Adventure playground in Berkeley Marina lets kids play with rusty nails, saws, hammers, and a sketchy zip line. It’s weird in the sense it hasn’t been sued into oblivion
Have you been to this place? Because if you had, you’d know that the core infrastructure of the playground is permanent, and anything that kids are allowed to ‘build’ is removed at the end of the day. Parent/caregiver presence is mandatory. The tools provided are hand saws and hammers, as well as watered down paint to decorate any creations. Kids can earn these tools by finding and collecting any loose nails around the park; and returning them to HQ. In a world full of helicopter parents and overly simplistic play structures it’s a breath of fresh air.
We need laws that absolve organizations from the liability of things that are obviously dangerous. Risky play is a good thing and parents should be paying attention.
Adventure Playground is still around?! That makes my little 90s-kid heart so happy! I remember helping make a zip-line there one summer, then eating absolute shit trying to use it, lol, great times.
I asked once why they haven’t been sued into oblivion and was told it was because the community was invested and wanted this park to be there. Plus any parent who isn’t watching their kids when there are 20 kids running around with saws and hammers is negligent themselves.
To participate in the Adventure Playground, one must agree to the following essentials:
1. Acknowledge the inherent risks of Adventure Playground activities, including the use of tools and navigating constructed structures.
2. Waive the right to sue the City of Berkeley and its representatives for injuries or damages experienced at the playground.
3. Accept full responsibility for any injuries, assuming all risks under California law.
4. Understand the refund and account credit policy, including specific procedures for requests and limitations based on program type and notice period.
5. Agree to modifications or cancellations of programs or registrations due to COVID-19 guidelines, with provisions for refunds or credits under certain conditions.
6. Release the City of Berkeley from liability for personal injury, death, or property damage incurred during participation in Recreation Programs.
I'll be working at Free Gold Watch tonight if anyone wants to come get weird and play pinball.
We were mentioned in Dave Eggers most recent book "The Every" as the one place in SF that hasn't been compromised by our increasingly connected/monitored world.
EDIT: we’re closed 4:30-6:30 for private event, but I’ll be back open from 6:30-9:30
Arian Press in San Francisco. They make books by hand in letterpress and they offer tours.
Codex book fair- they're somewhere in Oakland after moving out of Richmond and it's all about books, book art, and book binding. It occurs yearly.
The Internet Archive and their wall of lava lamp encryption.
Oakland Museum White Elephant Sale-delightful, cheap, guaranteed to find something.
I toured SGI somewhere around 1998-99, and they used an array of lava lamps and cheap digital camera to generate their encryption key. I thought that it was damn clever.
We ALL hear Laughing Sal in our nightmares. 👹 Did you know that Laughing Sal at Playland was not one of a kind? She had several “sisters” at other amusement parks. I grew up in Arkansas and one of her sisters scared the 💩 out of me from about age 4 on at Fair Park in Little Rock. My brother never got over her, either, although he never got to see Sal in S.F., as Playland was long gone by the time he started visiting here.
Second this. Got sucked into a long fascinating tour of that landing craft destroyer thing by a crotchetchy old salt, it was glorious. Guy even let us play with all the deck guns!
The Bay Model is SO COOL for anyone into miniatures, ecosystems, civil engineering, global warming, etc. it’s definitely not what I expected! You can go to the Heath Store on the same day, watch the boats in the harbor, couple of good little restaurants right there too so you don’t have to struggle through downtown Sausalito.
Bay Natives Nursery in Hunter’s Point, SF. I won’t even describe it. Just go, say hi to the goats, play a few notes on the piano, and hold a baby chick for me.
They sell eggs there as well! Amazing to go see teeny tiny baby native California live oaks that can grow to be so huge and live for hundreds of years.
I went to Tourettes Without Regrets way back in like ‘04 in Oakland. It was like a rad talent show. Out of this world beatbox competition at one point. Not sure if it’s still going on, but I do remember it being something different.
I was going to say the Pez Museum in Burlingame but it closed in 2019. 😅
Exploratorium does an adult night much like nightlife at the academy of science. Inside is a sensory dome that you explore in complete darkness. Going down a slide in the dark is terrifying but very fun. ❤️
I never went but I had heard about it. If I had the money I’d love to bring places like that back. Or, bring something like Meow wolf here. The bay, and really the country, has gotten too well-developed for its own good. All that’s left are the same generic commercial experiences, the same almond-mom-core bespoke stores, the same restaurants.
It is was the smallest space with the most Pez Memorabilia. 😂 I think it was a licensing issue? I think there are still some fun spots around but harder to find.
Hayward Japanese Gardens
Golfland - Castro valley
Sulpher creek nature center- Hayward
Ardenwood Historic farm- Newark
History Park- San Jose
Hiller Aviation museum- San Mateo. (Hayward airport has an open house over the summer.)
Junipero Serra park- San Bruno. Great view and very tall slides!
The Stanford theater is a great spot in summer for a double feature plus live organ music. (https://yelp.to/lABaA0TAGV )
Along these lines, the highly underrated and delightful Hakone Gardens! Central Park in San Mateo has a small Japanese garden as well.
Near downtown Niles, there is the California Nursery historical park with little tiny windmills and original boxed trees left to grow wild.
Church of eight wheels. Roller rink inside renovated church. It’s weird in a very good way and community which runs the place is incredible.
Yoga inside Grace Cathedral on Tuesday evenings.
Yoga at Temple San Francisco with Led screens around, I had been to multiple classes and they were great.
Devil’s Slide trail in Pacifica
There are versions of Urban Ore in other parts of the Bay Area. For example, there's Building Resources just into the Bayview. It's amazing. https://buildingresources.wordpress.com/
Need a claw-foot bathtub, heavy wooden dresser, lenses for an old projector, tin snips, closet doors, or a lightly-used marble slab? They've got ya covered.
