East Bay by Tour Bus

How to visit East Bay hotspots via AC Transit

I had a terrific experience the other day wandering around Berkeley, Oakland and Alameda. Usually, I do my own driving but this time, thankfully, I left the car behind and boarded an AC Transit bus with the fabulous and fun Ronda Robinson behind the wheel. We shot an episode for Bay Area Backroads on Channel 4 and will post it soon on my new website, www.OpenRoad.TV; The Traveler's Video Guide to the American West.

Ronda's won AC Transit's "Rider's Choice Award" and I can see why. She's warm engaging and perceptive, and she's got a great nose for fragrances and food.

We stopped at Berkeley's fabled Cheeseboard Collective for some morning bread and cheese and saw a huge line forming on the street for the Collective's renowned pizza. Rhonda first discovered the Cheeseboard Collective when she sniffed freshly baked bread during one of her early morning bus runs along Shattuck Ave. through the Gourmet Ghetto.

She also got a whiff of some strong spices on Telegraph Ave. in Oakland and that led her and me to Café Colucci, an Ethiopian restaurant with a spice shop attached. We had lunch there and enjoyed every bite.

We then moved on to other sports and spots in Alameda. We first flew model airplanes with the delightful Aeromaniacs and I then got to taste some extraordinary vodka, whiskey and other liqueurs at Hangar One Distillery. It's located at the west end of the old Alameda Naval Air Station with good views of San Francisco in the distance. While I tasted Ronda only watched, and then drove me safely back to my destination.

The whole journey was a reminder of how much the East Bay has to offer and how easy it is to enjoy many of them by bus, while keeping our use of fossil fuels and keeping the size of our carbon footprints to a minimum. We treated ourselves and the earth pretty well and had a great time in the process.

For more with Doug, visit www.OpenRoad.TV.

Posted at 05:03 PM in Doug McConnell’s OpenRoad.TV Tips | Permalink