I love being an urban girl. I really do. But sometimes I long for the suburban megastores of my childhood, places that will sell me furniture AND popcorn AND a set of picnic plates AND the DVD of The Way We Were. When this happens, I [more...]

Though Mount Tam holds a firm grip on the imaginations of our city dwellers, Bay Area natives have another mountain they can turn to in times of trouble: Mount Diablo. Many aren't aware that in addition to creating a pleasing skyline, [more...]

Point Isabel Regional Shoreline is one of those great, rare places that caters to dogs and their humans at the same time. The 21 acre park has plenty of [more...]

Benicia (pronounced ben-EE-sha, NOT ben-IH-sha) is a little undiscovered jewel box in the East Bay. With its clean streets, smiling families and beautiful views of the water every way you turn, this would be the perfect place to settle [more...]

I was raised on Kinder's sandwiches, and now I wish to pass the tradition on to a new generation. This small chain of world-class delis (pronounced to rhyme with [more...]

Zip over to The Entertainment Zone in Concord for a rousing game of Q-Zar laser tag, "the most technologically advanced laser game ever seen." Fake guns [more...]

Check out Zachary's in Berkeley, the only place in that town where you can get honest-to-goodness Chicago-style deep dish pizza.

Walk or boat around the sparkling Lafayette Reservoir on a sunny day. You can also fish, boat, bike, rollerblade and picnic at this little man-made lake.

Hand-carved horses, a spinny head and what the website calls a "huge organ." Is this an incredibly kinky date? Or is it just the carousel at Tilden Park in Berkeley? [more...]

The La Pena Cultural Center in Berkeley offers lectures, performances and many more community events aimed at promoting cross-cultural understanding between Bay Area [more...]

Head up to the top of UC Berkeley's Campanile to see spectacular views of the surrounding area, or wait for a free campus tour to arrive, glom [more...]

Duck into the Lipman Room at the top of UC Berkeley's Barrows Hall for great views of the surrounding campus, San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge, and Treasure Island.

The California Shakespeare festival, known hereabouts as Calshakes, performs several plays every summer and fall in their outdoor theater set high in the Berkeley [more...]

Take your rods to the Berkeley pier for some quality time and some quality fishing. Tell your date this reminds you of how easily he/she hooked you when you met. This date will earn you big points and potentially something to cook for [more...]

Located in nearby Concord, Waterworld California offers water slides, rides, and all the greasy food on a stick you can eat. As an added bonus, it's no [more...]

Darts! Gambling machines! Rock'n'bowl! Thai food! Yes, it's the Albany Bowl, the East Bay's answer to...well, everything. Bowl your loving little brains out, then break for lumpia.

Take a free tour of the Scharffen Berger Chocolate Factory. The chocolate isn't mixed by waterfall, but it's still a delicious-smelling time.

Smokers and those who sympathize with them might enjoy a trip to Schmidt's Tobacco Trading Co. & Pub. Sells many different blends of tobacco (though sadly you can't smoke inside) and has a British pub flavor.

Check out the Mallard in Albany for drinks, pool and pinball, as well as an entertaining little collection of childhood photos of the staff.

He loves Arnold Schwarzenegger, she loves Emma Thompson -- or the other way around. Satisfy both your cravings with a trip to the filming location of Twins on the UC Berkeley campus. Find one of the more established staff members to [more...]