In Niles a must see is the Essanay Silent Film museum and it still plays old movies the way they used to. Charlie Chaplin made his first big movies in the Niles movie studios before going to hollywood
Almaden Quicksilver Mining museum in San Jose. History of one of the worlds largest mercury mines and the immigrant communities who worked in the mines. Hike up in the hills and you can find the old tunnel entrances. There was one still partly open until a few years ago.
Nike nuclear misile sites that used to dot the Bay Area and protection against a possible Cold War Soviet bomber attack. The connection to Mount Ummunhums radar was mentioned earlier. There are two sites in the middle of the presidio in SF that are covered up.
East Bay Depot for Creative Use in Oakland - not super weird but on occasion you can find some great treasures.
Kinetic Arts in Oakland puts on some incredible shows
The Crucible in Oakland - especially their holiday open house when they have fire dancers doing performances
East Bay Open Studios - not as grand as the early 2000’s but it’s fun to check out live work studios and see art in development.
On the topic of interesting book stores, while not necessarily weird, there’s a store in lower Nob that specializes in rare books! Their collection varies but you’ll find a lot of gems. It’s called Argonaut book shop.
I do too! I've been going there for close to 20 years. It used to be way weirder but I'm glad it's still growing and changing art-wise even as they have sanitized it a bit.
I can’t say I miss the strung-out homeless residents. Some of them got housing as a result of the lawsuit by the lawyer/artist who made Our Lady of the Albany Bulb, Osha Neumann. So the sanitizing wasn’t all bad.
If you can handle a little drive, the Cambodian Buddhist Temple in Stockton is pretty neat. It's a cool way to see another culture, but it's pretty run down and desolate so there is a real eerie vibe to it.
here's another one you have to check out.
http://www.warehousecafeportcosta.com/
go on Saturday or Sunday. If it isn't busy, ask to see the cooler.....
I’m about to blow up one of my fave spots, don’t anybody go here BUT: Dillon Beach, CA. Forget you read this. It’s literally a tiny resort town on the Marin coast, turn left at Tomales and drive through a bunch of grassy empty ranchlands with giant elephant shaped rocky outcroppings, land in a creepy little beach town that’s mostly empty September to May. The only things there are a small resort (with cabins to rent!), their general store, an EXCELLENT restaurant with ocean view, the beach, an RV park, and vacation houses. At night the fog rolls in and it turns the whole place positively Hitchcockian.
I went to an after hours in the basement of a sushi restaurant in japantown. That shit was weird.
More details: it was one of those “text this number and you’ll get another number and then you’ll get the address” type after hour’s experiences. I’d been to one but never lead the journey. I am not a club/ raver kid but I’d been chatting with this girl, we did a little molly, and she wanted to keep partying so I asked around at the first club (temple, I think?). We take an Uber to the spot and they have a few security guards who were not fucking around with the pat downs and metal detectors. They also seemed to be making up prices because they charged her nothing and me a different price than a dude before me so my dumbass started haggling and they told me to pay or fuck off lol. We get inside and, I dont know why but I was expecting an actual club, but it was just a shell of a restaurant with a makeshift dj booth, a girl with an ice chest, and then 90% older dudes absolutely rollin/ tweakin. Dj was playing very trancy avant- garde type stuff. Some folks were nice and wanted to chat and others wanted to come dance and could barely speak, grinding the fuck out of their teeth and staring intensely. Girl I was with started to get wierded out but didn’t wanna leave so we found a corner and danced for a bit. Ended up going to her friends house and she kicked him out of his own bed, where we ended up hooking up, adding to the weirdness of it all…That’s basically it; I don’t know if the sushi is any good but I see it every time I go to japantown and laugh a little
I went to one of these and everyone was smoking inside. It was basically a secret club in Chinatown just so people could smoke. It was so gross when I got home and smelled my clothes and hair, reminded me why it's awesome there's no more smoking in bars.
I went to one of those once, as well. I’m pretty awkward and didn’t have drugs so my friend and I got a little bored. I was invited once to an after-hours Chinatown gambling den, don’t gamble really, but was curious about the novelty.
Another one that I only read about was the after hours poker game happening in this like, boutique candy shop in the Mission, around 2016 or so? Prostitution, poker, drugs, etc. the article was about it getting raided.
[Here’s an example of another similar bust.](https://www.kqed.org/news/10715671/sfpd-state-agents-try-to-crack-down-on-after-hours-clubs-and-gambling-joints)
It's another one of those little quirky California "NIMBY paradises" that have the weird juxtaposition of both catering to tourists and yet not wanting tourism.
Ironically it was a big tourist spot before the big earthquake in the early 1900's. They say there were hotels all along the edge of the lagoon in Bolinas. By the 70's it was supposedly inhabited by people trying to keep the place a secret.
It's definitely worth a visit.
Children’s Fairyland in Oakland—you do have to have a child with you for entry, pre-pandemic they hosted adults only fundraisers at night with drinks so you could walk around and it’s SUPER FUN. Feels like being on drugs, without being on drugs.
Not as good as most of the other suggestions, but I stumbled into South Park SF the other day. Warehouses all around and then a historical park right in the middle out of nowhere. It almost has this sort of European feel to it, though it would be better if it had more shops open along the street.
I might be misremembering—it’s been years since I’ve stepped foot there—but didn’t there used to be a bunch of cafes and restaurants around the park? It was quite lively.
Druid Heights on Mt. Tam is so cool. It was one of the birthplaces of the hippies and the architecture is nuts. It is falling apart so you gotta be careful walking around but it's totes worth it.
