What to do in Moraga?

My wife and I are going to the game Thursday at SMC. We have done all the San Francisco stuff, but never really explored the Oakland side of the bay. What should we do and see? Any must eat places? We have afternoon Thursday, all day Friday and half day Saturday.



Thanks for any insights

My advice would be to try not to get murdered. That's all I've ever done in Oakland.

I grew up in Oakland. While it's not as touristy as SF, there are some cool places in Oakland/East Bay:

1) Oakland Temple

2) In the hills above the Oakland temple there some cool trails and a mini redwood forest. Park is called Joaquin Miller park.

3) If you're up for more of a hike there is Mt. Diablo which is just east of Moraga. On a clear day you can see Half Dome in Yosemite from the top.

4) Just north of Oakland is Berkeley (the two cities bleed into each other). College Ave in Berkeley, up by Cal is a fun area to walk around. There are great, underrated restaurants all along the street. Take your pick.

5) Right on the border of Oakland and Berkeley is a great pizza joint called Zachary's. It's routinely voted the best pizza in the Bay Area. Order the spinach and pepperoni. It's deep dish style and arguably the best pizza you'll ever eat.

6) In the hills of Berkeley is the Lawerence Hall of Science. It's a fun science/museum of sorts. If you aren't into that sort of thing, the view is worth the drive.

7) There are some cool art museums in downtown Oakland if you're into that.

8 ) In Emeryville (nestled between Oakland and Berkeley) is Pixar. I've never done it, but I hear there is a really cool tour there of the studios.

9) If Italian food is your thing there is a great place on Piedmont Ave called La Coco's. It's great! No reservations, so get there early and be prepared to wait outside for 15/20 minutes. Afterwards, just down the street a couple blocks is a gelato joint...or at least there used to be.

10) Speaking of Piedmont, if you enjoy just driving around fancy neighborhoods and looking at insanely expensive homes, that's the neighborhood to do it in.

11) If you can get tickets and they are in town, the Warriors are fun to watch.

12) There's the Oakland Zoo, which as far a zoo's go is actually petty nice. I like it way better than the SF zoo.



Hope this helps. Enjoy the game. Get to SMC early as there is limited parking.



P.S. I lived in the East Bay for 30+ years and was never murdered or robbed or assaulted.

I was going to recommend the Berkely area as well. We visited this great little Asian restaurant, but I can't for the life of me remember the name of it...and no, it wasn't Panda Express.

hawkwing wrote:
My advice would be to try not to get murdered. That's all I've ever done in Oakland.

All you've ever done is murder there? ;)

thanks for the tips. I'm looking forward to this game, I have a good feeling about us tomorrow, I think we steal one from the gaels.

What do you think Hawks do? i.e. predator.

LOL :)



I've actually never murdered in Oakland, I've never actually even been there...

If it is clear, the view from the Oakland Temple is breathtaking. You can see all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge

I'm feeling some good karma coming with me to Moraga. I'm still calling the win for BYU. I'll give an update of our experience there once we get back.

My fam is from the Bay Area; my mom grew up in Oakland. I echo Gunk's expert recommendations. Hope you have a great trip and enjoy seeing a W for the Cougs. I would love to go the game tonight, but can't make it.

Had a good time last night, minus the loss. I love going to different arenas and stadiums and seeing the different atmospheres. SMC was ok as far as environment goes. It was nearly full, unfortunately they had several seating gaps in what looked like their student section. Crowd and fans were nice and respectful.



As far as the game went, I think we got beat by a better team. You could see our guys figure it out at times then lapse into getting beat again. I ran into Steve Cleveland this morning and he said St Mary's is just really good at what they do, and for young players it's hard to be patient on offense and defense as long and as often as you need to be against SMC. he hopes with a little more practice and playing in the Marriott center where not every shot drops for them, the outcome might be different.



I don't want to rehash small gym snack which is lame, but seriously, the WCC is giving each school how much money from tourneys and stuff and the top teams in the league can't buy speakers you can hear in the arena? Birdie702 has better speakers in his garage than SMC has in their arena. And can't they find a semi rich alum to donate a video board? They're located in one of the highest median income areas in the country and SMC tuition is outrageously high. Somewhere there has to be a little extra cash to make the experience better. Unfortunately, SMC's gym is more like USF's than Santa Clara's or San Diego's. One of the top tier teams in the league should have a much nicer facility, they're really no excuse. They can keep their small size (though they pretty much fill it so could expand), but really need to improve some of their amenities. Their concession stand was a folding table in the corner. Overall a great team and program with second rate facilities



PS: when the officials review the tape of the game, I hope they negate all jump shot points attributed to Narr due to his horribly ugly shooting form. and tall #22 with those free throws? Ouch! They were ugly.