gondolaservizio.com). Experienced gondoliers will serenade you, June through October, as you glide across the lake; the cost ranges from $45 to $225 for two depending on the time and gondola style.
Another site worth visiting is Oakland’s Paramount Theatre ★, 2025 Broadway ( 510/893-2300; www.paramounttheatre.com), an outstanding National Historic Landmark and example of Art Deco architecture and decor. Built in 1931 and authentically restored in 1973, it’s the city’s main performing-arts center, hosting big-name performers like Smokey Robinson and Alicia Keys. Guided tours of the 3,000-seat theater are given the first and third Saturday morning of each month, excluding holidays. No reservations are necessary; just show up at 10am at the box office entrance on 21st Street at Broadway. The tour lasts 2 hours, cameras are allowed, and admission is $5.
If you take pleasure in strolling sailboat-filled wharves or are a die-hard fan of Jack London, you might enjoy a visit to Jack London Square ★ ( 866/295-9853; www.jacklondonsquare.com). A relatively low-key version of San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, Oakland’s only patently tourist area shamelessly plays up the fact that Jack London spent most of his youth along the waterfront. The square fronts the harbor, housing a mostly tourist-tacky complex of boutiques and eateries, as well as a more locals-friendly farmers’ market year-round on Sundays from 10am to 2pm. Recently, a couple of top-quality restaurants—Cocina Poblana and Miss Pearl’s Jam House—have been added to the mix, and a new marketplace showcasing local epicure is under construction, offering new hope for the area. Most shops are open daily from 11am to 6pm (some restaurants stay open later). One of the best reasons to come here is the live jazz at Yoshi’s Jazz Club & Japanese Restaurant ★, 510 Embarcadero W. ( 510/238-9200; www.yoshis.com), which attracts top international performers and serves some fine sushi in its adjoining restaurant. In the center of the square is a small model of the Yukon cabin in which Jack London lived while prospecting in the Klondike during the gold rush of 1897.
In the middle of Jack London Square is a more authentic memorial, Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon ( 510/839-6761; www.heinoldsfirstandlastchance.com), a funky, friendly little bar and historic landmark. This is where London did some of his writing and most of his drinking.