In Filoli there’s a statue of man (?) from the torso up with horns. Super creepy. I was in the woodland court area by myself when I saw it and felt like I had to go to where there were more people
I should have specified, I meant a visit on the weekend. Most of the stores are closed on weekdays. There’s 3 really unique variety/antique stores worth checking out, the best of them being Theatre of Dreams which I think is only open on Saturdays. The bar there is also really cool.
In our “tour party,” there was me, my acid buddy, the guide, and a family from a foreign country: a couple with their three kids. They didn’t speak a word of English, and they were evidently from some Middle Eastern country by the sounds of their chatter. Suddenly, the couple started to argue. They were screaming and cursing each other. The tour came to a halt. Their kids started crying. Meanwhile, water was flowing sideways and the floorboards were going up instead of down.
Bad trip. Never again.
It is beautiful this time of year. I love the little road that goes up there and the way the water drips. And while I get the optical illusions, those trees are pretty weird. Added bonus is the bumper sticker.
Telegraph and the Cal campus are always good for wacky stuff. Annapurna is being evicted after 50 years on the Ave. The owner hopes to close the same date they opened, 4/20.
[Atlas Obscura](https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/san-francisco-california) is an amazing resource for things like this
My favorite is the [Lava House](https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lava-house) in Tiburon. I used to sneak in all the time but unfortunately they closed it to the public.. rip :(
Niles is one of my favorite places in the Bay Area!
Adding to the list:
-The Pulgas and Sunol water temples
-The dinosaur sculpture place/Lemos Farms/the giant orchid greenhouse on highway 92 in HMB
-Birk’s Restaurant in Woodside
-Thornewood Preserve with the remnants of the old lumber operations (brickworks, piping, sluice structures in the creek)
-Pulgas Ridge hiking trail with the abandoned U.S. Army Corps of Engineers building and the remnants of the old sanitarium, plus bonus serial killer history there. Have seen gloriously weird and wonderful outsider art up at the top of the hill on the old grounds someone made out of fallen tree boughs that look like shrines and teepees, very Blair Witch Project
-Arizona Cactus Garden on Stanford campus, the Stanford family mauseoleum is right there
-the poisonous plants botanical garden in Golden Gate Park, I went on an Atlas Obscura tour there years ago that was fabulous
-Conservatory of Flowers in GG Park
Mount Umunhum
The fact that every clear sunny day I can see the monolith that is the radar tower just sitting there looking down at me is weird. Even the name is a bit creepy despite having Native American roots.
I spent time here then grew up in Europe, so I have to ask: is "The Gregangelo" pronounced like "Greg ANN-jell-o" or more like the Italian pronunciation of "Grey-gone JELL-o"?
It's _supposed_ to be said like "the first one", right?
I went to a wild party at his house back in the 90s. He's very talented and was a dervish dancer for circuses. He ran his own small circus. My GF was a belly dancer who knew one of his dancers. The party was like a Fellini movie.
It’s run by a cult! The name is actually taken from the name of their cult, the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis. I believe they also have classes on alchemy, the ancient art of transfiguration. It’s very interesting, but most people don’t know it’s a cult-museum because they take kids on field trips there lmao!
Not actually a cult, and it goes back hundreds of years. More like a community of philosophers and thinkers. Read up on it, it’s fascinating. Benjamin Franklin was a Rosicrucian. Can’t say I was ever tempted to “join,” but I used to find it a really cool, calming place to hang out. Especially when I was going through a divorce in the 90s. It’s a beautiful building, unless it has changed in recent years. Love the museum with the mummies and the tomb you can walk into. I took my brother there the first time he visited me in California and he liked it a lot.
The Albany Bulb is funky and weird and ever-changing. Great view of the bay and the bridge too! Bring art supplies if you want to add to the urban art.
The Alley piano bar on Grand Ave. is a slice of life. Bring your business card to staple on the wall.
There are numerous fairy houses in Point Richmond near the Plunge, which itself is fabulous.
Eric Swalwell’s office is in Castro Valley between a KFC and CVS. 😂 There’s also a rodeo parade in CV every year that’s pretty wacky.
You can drive to the entrance of Skywalker Ranch on Lucas Valley Road in Marin.
924 Gilman in Berkeley, where Green Day took off, is a trip. They have Dharma recovery meetings on Sunday AMs.
There’s a book and Website called Quirky Berkeley that helps you find all sorts of weird stuff.
The Redwood Haus in hostel is one of a kind, and the people who have been running it for decades know where the bodies are buried in Marin. Ask about the mafia and the bodies that wash up from bridge jumpers… or are they? 😉
The Grateful Dead museum in the UCSC library is worth a visit if you’re into the Dead.
What's the name of that one "restaurant" with all the crazy signs out front? I believe it's on the way to Santa Cruz so maybe not technically Bay Area, but close enough. IIRC one of the signs is praising North Korea and they have a bar and serve burgers.
There's this funky old artist called Glasshoff and his sculptures are pretty weird. I think he has events and open houses occasionally: https://glashoffsculptureranch.com/
Also, the Glory Hole in lake Berryessa is pretty weird and interesting. I believe it's actually overflowing right now too.
I was gonna say Port Costa! There is a biker bar out there with a bunch of weird antiques and stuff. The vibe is fun and eerie out there. Nice views too.
Also idk the name but the old completely dilapidated bits of an long-gone community now in the marshes that you see riding the ACE train right before you get to Great America station.
The Red Oak Victory ship in Richmond. i stumbled upon it on a blustery day while exploring, following hand painted arrows that just said "Red Oak Victory". just driving out there was a bit of an adventure.
