Visit to Berkeley Campus

 

 

 

 




Approaching the Oakland-Bay Bridge (Oracle C72 at practice once again)

It’s been said that boaters could spend an entire summer cruising the greater San Francisco Bay area and still not complete the circuit of places to visit including the reaches of the extensive river delta system.  With several excursions in mind, we crossed the Bay on July 1^st passing under the western span of the Oakland Bay Bridge and headed for Emeryville Marina, located five miles from Berkeley. 





Oakland-Bay Bridge and Tunnel through Yerba Buena Island

Much of San Francisco Bay is quite shallow including the entrance into Emeryville consisting of a narrow dredged channel of only 6 feet!  We carefully followed the marked channel which ends with a hard right turn into the marina, a narrow entrance through the breakwater.  

Emeryville Marina, Hills of Berkeley in distance

The marina at Berkeley is even more challenging to enter so we chose Emeryville Marina instead which offers a lovely waterfront park with views of the Golden Gate and downtown San Francisco; folks come here to walk the pathways, relax on a park bench, or to enjoy a picnic lunch.  

Waterfront Park & Bike Path - Emeryville Marina

A bike path leads to downtown Emeryville or you can follow the pathway along the Bay northward to access downtown Berkeley.  Today, we made the five-mile trek into Berkeley and then up the hillside to visit the campus.  

Bike Ride north to Berkeley

We remember Berkeley from our “hippie” days as being the site of numerous protests during the 1960’s which coincided with the larger national Civil Rights Movement, Free Speech Movement, and the Vietnam War protests.  The campus war protests were often met with police force and at one point the National Guard was called to assist - tear gas was used to control the crowds which left a haze of gas over the campus for days at a time.  Students at Berkeley today are mostly main stream but both liberal and conservative groups are active on campus.  

Berkeley Campus - Library far right

We toured the campus by bike, stopping at the beautiful Bancroft Library built in 1948 and Sather Tower (The Campanile) built in 1914.  Standing 307 feet high, the tower was modeled after the one which stands in Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy.  

Beautiful Wood Ceiling in the Bancroft Library

The Campanile

The Hearst Greek Theatre, owned and operated by the University of California, Berkeley, is an amphitheater designed after the ancient Greek theatre of Epidaurus.  Built in 1903 and financed by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, this 8,500-seat theatre hosts the Berkeley Jazz Festival and other music concerts as well as graduation ceremonies and occasional addresses by notable speakers.  Other interesting buildings include South Hall built in 1873, one of the few original buildings still standing from the early (1868-1903) Berkeley campus.  What is considered the historic campus today began with the 1898 architectural competition for university buildings funded by the mother of William Randolph Hearst.  This unprecedented competition came about from the one-upmanship between the prominent Hearst and Stanford families of the Bay Area.  Of course the universities are still arch rivals to this day; and before the start of a big game, Berkeley holds its traditional bonfire rally in the Greek Theatre.

The Greek Amphitheatre