Are you over 30? Has your definition of fun recently…changed? Then this day trip is for you.

Oh, college.  When your idea of fun was all night parties, clutching solo cups and dancing to bad hip hop. When the clock struck 2am, did you go home? No, you went off to a diner for cheese fries. You’d learned how to pronounce Marcel Proust last week and your roommate read something about Sartre, and you were both working that new found knowledge into any conversation you could.

Then you turned 20, and bad hip hop was only fun in an ironic way. No, no, you’d moved on to seeking out that bar you heard about — it’s in a loft space above a dingy Chinese take-out restaurant. No sign, or anything, but it was supposed to be totally chill, and your friend kinda knew the bartender, who makes killer mixed drinks. When you stumbled out at 1am, you were on the hunt for a slice and sober conversations about that article you just read in this week’s New Yorker, about this Egyptian playwright and his persecution during the Arab Spring. Such an amazing story, you have to read it.

But now you’re 30, and you just want to sit. And maybe the music shouldn’t be so loud that it drowns out your conversation, even though you all mostly talk about how you hurt your knee last week (just stooping down to get some grapes out of the fridge, so random) and how all your friends are having babies these days. Optimally, you’re drinking in the day time, so you can head home before 11pm.

Cue your burgeoning interest in wine. Specifically “wine tasting”. The last great excuse for the middle aged to get blotto during the course of a beautiful Saturday.

On this day trip, we head to Treasure Island for some fantastic views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge, lawn games, and wine tasting. There’s nothing like alcohol with a side of greasy food, and so we round it out with burgers and hot dogs at Red’s Java House under the Bay Bridge.

I promise you’ll be home by 6. Seven at the latest.

On Foot: Escape to Treasure Island — lawn games, wine tasting, and Red’s Java House

Recommended Itinerary (8 hours, 2 walking miles, 7 bus miles):

1. Get a solid breakfast in you
2. Drive or take the bus to Treasure Island
3. Break out the kick balls
4. Head to The Winery
5. Trek back across the bridge to Red’s Java House
6. Go home

 

What you’ll need to bring:

1. A windbreaker
2. Flat shoes or sneakers
3. Your choice of lawn game — Bocce balls, kick ball, softball gear, baseball gear, etc
4. $4 in bus fare. Exact change.

 

1. Get a solid breakfast in you

We were joined by Dave’s friend Will on this day trip. Given the desolate trip to Treasure Island you have before you, it’s a good idea to eat a full breakfast. We headed for Phoenix Irish Bar in the Mission for its traditional Irish breakfast. Plus, they have booth seating and TV’s showing international sports all hours of the night and morning.

They also have a great breakfast there, and you can mostly justify ordering a Guinness or Irish coffee alongside your fried egg, Irish bacon, pudding, and roasted tomato.

 

2. Drive or take the bus to Treasure Island

During breakfast, the three of us realized we’d never been to Treasure Island. I’m not naming names, but one of us grew up in the Bay Area and has never been to Treasure Island. We decided to head on over and see what it was all about.

Background

Treasure Island is located nearly halfway between San Francisco and Oakland, in San Francisco Bay. It is akin to New York’s Roosevelt Island, geographically speaking. At its midway point, the Bay Bridge cuts through Yuerba Buena Island and Treasure Island (the islands are seperated by a two lane isthmus). So chances are, you’ve passed through this island hundreds of times, without ever stopping.

The question really is “Why is Treasure Island here?” It’s a good one, because it’s completely man-made. That’s right, you are standing on fill.

In 1939, San Francisco hosted the World Fair, and the federal government spent three years creating Treasure Island and then filling it with exhibition halls, multi-story sculptures, palm trees, and parking lots. It’s mostly all gone now. There’s an excellent video on YouTube of what it looked like. And here is a map of it on Flickr (by TunnelBug) that will help orient you.

During World War II, the Navy used it as a training base – you can read more about San Francisco’s key role on the Pacific front on my Revisiting 1940’s San Francisco day trip.

The Island is now slated for some condo towers and development. The federal government gave the land to California in 2008, and just six months ago, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors approved a development plan.

As you’ll see when you get there, the land is ripe for development. Except for one little thing: liquefaction. That’s the term geologists apply to ground that will liquefy in the event of an earthquake. That sounds lovely, huh.

It is possible to get to Treasure Island by bus on the 108 Treasure Island, and it’s probably your best bet if you all plan on doing the wine tasting properly. It’s a quick little express route that picks up passengers at the Temporary Transbay Terminal at Howard Street and Beale Street. It comes every 15-20 minutes, and the ride over to Treasure Island takes all of 10 minutes. Not bad. (See here for How to Ride the Bus.)

