Gas prices in the Bay Area have officially exceeded $7 per gallon, according to Google Maps updates for two stations in San Bruno. That makes the gas in Emeryville look like a steal at just $6.90. Today, one Reddit user posted a photo of a gas-station bill of $170.05 for 26 gallons, writing, “This wasn’t even my gas tank, but I’m shook.”
Prices are likely to continue rising as the war in Ukraine stretches on (Russia’s the second-biggest producer of oil in the world). So right now might not be the best time to drive to Tahoe or L.A. Here in the Bay, though, you’re never far from an interesting excursion. Here are five nice ways to spend the day without having to travel too far:
Explore a Japanese Tea Garden
The nation’s oldest garden of its kind is a great place to explore the wonder of nature – or a carefully constructed simulacrum that requires the skills of elite trimmers and landscapers. The garden has persisted in Golden Gate Park since its establishment as a cultural attraction in the 1894 California Midwinter International Exposition. Today there are many diverse ecosystems to explore, as well as fat koi in a lovely pond and an incredibly curved “Drum Bridge” that’s more like climbing a ladder. A bustling cafe serves Japanese snacks and green tea – ask the proprietors about the garden’s claim to fame of originating the fortune cookie in America. Here’s where to go and what to see there.
Go fossil hunting
Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve in the East Bay is home to great hiking trails with a hidden feature. Look carefully in the sandstone, and you’ll notice quarter-shaped outlines of shrimp burrows that date from the Eocene period 34-56 million years ago. “They were kind of like big, juicy prawns you might get at a nice restaurant, with one big claw used to catch any prey and defend themselves,” a park naturalist explained to us. “They made their burrows in the sand but they lined their burrows with their own excrement, and that’s what’s being fossilized.” For animal lovers of a different kind, summer’s also the time when bats come to roost in the preserve’s caves, so keep an eye out for that.
Check out the Rosie the Riveter museum
You might not even need a car to get to this unique World War II fixture in Richmond. The San Francisco Bay Trail that hugs the water and provides wonderful views of islands and birds leads right to its doorstep. Inside the free museum, you can explore how the boom in the defense industry changed the face of Richmond as well as the fate of the war.
At its peak, shipyards here were pumping out huge numbers of vessels that carried crucial supplies to troops fighting abroad. You can even explore the interior of one, the SS Red Oak Victory, for a few bucks at a neighboring harbor after enjoying wine and cider from Riggers Loft.
You might have to drive to park at one of the many places that rent kayaks around the Bay, but after that, the only thing you’re burning is calories. (Maybe your skin, too – wear sunscreen.) A paddle through the tidal system of the California Delta provides otter encounters and views of hulking Mount Diablo. Castro Valley is a relaxing spot to scoot around a lake and picnic on the grass afterward. And the marshy waters in Redwood City are a unique spot to see wildlife like pelicans, harbor seals and a weird kind of mouse that drinks salt water to survive.
Find our full list of kayak spots (plus places to grab a drink or meal after your paddle) right here.
Learn the history of explosives
Many folks probably don’t know San Francisco was once a powerhouse in the manufacturing of dynamite. Not always successfully, mind you – one of the explosives factories blew up so many times that angry locals ran it out of town to what’s now Richmond. At Point Pinole Regional Shoreline, you can explore the grounds of an old TNT-manufacturing facility and wonder at the various artifacts that remain: a black-powder press, remains of blast bunkers, crater-shaped earthen pits used to burn off hazardous materials. The setting is so much less violent than its history, with Bay views, lovely cliff trails and groves of whispering eucalyptus (which were planted to reduce the force of detonations).