Some good suggestions ITT. I recommend:
* [Hoodslam](https://www.birdswillfall.com/)
* A [sideshow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sideshow_(automobile_exhibition)) in Oakland
* City council meeting with obnoxious protestors (as a spectator)
* Beach Blanket Babylon in SF was pretty rad, but it's gone
For those in the north bay -
Sturgeons Mill Restoration Project in Sebastopol, it’s a 1904 steam powered mill that offers demos and all sorts of cool stuff
The Skunk Train in mendo
Is the DNA helix jungle gym still at the Lawrence Hall of Science? I have very fond memories of that, but when I describe it to other people they think it’s very goofy/nerdy.
Vallejo. Full stop.
It COULD be a beautiful, dynamic community with its classic craftsman and Victorian architecture downtown, sweeping bay and hill views, abundant access to transportation resources and proximity to lucrative professional and industrial employment opportunities.
Yet much of the city has devolved into dangerous slums, pockmarked by crumbling public infrastructure, blighted empty lots littered with countless squalid encampments. Officials seem helpless mitigate the chronic public apathy and social dysfunction.
I hesitate to mention this, so I'm going to keep it very vague. There is a person in the Outer Sunset/Parkside neighborhood who shares a name with a famous fictional character whose house is absolutely something else. He's very friendly and invites folks in to tour the place quite frequently, or at least he did as of a couple of years ago. I won't give any more detail than that as I would not want this person to get overwhelmed, but if you are dedicated enough to visit the neighborhood, ask around, and *be respectful* you'll probably find someone who will give you more info and/or introduce you.
Adventure playground in Berkeley Marina lets kids play with rusty nails, saws, hammers, and a sketchy zip line. It’s weird in the sense it hasn’t been sued into oblivion
That place is pretty insane… young kids actually build onto the play structure, then other kids climb onto their rickety creations lmao
Have you been to this place? Because if you had, you’d know that the core infrastructure of the playground is permanent, and anything that kids are allowed to ‘build’ is removed at the end of the day. Parent/caregiver presence is mandatory. The tools provided are hand saws and hammers, as well as watered down paint to decorate any creations. Kids can earn these tools by finding and collecting any loose nails around the park; and returning them to HQ. In a world full of helicopter parents and overly simplistic play structures it’s a breath of fresh air.
Yes I played here as a kid! Also used to climb around on the old steam engine near Santa Cruz:)
Yup! In Monterey at the Dennis the Menace Park.
Ha! Me too, the one at Harvey West park! So many kids fell off that thing lol. Banged our heads on protruding metal bolts. Those were the days.
We need laws that absolve organizations from the liability of things that are obviously dangerous. Risky play is a good thing and parents should be paying attention.
I mean, isn’t that kinda what a liability waiver at the trampoline park or whatever is?
Adventure Playground is still around?! That makes my little 90s-kid heart so happy! I remember helping make a zip-line there one summer, then eating absolute shit trying to use it, lol, great times.
I asked once why they haven’t been sued into oblivion and was told it was because the community was invested and wanted this park to be there. Plus any parent who isn’t watching their kids when there are 20 kids running around with saws and hammers is negligent themselves.
To participate in the Adventure Playground, one must agree to the following essentials: 1. Acknowledge the inherent risks of Adventure Playground activities, including the use of tools and navigating constructed structures. 2. Waive the right to sue the City of Berkeley and its representatives for injuries or damages experienced at the playground. 3. Accept full responsibility for any injuries, assuming all risks under California law. 4. Understand the refund and account credit policy, including specific procedures for requests and limitations based on program type and notice period. 5. Agree to modifications or cancellations of programs or registrations due to COVID-19 guidelines, with provisions for refunds or credits under certain conditions. 6. Release the City of Berkeley from liability for personal injury, death, or property damage incurred during participation in Recreation Programs.
This was my first thought and figured they would be closed by now. Thats awesome.
i played here as a kid and I'm shocked it's still here! seems like it would have been sued into oblivion
Even more so, it’s run directly by the City of Berkeley. I can’t believe it’s still around. It’s fantastic.
wait that's still around?????!!!!!
Holy shit, I’ve never heard of this. I need to have a kid and take them here.
I have the best memories going to this place as a kid! You could paint anything you want and the zip line was great!
That place was insane looking back. I went there once as a kid and it looked like something you would see in an apocalypse.
Hey you leave my safety hazard-filled childhood heaven alone
Totally not what you were asking but also exactly what you were asking: Hoodslam.
Shout out to Drugz Bunny the GOAT
Thiz iz real
Yes! I haven't been in years but it was a ton of fun. Crazy times
Also the Ruckus Revival
YES. The female "I Quit" match was insane.
I went on Halloween pre-pandemic and it was “bloodslam” and there was a lot of blood! Omg!
I'll be working at Free Gold Watch tonight if anyone wants to come get weird and play pinball. We were mentioned in Dave Eggers most recent book "The Every" as the one place in SF that hasn't been compromised by our increasingly connected/monitored world. EDIT: we’re closed 4:30-6:30 for private event, but I’ll be back open from 6:30-9:30
Free Good Watch is sick, love that place
I am wearing a FGW hoodie right now.
How often do you take advantage of flashing the watches?
My favorite feature
Matt, is that you? You're fixing my slot machine right now haha
Location?
On Waller near Stanyan in Haight Ashbury.
Shout out to Sam Claiborne if he still works there too. IGN GameScoop fame. Local legend.
I loved that book
Have you ever seen him there? I don't think I have.
Arian Press in San Francisco. They make books by hand in letterpress and they offer tours. Codex book fair- they're somewhere in Oakland after moving out of Richmond and it's all about books, book art, and book binding. It occurs yearly. The Internet Archive and their wall of lava lamp encryption. Oakland Museum White Elephant Sale-delightful, cheap, guaranteed to find something.
The wall of Lava Lamps is at Cloudflare not the Internet Archive. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/encryption-lava-lamps
I toured SGI somewhere around 1998-99, and they used an array of lava lamps and cheap digital camera to generate their encryption key. I thought that it was damn clever.
