Nothing beats a walk around Lake Merritt at dusk. When I moved to the Bay Area a year ago I really didn't know much about the East Bay. I stayed with a friend for a couple months because I was homeless and he lived right by the lake. There's something really special about a natural escape being smack dab in the middle of a downtown scenery. And Oakland is no ordinary city. The mix of people and culture in so mistakenly represented. Commonly known as a "dangerous" area, people judge Oakland stiffly, which goes to show how naive the mass public truly is. I'll stop right there, I could go on and on. This post is about beautiful Lake Merritt, which is actually it's location title on FB and Insta! The lake is a common ground wedged at the edge of downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. There's a couple different woodsy escapes, several view points of the downtown skyline, washed up piers, grassy plains, a bird sanctuary and boat docks. There's a little set of islands at one corner. All in all it's a setting that totally represents a relaxed common ground for the diverse crowd of Oakland. I come here to run or explore all the time and it never gets old. With that eclectic Bay Area touch there really is always something new to see here.
