San Francisco Bay Area Travel Tip! - Oakland's Lake Merritt (Patreon)

Lake Merritt has it's good parts and bad parts... A sidewalk encompasses the entire lake and is great for walks or runs, but you will encounter beggars in a couple of places. A very cute lakeside restaurant is located there called Lake Chalet, and a kids playground called Children's Fairyland:  https://fairyland.org/ . I absolutely love the Gardens at Lake Merritt:  https://www.lakemerritt.org/gardens.html  and the beautiful bonsai gardens within. It is free to enter the gardens and a great escape from the city. The lake is also great for picnics!