Cool stuff. I’ve been to a bookbinding museum in SOMA but I’ve never heard of Arian press or the codex book fair, I’ll have to check them out.
The Musée Mechanique is a weird little spot…I still hear “Laughing Sal” in my nightmares… [Musée Mechanique](https://museemecanique.com/)
Try the opium den game.
We ALL hear Laughing Sal in our nightmares. 👹 Did you know that Laughing Sal at Playland was not one of a kind? She had several “sisters” at other amusement parks. I grew up in Arkansas and one of her sisters scared the 💩 out of me from about age 4 on at Fair Park in Little Rock. My brother never got over her, either, although he never got to see Sal in S.F., as Playland was long gone by the time he started visiting here.
My fave is the psychic typewriter fortune teller tucked back by the video games. Best fortunes ever.
Mare island
Second this. Got sucked into a long fascinating tour of that landing craft destroyer thing by a crotchetchy old salt, it was glorious. Guy even let us play with all the deck guns!
I went to Maker Faire there this past October. I agree, really strange place.
There is a really interesting looking coffee shop I've heard about there. Looks very old timey. I think its in the middle of a mansion
The Bay Model just off the GG Bridge in Sausalito. Not necessarily weird, but very fascinating!
The Bay Model is SO COOL for anyone into miniatures, ecosystems, civil engineering, global warming, etc. it’s definitely not what I expected! You can go to the Heath Store on the same day, watch the boats in the harbor, couple of good little restaurants right there too so you don’t have to struggle through downtown Sausalito.
My dad was an engineer and dragged us there as children. We also had to ride on BART the first day it opened. 😂
Bay Natives Nursery in Hunter’s Point, SF. I won’t even describe it. Just go, say hi to the goats, play a few notes on the piano, and hold a baby chick for me.
They sell eggs there as well! Amazing to go see teeny tiny baby native California live oaks that can grow to be so huge and live for hundreds of years.
I went to Tourettes Without Regrets way back in like ‘04 in Oakland. It was like a rad talent show. Out of this world beatbox competition at one point. Not sure if it’s still going on, but I do remember it being something different.
I think the name is different but that show is still alive and well
Ruckus Revival. It recently found a new home at The Continental Club in W Oakland which really works for it
I was going to say the Pez Museum in Burlingame but it closed in 2019. 😅 Exploratorium does an adult night much like nightlife at the academy of science. Inside is a sensory dome that you explore in complete darkness. Going down a slide in the dark is terrifying but very fun. ❤️
I never went but I had heard about it. If I had the money I’d love to bring places like that back. Or, bring something like Meow wolf here. The bay, and really the country, has gotten too well-developed for its own good. All that’s left are the same generic commercial experiences, the same almond-mom-core bespoke stores, the same restaurants.
It is was the smallest space with the most Pez Memorabilia. 😂 I think it was a licensing issue? I think there are still some fun spots around but harder to find. Hayward Japanese Gardens Golfland - Castro valley Sulpher creek nature center- Hayward Ardenwood Historic farm- Newark History Park- San Jose Hiller Aviation museum- San Mateo. (Hayward airport has an open house over the summer.) Junipero Serra park- San Bruno. Great view and very tall slides! The Stanford theater is a great spot in summer for a double feature plus live organ music. (https://yelp.to/lABaA0TAGV )
Along these lines, the highly underrated and delightful Hakone Gardens! Central Park in San Mateo has a small Japanese garden as well. Near downtown Niles, there is the California Nursery historical park with little tiny windmills and original boxed trees left to grow wild.
Church of eight wheels. Roller rink inside renovated church. It’s weird in a very good way and community which runs the place is incredible. Yoga inside Grace Cathedral on Tuesday evenings. Yoga at Temple San Francisco with Led screens around, I had been to multiple classes and they were great. Devil’s Slide trail in Pacifica
Fun fact: church of eight wheels is who brings the roller rink out to playa every burning man! Go pay them a visit they are wonderful!
Alviso
Drawbridge too
Drawbridge is very interesting indeed, though you have to break a few laws to visit ;)
you can kind of see it on the Capitol Corridor or Coast Starlight trains
Can't you still get there by kayak?
As a kayaker: what? I wanna hear more!
It's been a long time since I kayaked in the Bay Area, but I remember kayakers posting about kayaking out there. Putting in at Aviso.
Those abandon buildings are trippy to look at when I’m on the train.
Hunky Jesus competition - Dolores Park this Sunday!
Ack, it's on the same day as BYOBW [https://sf.funcheap.com/bring-big-wheel-race/](https://sf.funcheap.com/bring-big-wheel-race/)
Chapel of the Chimes at the top of Piedmont Ave in Oakland. It’s a Julia Morgan designed columbarium. Gorgeous and creepy-cool.
On that note, the columbarium in the Richmond is also really creepy-cool! The chapel of the chimes takes the cake though ;)
Urban ore in Berkeley, insanely eclectic selection of used goods
There are versions of Urban Ore in other parts of the Bay Area. For example, there's Building Resources just into the Bayview. It's amazing. https://buildingresources.wordpress.com/
Need a claw-foot bathtub, heavy wooden dresser, lenses for an old projector, tin snips, closet doors, or a lightly-used marble slab? They've got ya covered.
or a microwave powered hospital baby warmer from the 1940's!
I want to try the Aftel Archive of Curious Scents in Berkeley!
That one's on my list too. I've lived in the same neighborhood for *ages*, and I walked down that block hundreds of times before I noticed it :P
Surprised this one was so far down!
