It was another gorgeous day, so Simona & I took advantage of it.
I had heard of Indian Rock Park, but never made it there until this weekend. We headed over and parked at the corner of Solano Ave and The Alameda.
Solano covers a long stretch between Berkeley and Albany. It’s a nice neighborhood with plenty of shops, eateries, markets, and more. After a quick stop at Noah’s Bagels, where we grabbed food for a picnic lunch, we headed up Indian Rock Path.
Indian Rock Path starts at the northwest corner of Solano and The Alameda.
It’s a quiet and secluded path that wanders up between the neighborhood houses towards Indian Rock Park. We passed by several houses, meeting families and couples along the way.
We reached the park, then climbed to the top of Indian Rock. Indian Rock is a volcanic rock left over from another time.
A wise developer in the early 1900’s left a few parcels containing the volcanic rocks to the city as parks, preserving them for future generations. There are steps carved into the rock from two directions, making the approach easy. For those seeking a challenge, the rock is also known as a local climbing spot.
Perched at the top, we broke out our lunch and enjoyed a great view of the bay area, including great views stretching from the Oakland Hills, Downtown Oakland, the Port of Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley, San Francisco and the Bay, Berkeley Marina, Albany, and Richmond. You can even see the Campanile. It’s a gorgeous spot and apparently a favorite spot for Berkeley teens to watch the submarine races at night.
A while later, after a visit from the Green Goblin, soaking in some rays, and enjoying our lunch, we climbed down and wandered around the neighborhood a bit.
There are some amazing houses in Berkeley and the area around Indian Rock is no exception. I particularly enjoy the old stone street signs around Berkeley, left over from another era.
After wondering back to the car, we headed further up the hills.
It’s unfortunately been a while since I last used my sticks. I have no idea why, but I’ve been avoiding the links for some time. So Simona & I hit the range at Tilden Park Golf Course to get back into the swing of things.
We located ourselves on the quiet lower level and with a jumbo bucket of balls began to swing away. It felt great and my swing was dead on. Just when things couldn’t get any better….
BANG ratttlerattlerattlerattlerattle BANG rattlerattlerattlerattle plop.
It started to rain golf balls. Some poor soul at the upper level must have been topping the ball, sending it arcing into the steel awning that protects the middle level from upper level errant balls. The golf ball then rolled down the awning, dropped onto the awning between the lower lever and the middle level, rolled along, then dropped onto the turf in front of me.
At first I didn’t pay much attention, but it kept happening.
BANG ratttlerattlerattlerattlerattle BANG rattlerattlerattlerattle plop.
My ears became finely tuned to the sound and I was able to detect where in front of me it would fall. The folks around me started to enjoy the action and laugh with the rhythmic sound of the descending ball following each swing of the poor golfer above. Having some fun, I set out a basket in front of me to catch the balls. Precariously leaning beyond the yellow line of death, I pushed the basket further and further out. One of the basket collectors at Tilden even stopped by to watch the action.
Sadly, just as I set the basket into the favored ball-drop location, our golfer stopped. Either the golfer ran out of balls or someone rightly stopped the madness.
Simona & I shortly finished up our bucket and moseyed back up to the car, trying to spot the errant golfer, but no luck.
On the way back to Berkeley, we stopped by the new Berkeley Hills fire station near the corner of Shasta and Grizzly Peak. Finished in November of 2006, it’s a beautiful wood and concrete structure designed by local architect Marcy Wong. It caught our eye on the way to Tilden and we were curious.
We parked in front of the station and started to chat up two of the firemen in front. Before you knew it, we were on our own private behind the scenes tour of the station. The station is a real beauty, elegantly and green-designed and comes with the only firefighter pole in the area.
During the tour of the station, I noticed another firefighter watching a wrestling meet on TV. Rather surprised, I asked if he wrestled, and indeed he had in the 130 & 135 weight classes. After announcing that I had once wrestled in the 140 & 145 classes in high school, our guide chimed in that he too once wrestled in the 145 weight class in high school. I knew these guys were all right, but the wrestling confirmed it for me.
Fortunately, I didn’t announce I was a Chargers fan until the end, when we were back out front enjoying the last minutes of the afternoon. Once the word Chargers came out, I discovered that our tour guide was none other than Raider Greg, host of RaiderNationPodcast.com. That’s when I realized that some Oakland Raider fans are all right.
After a bit, we said our good byes and headed back down the hill. It’s the unexpected things that turn an ordinary day into a great day.
—Colin C.