Richardson Bay & Berkeley 🇺🇸

After 5 days at Aquatic Cove, we said goodbye to the Dolphin Club swimmers, the Ghirardelli chocolate factory and our friends staying behind.  We set course for Richardson Bay and pulled anchor around noon on Sept 1.  The sail across the SF Bay was full of beautiful sights with the Golden Gate Bridge in full view, Alcatraz on our starboard and Fishermans’ Wharf at our stern.  We dropped anchor about an hour later and relished our new backdrop. The Golden Gate bridge peeking over the hills of Sausalito, million dollar homes on the hillside, pirates in the distance and marinas for miles. 

Our brief overnight stop in Richardson Bay transformed into an idyllic escape, where the gentle sway of the water invited us to relax and soak in the tranquility. With the morning sun warming our faces, we made the decision to explore the unique town of Berkeley. 

We set course for Berkeley and pulled anchor mid afternoon on Labor Day. Main reason for going to Berkeley was to provision the boat and get ready to start heading a little further south.  We had not provisioned since Anacortes so we were well due for some fresh veg. 

We got ourselves a slip at the Berkley Marina for the night. The idea of being able to get on off the boat with ease when wanting to go to shore is appealing but the thought of docking is still a little terrifying for me.  Dropping anchor I find much less stressful with no other boats in close proximity to hit LOL.  We made the narrow entrance to the marina, with a max depth of 10ft surrounding us and pulled into the slip with ease, yay, all in part to Alex’s amazing skills of course.   We wasted no time and got right to getting our bikes ready for tackling the many chores on our lists.  

First – laundry!  We scouted out the closest laundromat and threw our dirtys on our back and off we went into Berkeley.

We found some great bike paths that took us along the shoreline and into the quiet streets of Berkeley. We made our way through West Berkeley to the main drag – San Pablo Ave.  We dropped our laundry off at ‘The Laundry Room’, fitting name, and took off on the bikes killing time and exploring the streets, scouting out if Costco would be doable on our bikes.  We found Costco, located in the Richmond District, which was about a 20 min ride from the marina.  We decided a big shop would be doable on the bikes, with only a small incline up an overpass, otherwise fairly flat along the waterfront trails and made plans to hit it up the next morning. 

Berkely is a city on the east side of San Francisco Bay, in Alameda County.  It’s home to the University of California, Berkerley, birthplace of the 1960’s Free Speech Movement.  Founded in 1868 and the oldest of the University of California’s 10 research institutions, Berkeley values innovative thinking, top-quality research and public service above all else.  One of the most prestigious state universities in the country.

We really enjoyed our time in Berkeley and only ventured into one sketchy neighbour which seemed to attract people with less than honorable intentions – reminded me of the East side of Vancouver.  Luckily we were on our bikes so we booked it on out of there pretty fast.  

With our laundry done and hungry for dinner, Alex found the amazing Everett & Jones BBQ – the culinary highlight of our trip so far.  A no-frills counter service spot dishing up smokey barbecue in a signature sauce with all the fixings.

Everett & Jones BBQ was started by Dorothy Everett with her eight daughters, one son and son-in-law (Jones) in 1973.  Dorothy, separated from her husband and left caring for her children, she worked hard to support her children as a domestic and held a part time job tending a smoke pit.  Deciding to strike out on her own, she borrowed seven hundred dollars from her good friend and with a week’s line of credit from her suppliers she opened her own barbeque restaturant heavily dependent upon fate.

The original location on the corner of 92nd Ave in Oakland, CA, in need of much work was rented.  The whole family pitched in to get it going.  The business began as a family enterprise and continues that way today.  Slowly the business grew, the long hours and low pay began to pay off.  In 1974 the family opened their second restaurant (Berkeley) and in 1975 a third was opened.

While celebrating their third anniversary of their first restaurant, tragedy struck.  The unattended wood burning pit caught on fire and burned the restaurant beyond repair.  Standing in front of the burning building, still in their party dresses, family members hugged each other and cried.  A year later, in 1977 the family opened a new restaurant one block away from the original location.  The business has continued to grow to include six locations throughout the Bay Area. 

We spent the evening bird watching at the marina and playing a new game called Plunder – A Pirates Life, which was gifted to us by our Heather Civic Marina neighbours, Big John Bates & Shiloh Lindsey – Thank you John & Shiloh 🙂 

The next morning we were up and at it early, just about the leave the marina to get our Costco run complete, and the marina office tells us we have to move to another slip… Noooo is all I thought. Luckily it was a calm morning and we quickly and easily made the move to our new slip.  As previously mentioned, with Alex at the helm it makes things easy, although it still gets my heart rate going every time.

The ride to Costco was a blend of utilitarian and fun, as we laughed and chatted about our boating journey while picking up provisions for the days ahead. It felt good to stock up on supplies, knowing we were preparing for more unforgettable moments on the water.  Balancing bags from the handlebars and packs on our backs, we tackled the 3.7 mile bike ride back to the marina with $330 worth of Costco groceries (including a 24 pack of beer and 1.75L of pre-mixed lime margarita).  

Next on the chore list was fresh fruits and veg and we rode across town to Berkeley Bowl.  Berkeley Bowl is an independent grocery store that first opened in 1977 in a converted bowling alley building.  The store was a delight to wander through and is known for its organics, natural products and its extensive produce section that was displayed in a spectrum of colors.

As we navigated the bike trails back to the marina after a great shop at Berkeley Bowl, we discovered a stunning playground that seemed like a secret haven for families. The Adventure Playground is an urban park and adventure playground located at Berkeley Marina.  The park opened in 1979 based on the ideas of Danish architect Carl Theodor Sorensen, who had made use of scrap junkyards for playgrounds when Cophenhagen was under occupation during World War II.  Visitors can enjoy playing on the many kid designed and built forts, boats, and towers, riding the zip line or creating with hammers, saws, paint and recycled materials.  Children under the age of 18 must have a supervising adult attend.  Unfortunately the park was closed the day we were there but it was an incredible sight to see.  

Once we finished up our chores, we set course to McCovey Cove and left the Berkeley Marina around just past 1600hrs.

This little adventure in Berkeley was just what we needed.  Whether relaxing at the marina or riding through town, there’s something special waiting around every corner.