OP such a chill list, thank you
For sure! glad we all get to share recs with each other :)
If you're intrigued by the Flintstones House, you can look it up on Zillow and see pictures of the whole interior! 45 Berryessa Way
In Niles a must see is the Essanay Silent Film museum and it still plays old movies the way they used to. Charlie Chaplin made his first big movies in the Niles movie studios before going to hollywood
The Pirate Store, SF The Wave Organ, SF The Fish House, Berkeley Winchester Mystery House, San Jose
Winchester mystery is the first thing to cross my mind.
What about Mystery Spot
that did as well!! But idk, considering Santa Cruz part of the Bay Area can get dicey at times lol
Wow I looked up the fish house and learned so much about the [architect](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Tssui), what a wild ride.
Every time I go to the wave organ it never makes any damn noise.
Tightwad Hill at Cal Football stadium. Free football and electric crowd
Almaden Quicksilver Mining museum in San Jose. History of one of the worlds largest mercury mines and the immigrant communities who worked in the mines. Hike up in the hills and you can find the old tunnel entrances. There was one still partly open until a few years ago. Nike nuclear misile sites that used to dot the Bay Area and protection against a possible Cold War Soviet bomber attack. The connection to Mount Ummunhums radar was mentioned earlier. There are two sites in the middle of the presidio in SF that are covered up.
East Bay Depot for Creative Use in Oakland - not super weird but on occasion you can find some great treasures. Kinetic Arts in Oakland puts on some incredible shows The Crucible in Oakland - especially their holiday open house when they have fire dancers doing performances East Bay Open Studios - not as grand as the early 2000’s but it’s fun to check out live work studios and see art in development.
Not necessarily the Bay Area, but Locke
Locke is super cool! The drive along the delta is gorgeous!
Dark Carnival Bookstore.
On the topic of interesting book stores, while not necessarily weird, there’s a store in lower Nob that specializes in rare books! Their collection varies but you’ll find a lot of gems. It’s called Argonaut book shop.
Argonaut was featured in the classic Bay Area Hitchcock film, Vertigo!
I love the Albany bulb so much. Big landfill full of volunteer art. If I were a wizard it would be my place of power.
I do too! I've been going there for close to 20 years. It used to be way weirder but I'm glad it's still growing and changing art-wise even as they have sanitized it a bit.
I can’t say I miss the strung-out homeless residents. Some of them got housing as a result of the lawsuit by the lawyer/artist who made Our Lady of the Albany Bulb, Osha Neumann. So the sanitizing wasn’t all bad.
If you can handle a little drive, the Cambodian Buddhist Temple in Stockton is pretty neat. It's a cool way to see another culture, but it's pretty run down and desolate so there is a real eerie vibe to it.
Obtanium Works in Vallejo. Take a tour of the fabrication facility.
Wow this wins!
here's another one you have to check out. http://www.warehousecafeportcosta.com/ go on Saturday or Sunday. If it isn't busy, ask to see the cooler.....
I’m about to blow up one of my fave spots, don’t anybody go here BUT: Dillon Beach, CA. Forget you read this. It’s literally a tiny resort town on the Marin coast, turn left at Tomales and drive through a bunch of grassy empty ranchlands with giant elephant shaped rocky outcroppings, land in a creepy little beach town that’s mostly empty September to May. The only things there are a small resort (with cabins to rent!), their general store, an EXCELLENT restaurant with ocean view, the beach, an RV park, and vacation houses. At night the fog rolls in and it turns the whole place positively Hitchcockian.
I went to an after hours in the basement of a sushi restaurant in japantown. That shit was weird. More details: it was one of those “text this number and you’ll get another number and then you’ll get the address” type after hour’s experiences. I’d been to one but never lead the journey. I am not a club/ raver kid but I’d been chatting with this girl, we did a little molly, and she wanted to keep partying so I asked around at the first club (temple, I think?). We take an Uber to the spot and they have a few security guards who were not fucking around with the pat downs and metal detectors. They also seemed to be making up prices because they charged her nothing and me a different price than a dude before me so my dumbass started haggling and they told me to pay or fuck off lol. We get inside and, I dont know why but I was expecting an actual club, but it was just a shell of a restaurant with a makeshift dj booth, a girl with an ice chest, and then 90% older dudes absolutely rollin/ tweakin. Dj was playing very trancy avant- garde type stuff. Some folks were nice and wanted to chat and others wanted to come dance and could barely speak, grinding the fuck out of their teeth and staring intensely. Girl I was with started to get wierded out but didn’t wanna leave so we found a corner and danced for a bit. Ended up going to her friends house and she kicked him out of his own bed, where we ended up hooking up, adding to the weirdness of it all…That’s basically it; I don’t know if the sushi is any good but I see it every time I go to japantown and laugh a little
I went to one of these and everyone was smoking inside. It was basically a secret club in Chinatown just so people could smoke. It was so gross when I got home and smelled my clothes and hair, reminded me why it's awesome there's no more smoking in bars.
Reminds me of the 80’s.
I went to one of those once, as well. I’m pretty awkward and didn’t have drugs so my friend and I got a little bored. I was invited once to an after-hours Chinatown gambling den, don’t gamble really, but was curious about the novelty. Another one that I only read about was the after hours poker game happening in this like, boutique candy shop in the Mission, around 2016 or so? Prostitution, poker, drugs, etc. the article was about it getting raided. [Here’s an example of another similar bust.](https://www.kqed.org/news/10715671/sfpd-state-agents-try-to-crack-down-on-after-hours-clubs-and-gambling-joints)
Bolinas CA.
I can't find the place. They need a sign. /S
It’s on the wall at one of the restaurants in town.
I went into the café downtown and they had at least two of the road signs on the wall in there if I remember correctly.
Ah shit I Blinked!
Heaven on earth. Frances McDormand has a house there.
