My 10 favorite things in the Bay Area

Sadly, today was my last day in the bay.  I'm so excited to start the journey, but as my friends here know, I've been more than a little sappy about leaving.  I find myself saying things like, "this is the last time I'm going to do xyz or see xyz!"  It got so bad that last night I thought, "this is the last time I'll do laundry in California!"  Even as I was thinking it, I knew it was ridiculous.

In honor of my last day, here are my 10 favorite things (that I can think of at the moment) about this lovely place I've called home for almost 2 years:

1) Redwood Regional Park -- I might go so far as to call this my favorite place in California.  It's sort of a secret gem in Oakland, off the tourist path, and one of my favorite places to run or hike.

2) Thai Buddhist Temple in Berkeley, Wat Mongkolratanaram -- They have a brunch every Sunday that is so amazing it makes me feel like I'm back in Thailand... except with a bunch of hipsters and Berkeley students.

3) Lake Merritt -- I lived near the lake for almost all of my time here and ran around it so many times.  This is another gorgeous gem of Oakland, full of interesting characters and sights (I'll especially miss frizzy-haired tai chi man...)

4) $2 A's tickets on Wednesdays -- The benefit of having a crappy team is getting into a baseball game for really cheap.

5) Flavors of India -- Kelly and I got take-out from this place so often that they knew us from our phone numbers.

6) Treasure Island -- I always passed this while driving across the Bay Bridge (it's halfway between Oakland and SF), and finally got curious enough one day that I got off at the exit.  Low and behold, it has the most amazing view of the city ever.  I love it.

7) Opera at the Ballpark -- Every fall, they broadcast a live feed of the SF Opera on the big screen at AT&T Park.  It's completely free, and if you get there early you can bring a blanket and picnic in the outfield.  I can actually say that I sat on the field the year the Giants won the World Series!

8) Berkeley Bowl -- This is possibly the greatest grocery store ever.  I almost passed out the first time I bought produce here and saw how cheap it was.

9) Tightwad Hill -- Right behind Cal Memorial Stadium, there is a hill that you can sit on and see the games for free.  It attracts really interesting people and is more fun than actually going to the game.

10) Arizmendi Bakery -- We affectionately called it "Communist Pizza."  It's a worker-owned cooperative that makes a different kind of pizza every day, including onion-free pizza every Tuesday.  I'm planning to make it my last stop before I leave Oakland tomorrow (gotta have pizza for the road).