Oakland International Airport

From Gil S. on yelp.com


Oaktown airport has it all for the small GA experience: convenience, ease, friendliness, access, the simplicity of it all. Jet Blue and Southwest, two favorites, keep a big presence there. I almost give it five stars just for that. Those two airlines are so friendly and low key and professional but I give credit to the airline more than the airport.

Lately I've gone back to the big leagues, back to SFO. A few things steer me from Oakland. Security can be long long and slow. They tell you sometimes you should go over to the ghost terminal with all the unpopular airlines like USAir and United and shorter lines, but that's a lot of walking. For some reason the courtesy busses can only drop off and pick up two islands away, down a ramp, in between the two terminals. What's with that? Food and bar selection sucks, even by airport standards. They let Ruth's Chris hang an explicit, almost pornographic, banner of a fat juciy steak right in front of Round Table Pizza. Of course, the closest Ruth's Chris is Civic Center San Francisco. That's just cruel.

I can't say I like the architecture. Airports, like banks and churches, are monuments to public life. OAK is rather desultory and shabby, funky in a sort of charming way, a little like the town.

Navigation is relatively easy but I always end up leaving in the wrong direction. Off-airport private parking is plentiful and cheap -- go quickpark!

More than a monument, an airport is where you pass the milestones of life, love, loss, breakups, reunions, new beginnings, new businesses. For that alone, they should seriously expand the chapels and have a meditation / chill zone / nightclub in each terminal. Last night I had the pleasure of throwing up in the first class bathroom three times on my way back from Vegas, a personal best. Wondered if they could hear me in the cockpit. Probably. Also the fortune of a good friend driving me home across the bay bridge at 2AM, sleeping comfortable and content despite my virus in the back seat amidst the luggage. Nothing gets better than that."

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Best of the East Bay 2006

A Visual Map of The Best of the East Bay 2006... I started mapping the East Bay Express Article, but they were leaving out too much relevant info... so I forged ahead with info from friends and themenupage.com