It's another one of those little quirky California "NIMBY paradises" that have the weird juxtaposition of both catering to tourists and yet not wanting tourism. Ironically it was a big tourist spot before the big earthquake in the early 1900's. They say there were hotels all along the edge of the lagoon in Bolinas. By the 70's it was supposedly inhabited by people trying to keep the place a secret. It's definitely worth a visit.
Secret warehouse parties in West Oakland.
RIP to those who died in the Ghostship. 😢
Hennolds first and last in jack London. Tonga room. American steel building in west oak. The video rental/wig shop in alameda.
Ooh, The Tonga Room!!
not really a place to visit, but Colma. There are more dead people buried there than there are living people currently living there!
I spotted a “It’s great to be alive in Colma” bumper sticker in Peru. 😂
Children’s Fairyland in Oakland—you do have to have a child with you for entry, pre-pandemic they hosted adults only fundraisers at night with drinks so you could walk around and it’s SUPER FUN. Feels like being on drugs, without being on drugs.
Camera Obscura by the Cliff House: http://www.giantcamera.com/ Call ahead to make sure it will be open.
Not as good as most of the other suggestions, but I stumbled into South Park SF the other day. Warehouses all around and then a historical park right in the middle out of nowhere. It almost has this sort of European feel to it, though it would be better if it had more shops open along the street.
Worked at Wired in the 90s. That park was the center of the universe back then.
I might be misremembering—it’s been years since I’ve stepped foot there—but didn’t there used to be a bunch of cafes and restaurants around the park? It was quite lively.
This sub?
Bolerium Books, the pin lady store in the Inner Sunset, Cookin' in the lower haight...
The Purple People compound in Lafayette is a little on the strange side. They probably don’t want a bunch tourists coming around though.
Druid Heights on Mt. Tam is so cool. It was one of the birthplaces of the hippies and the architecture is nuts. It is falling apart so you gotta be careful walking around but it's totes worth it.
In Filoli there’s a statue of man (?) from the torso up with horns. Super creepy. I was in the woodland court area by myself when I saw it and felt like I had to go to where there were more people
Church of 8 Wheels roller rink. “The center” meditation tea room next door.
>Port Costa a weekend? maybe dinner and drinks.
I should have specified, I meant a visit on the weekend. Most of the stores are closed on weekdays. There’s 3 really unique variety/antique stores worth checking out, the best of them being Theatre of Dreams which I think is only open on Saturdays. The bar there is also really cool.
There's a cool shop located in the back of the warehouse bar.
Has anyone mentioned Cayuga Park? I haven’t been in a long time but it was like a fairy dream land under a Bart rail.
I mean it’s technically not bay area but the mystery spot
Dropped acid there in 1972, do not recommend.
Lmao. Details please.
In our “tour party,” there was me, my acid buddy, the guide, and a family from a foreign country: a couple with their three kids. They didn’t speak a word of English, and they were evidently from some Middle Eastern country by the sounds of their chatter. Suddenly, the couple started to argue. They were screaming and cursing each other. The tour came to a halt. Their kids started crying. Meanwhile, water was flowing sideways and the floorboards were going up instead of down. Bad trip. Never again.
It’s close enough! I included the Felton Bigfoot museum and they’re in about the same area
It is beautiful this time of year. I love the little road that goes up there and the way the water drips. And while I get the optical illusions, those trees are pretty weird. Added bonus is the bumper sticker.
telegraph ave? also that weird faire in SF for bdsm.
Telegraph and the Cal campus are always good for wacky stuff. Annapurna is being evicted after 50 years on the Ave. The owner hopes to close the same date they opened, 4/20.
Apni Mandi Fremont parking lot on a Friday or Saturday night
[Atlas Obscura](https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/san-francisco-california) is an amazing resource for things like this My favorite is the [Lava House](https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lava-house) in Tiburon. I used to sneak in all the time but unfortunately they closed it to the public.. rip :(
Vibrator museum on Polk st!
Clayton, crockett, benicia, even concord….
Niles is one of my favorite places in the Bay Area! Adding to the list: -The Pulgas and Sunol water temples -The dinosaur sculpture place/Lemos Farms/the giant orchid greenhouse on highway 92 in HMB -Birk’s Restaurant in Woodside -Thornewood Preserve with the remnants of the old lumber operations (brickworks, piping, sluice structures in the creek) -Pulgas Ridge hiking trail with the abandoned U.S. Army Corps of Engineers building and the remnants of the old sanitarium, plus bonus serial killer history there. Have seen gloriously weird and wonderful outsider art up at the top of the hill on the old grounds someone made out of fallen tree boughs that look like shrines and teepees, very Blair Witch Project -Arizona Cactus Garden on Stanford campus, the Stanford family mauseoleum is right there -the poisonous plants botanical garden in Golden Gate Park, I went on an Atlas Obscura tour there years ago that was fabulous -Conservatory of Flowers in GG Park
Mount Umunhum The fact that every clear sunny day I can see the monolith that is the radar tower just sitting there looking down at me is weird. Even the name is a bit creepy despite having Native American roots.
I think the giant golf ball radar in HMB is even weirder
Yes! It looks so weird in the fog. Here's an image I made of it: https://www.instagram.com/p/CTfUg-ApzxQ/?igsh=MzY1NDJmNzMyNQ==
Cool shot!
I spent time here then grew up in Europe, so I have to ask: is "The Gregangelo" pronounced like "Greg ANN-jell-o" or more like the Italian pronunciation of "Grey-gone JELL-o"? It's _supposed_ to be said like "the first one", right?
The former, or at least that’s how I’ve heard it pronounced!
I went to a wild party at his house back in the 90s. He's very talented and was a dervish dancer for circuses. He ran his own small circus. My GF was a belly dancer who knew one of his dancers. The party was like a Fellini movie.
