Welcome to a transit-friendly state of mind in Oakland, the Hub of the Bay Area. All five BART subway lines converge in city and with stations Downtown, Uptown and near Lake Merritt in Oakland and in Downtown Berkeley. Oakland’s Jack London Square, a short walk from the Downtown BART station also has frequent ferries connecting to Alameda and to San Francisco, its esteemed neighbor just 7 miles across the bay.

    Oakland and the East Bay have more Afrocentric cultural sites, and restaurants and shops than San Francisco. African American Museum & Library, Museum of African American Technology, Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, Marcus Bookstore, and Berkeley’s Black Repertory Theatre anchor cultural activities here 365 days a year. Want to see a Black play? Check. Want to see Black professional dancers? Check. Looking for displays of Black Genius? Check. Looking for choices among Black churches?  Another check. In fact, Oakland is the birthplace of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense and preserves many historic sites related to their people’s movement as well.

   On any given day, Jack London Square has artistic performers, a farmer’s market and plenty of yachtsmen coming home with the day’s catch. Yet the pace is as fast or slow as you want. Take in a movie. Sample barbeque and live entertainment at Everett & Jones. Enjoy fine dining at Miss Pearls Caribbean, Scotts Seafood, Boscanova Pan-America cuisine or just sip a cup o’ java at the Barnes & Noble, which seems more like the cultural center of Jack London Square than a franchise.

   Not far from Jack London Square, Oakland’s Chinatown runs at frenetic pace marked by the many fruit and vegetable storefronts, gift shops and restaurants serving some of the best Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese cuisine in the Bay Area. Chinatown has found a social anchor its modern Asian Cultural Center, with Chinese New Year Celebration as its annual highlight. A few blocks away, Oakland Museum adds depth to the plate of leisure choices, whether between business meetings or on a date.

    Just across Broadway from Chinatown and steps away from the Oakland Convention Center Marriott, you’ll find the fully restored bay windows of Old Oakland you’ll find a mix of restaurants, including Le Cheval, one of the most popular Thai restaurants in the entire Bay Area.

   A modest retail corridor begins in Oakland City Center, which is a hub between commercial, government and University of California administrative headquarters. A few steps further east on Broadway you encounter the swank shops in Rotunda Broadway. Just before you stop in one of its boutiques, take a moment to appreciate the skylight views of its exquisitely designed rotunda. After the Rotunda, Downtown Oakland transforms into Uptown Oakland culminated with the Ice Skating Center and two must-see theatres, The Fox and Paramount. Each year these august theatres host the East Bay’s best sounding concerts, Black Comedy Competition, and Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame event. The superb acoustics of the Paramount were never more apparent than when it hosted Luther Vandross shortly before his terminal illness. People still talk about that amazing concert. Restaurants and nightclubs like The Den at the Fox, Pican, Luka’s Taproom, The Flower Depot, Ozuma Sushi Bar and more have blossomed around the two theatres for plenty of dinner-and-show options.

   Downtown Oakland is blessed to have a rare jewel among major cities -- a magnificent lake populated with joggers, walkers, bikers, gondola rides and a children’s Fairyland along its 3-mile circumference. Best views of Lake Merritt and the skyline are had in the evening time, when its “Necklace of Pearls” lights reflect against a passion fruit-colored sky. Simply remarkable! Adjacent to Lake Merritt are the popular shops and restaurants of Lakeshore District, manned with tender care by local merchants. If you must see a movie while in town, make it the Grand Lake Theatre where an organist often opens screenings on Saturday nights. And if time permits, visit Rockridge, Glenview and Fruitvale districts for a taste of other distinctive Oakland neighborhoods.

   Make day trip the and home to world renown, University of California in the heart of Berkeley. This eclectic college town is as full of utopian possibilities as its broad selection of Soul Food, Creole, Caribbean, Barbeque, Ethiopian, West African, Seafood, Italian, French, Chinese, Thai, Filipino, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Mexican restaurants. Appeal to your quirky side, by visiting Telegraph Avenue, which has some of the wackiest shops on the planet, vibrant street scenery and the occasional student protest. There are always “Wow” moments to be had in Berkeley, if you hang around long enough.

   In total, if you visit San Francisco without visiting Oakland and Berkeley, that’s like visiting New York City without visiting Brooklyn and Queens. You got the high profile act of the region, but didn’t keep it real. And with Monterey, Sacramento, Reno, and Lake Tahoe so close, you’ll also discover why Oakland is the most convenient Bay Area destination with soul at its root.