One of the first spots Sam and I ventured to when we first moved to Berkeley was the Berkeley Pier and Marina. The pier was built in the mid 1920's and originally extended 3.5 miles into the bay to be used for ferry services across to San Francisco. Now, only a portion of the pier is still accessable, but the remainder of it can be seen past the barrier at the end. On a clear day, you can also get a cool view of the San Fransisco skyline.
The pier gives us a perfect view of the Golden Gate Bridge; however, it also allows a cold wind to blow straight at us from the ocean.Our first summer here, we used to walk out to the end of the pier once a week to watch the sunset. It would be so cold sometimes though that I'd wear a hat and scarf...in the middle of summer. There is nothing fancy about this pier- just fisherman, families taking walks, and seagulls looking for a snack.
The marina is full of sail boats of all types. It seems to be the boat of choice for the bay. We looked into taking sailing lessons through the marina, but I'm not sure I could handle the cold wind and even colder water. We'll see...
On a warm, sunny day, we love going to César Chávez Park, a small park that was developed on an old landfill adjacent to the marina. I think it is funny that such a beautiful spot that so many people now visit used to be covered with trash. There are tons of gophers running around under foot (literally), which makes the already uneven ground more difficult to walk on. It surprised me the first time I saw one of those little guys staring up at me, and I've been trying ever since to get a picture of one. Still, it is a wonderful park with wonderful views of the bay and Berkeley Hills.
We made a happy discovery that locals love to fly kites in the open field because of the wind that comes in under the Golden Gate. Sam loves to fly his trick kites at the beach in Florida, so we bought a dual line parafoil kite from the local Kite Truck for him to fly.
The first couple times we took the kite out, we would check and make sure there was plenty of wind down at the pier. We soon realized that the kite could fly in fairly low winds. We took it out once on a cold windy day in 20mph winds and after Sam went flying across the field, decided we probably shouldn't do that again. On a good day, the kite can definitely pull you a few feet and give you a good workout trying to hold it in place. We have a lot of fun taking a picnic lunch out and flying the kite for a bit, and then spending the rest of our time reading and enjoying the pretty weather.
It is difficult to see in the picture below, but there is a guy who sells all kinds of kites out of his truck. In fact, in the movie Kite Runner, the beginning and end of the movie are taken from this exact field and show the Kite Truck. I thought that was pretty cool.