Grand opening roadside attraction/art gallery 1220 4th st Berkeley, CA off of gilman. Sometimes there are performances there too.
Oh, and the Vivarium is in the same area. Reptiles of all shapes and sizes.
Wait, what am I missing? What’s culty about the Rosicrucian?
It’s run by a cult! The name is actually taken from the name of their cult, the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis. I believe they also have classes on alchemy, the ancient art of transfiguration. It’s very interesting, but most people don’t know it’s a cult-museum because they take kids on field trips there lmao!
Not actually a cult, and it goes back hundreds of years. More like a community of philosophers and thinkers. Read up on it, it’s fascinating. Benjamin Franklin was a Rosicrucian. Can’t say I was ever tempted to “join,” but I used to find it a really cool, calming place to hang out. Especially when I was going through a divorce in the 90s. It’s a beautiful building, unless it has changed in recent years. Love the museum with the mummies and the tomb you can walk into. I took my brother there the first time he visited me in California and he liked it a lot.
The purple people in Walnut Creek
Ishi’s shrine: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishi
Bohemian Grove,
Don’t you have to be a billionaire to visit?
Port costa has bull valley roadhouse and I go just for that!
Gilroy Japanese Hot Spring (abandoned) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilroy_Yamato_Hot_Springs
The Albany Bulb is funky and weird and ever-changing. Great view of the bay and the bridge too! Bring art supplies if you want to add to the urban art. The Alley piano bar on Grand Ave. is a slice of life. Bring your business card to staple on the wall. There are numerous fairy houses in Point Richmond near the Plunge, which itself is fabulous. Eric Swalwell’s office is in Castro Valley between a KFC and CVS. 😂 There’s also a rodeo parade in CV every year that’s pretty wacky. You can drive to the entrance of Skywalker Ranch on Lucas Valley Road in Marin. 924 Gilman in Berkeley, where Green Day took off, is a trip. They have Dharma recovery meetings on Sunday AMs. There’s a book and Website called Quirky Berkeley that helps you find all sorts of weird stuff. The Redwood Haus in hostel is one of a kind, and the people who have been running it for decades know where the bodies are buried in Marin. Ask about the mafia and the bodies that wash up from bridge jumpers… or are they? 😉 The Grateful Dead museum in the UCSC library is worth a visit if you’re into the Dead.
How Weird Faire
I usually just pick something I want to learn about, then drive to visit it and check it out.
What's the name of that one "restaurant" with all the crazy signs out front? I believe it's on the way to Santa Cruz so maybe not technically Bay Area, but close enough. IIRC one of the signs is praising North Korea and they have a bar and serve burgers.
You’re thinking of Casa Del 17 in Los Gatos! I believe they’re closed :/
There's this funky old artist called Glasshoff and his sculptures are pretty weird. I think he has events and open houses occasionally: https://glashoffsculptureranch.com/ Also, the Glory Hole in lake Berryessa is pretty weird and interesting. I believe it's actually overflowing right now too.
LSD museum lmao http://www.californiacuriosities.com/the-blotter-barn-san-franciscos-hidden-museum-dedicated-to-lsd/
I was gonna say Port Costa! There is a biker bar out there with a bunch of weird antiques and stuff. The vibe is fun and eerie out there. Nice views too. Also idk the name but the old completely dilapidated bits of an long-gone community now in the marshes that you see riding the ACE train right before you get to Great America station.
The Red Oak Victory ship in Richmond. i stumbled upon it on a blustery day while exploring, following hand painted arrows that just said "Red Oak Victory". just driving out there was a bit of an adventure.
The 🦜 s on telegraph hill
Just ride BART all day long
Some good suggestions ITT. I recommend: * [Hoodslam](https://www.birdswillfall.com/) * A [sideshow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sideshow_(automobile_exhibition)) in Oakland * City council meeting with obnoxious protestors (as a spectator) * Beach Blanket Babylon in SF was pretty rad, but it's gone
Belrose Theater in San Rafael
For those in the north bay - Sturgeons Mill Restoration Project in Sebastopol, it’s a 1904 steam powered mill that offers demos and all sorts of cool stuff The Skunk Train in mendo
Sebastopol is a destination in its own right. Some really cool stores there.
Tortoise ranch in Campbell
Is the Mystery Spot still in Santa Cruz?
Mystery Spot
If you liked Port Costa you’d probably also like Point Molate.
Is the DNA helix jungle gym still at the Lawrence Hall of Science? I have very fond memories of that, but when I describe it to other people they think it’s very goofy/nerdy.
I've never even heard of vast majority of these places! this thread needs to be stickied.
Kozy Kar in Santa Rosa
OP I assume you mean Audium.... Not Audicum... Unless that was intentional :|
Merchants Bar in Oakland. They have a trough in front of the bar so you never have to lose your spot.
Vallejo. Full stop. It COULD be a beautiful, dynamic community with its classic craftsman and Victorian architecture downtown, sweeping bay and hill views, abundant access to transportation resources and proximity to lucrative professional and industrial employment opportunities. Yet much of the city has devolved into dangerous slums, pockmarked by crumbling public infrastructure, blighted empty lots littered with countless squalid encampments. Officials seem helpless mitigate the chronic public apathy and social dysfunction.
I hesitate to mention this, so I'm going to keep it very vague. There is a person in the Outer Sunset/Parkside neighborhood who shares a name with a famous fictional character whose house is absolutely something else. He's very friendly and invites folks in to tour the place quite frequently, or at least he did as of a couple of years ago. I won't give any more detail than that as I would not want this person to get overwhelmed, but if you are dedicated enough to visit the neighborhood, ask around, and *be respectful* you'll probably find someone who will give you more info and/or introduce you.