Treasure Island is only about 1 square mile, so once you’re there, it’s easy to walk around to all points.

 

3. Break out the kick balls

Treasure Island, kind of like Davis, CA, requires you to make your own fun. Wikipedia says that it has a population of 2,500. That seems a touch high. We saw 6 people total, and most of them were sitting alone in parked cars, on the edge of huge, empty parking lots looking out over the Bay. They were either waiting for their clandestine FBI hook-up or plotting a sinister triple murder-suicide. It could go either way.

But! Treasure Island is also home to a surprising number of baseball diamonds and empty grass lots. Ever wanted to pull your friends together for a quick game of kick ball, while looking out over San Francisco Bay? This is your chance.

We opted for “The Great Lawn” on the western side of the island, facing downtown San Francisco. We had the waterfront acre park all to ourselves and a 3 story iron statue of a dancing woman. The park includes picnic tables, if you want to hang out.

There were a few unused baseball diamonds on the leeward side of the island (the eastern coast). You’ll have to get around the chain linked fences, sure, but it doesn’t seem like anyone would be around to hassle you about it.

 

4. Head to The Winery

After throwing around a baseball and checking in on the new East Span construction, we figured we might as well go home.

Until we saw a parking lot full of cars. We kind of felt like Jane Goodall discovering a new, unexpected community. While I took photos outside, Dave and Will checked out the scene and came back with finger guns ablazing. We’d happened upon The Cabernet Shootout Challenge.

We entered what looked like an airplane hangar to find hundreds of people, clustered in small, jovial groups, having themselves a blast. The three of us started hopping around, trying to figure out how to get in, how to get in, how to GET IN. No, we weren’t on the list; we hadn’t made reservations or bought tickets either. Yes, we were in the neighborhood and figured we’d stop by. No, we’re not joking.

Despite being sold out and a touch suspicious, the Bay Area Wine Society welcomed us with open and boozy arms, and whispered under their breaths which booths had the best wine.

The Winery is a cavernous space insulated with stacks of wine barrels. I’m guessing it’s used for weddings during the spring and summer, and wine tastings in the off-season. Upstairs, you can hang out on white leather couches and survey the chaotic scene below.

Twenty five vineyards were there – most from Napa, a few from the Central Coast, and others more local. Our favorites were from the McGrail Vineyard (hey, Livermore!) and Indigene Cellars (Paso Robles). The Bay Area Wine Society also provided a snack table with cheeses, salads, and a pate bar. As the event wound to a close, they switched out the savory snacks for chocolate truffles and brittles. Almost on cue, the winemakers pulled out their desert wines. It was a beautifully run event.

Oh, but what about the Cabernet Shootout Challenge itself? On two long tables, the Society had planted 2 rounds of 16 wine bottles, labels removed. People circulated, tasting from the anonymous samples, and writing down their favorites. Their favorites were then compared to an expert panel result. Dave, Will, and I ultimately decided against it, since that seemed to be the fast track from happy to pickled. But, your mileage may vary.

 

5. Trek back across the bridge, under and over to Red’s Java House

Sloshed is as sloshed does – it’s time for some late night, greasy food. Served in the middle of the day.

Back across the Bay Bridge (ending up at the Temporary TransBay Terminal if you took the 108 bus), it’s time to walk under the Bay Bridge and over to Red’s Java House on Pier 40. They close at 5pm, so you have to get there early (the timing works perfectly – we left The Winery around 3pm after an hour or so of wine tasting).

The name is a misnomer; this is no coffee shop. Instead, you’ll be picking between cheeseburgers, chili cheese hot dogs, Italian sausages, and fish and chips. It feels a little like Philadelphia over there – barely a vegetable to be seen. You can either sit in the diner stools up front or on the waterfront patio outback. Even indoors, the windows are like portholes, looking out on the rusty piers under the Bay Bridge.

The food is exactly what you’re craving if you’ve gotten this far. My fries were golden, greasy and just the right thickness (it’s a thing with me.) Dave’s chili cheese fries, made with slices of cheddar, were spicy and gooey. His hot dog came on a toasted hoagie roll, and was roughly 2 inches in diameter. We were extremely pleased with our meal.

6. Go home. 

So. It’s 5pm. What to do now? You could walk along the oddball waterfront in this part of town, past the fireboats at Firehouse No. 35 at Pier 22½, the Raygun Gothic Rocketship, and Pier 14.

Or, like us, you could call it a day. Our knees were sore. My back hurt. Will’s wife was back home. And we had a few Downton Abbey’s to watch on the DVR. You know, being 30-something isn’t so bad at all.

 

(If you’re from out of town, or if you’re ready to keep the party going, check out my restaurant and neighborhood list for options all around the city.)