A long-underappreciated pillar of the Bay Area, BART (short for Bay Area Rapid Transit) connects the towering urban jungle of San Francisco to suburban San Jose and college-town Berkeley alike with a vast expanse of both underground and aboveground rails. “No car? No problem,” reads many of their advertisements in the train cars. This issue, we are joined by another journalist—not a member of The Shield as per usual, but a journalist from the Berkeley High Jacket, Max Hesterman. Together, we explore the vast urban jungle of San Francisco and Berkeley alike, thanks to our good friend BART.
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Welcome back travelers, to The Daily Explorer. In this series, we travel to interesting places within the Bay Area, hoping to inspire the readers of The Shield to explore their hometown. Keep an eye out for some of your favorite writers from The Shield. If you have any favorite places, restaurants, parks, etc, please email me at emi.gruender@gmail.com to issue a recommendation. Your name and input about the place in question will be credited, of course.
Without further ado, buckle up and enjoy the blog-style ride of The Daily Explorer!
SATURDAY, January 31, 2025
12:38 pm, An Hour With Good Old BART
The journey starts with making my way towards the Berryessa BART station, the closest one to central San Jose. Ever aware that the average commuter does not own a clipper card, BART accepts a wide variety of payment options: including contactless bank cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and of course, clippers. This very recent development from August 2025 allows for greater rider accessibility, as many commuters are not aware of the need to register for a clipper card in order to ride.
A quick inspection of the maps present throughout the station—then I make my way up to the platform to wait for the orange line to Antioch. My first reaction stepping upon the train was to note how surprisingly clean it was. Unlike much of the public transport I was used to taking, BART kept both their silicon cushioned chairs and smooth grey floor neat and clean. None of the chairs had legs; instead, they had an overhead support system, I assume to allow for easy access under the seats for daily maintenance.
My hour-long ride was largely uneventful, save for a very unique conversation I had with a fellow passenger—a 17-year-old boy from Oakland. With a very interesting conversation hook— “Excuse me, ma’am, would you happen to know anything about the criminal justice system?” — I dispensed some of my unqualified advice. He also informed me of the recent tragedy at the First Friday celebrations in East Oakland, where he personally knew one of the victims. Needless to say, I was horrified. I lent him my phone, and called his brother about pick-up logistics, before we finally arrived at the Coliseum station in Oakland, and said goodbye.
1:52 pm, Getting to know Berkeley.
Just an hour after boarding, I arrived at the Downtown Berkeley station, where Max quickly found me. Since this was one of my first times in Berkeley, he showed me around Downtown, including the impressive art-deco themed Central Library. While passing by, we spied a line of colorful “street newspapers” set up for the general public to take and peruse. After picking one up, we saw that it boasted a grand collection of poetry and a dragon smoking a cigarette alike. Curious as to what was inside, I tucked it beneath my arm and kept walking.
A couple blocks later, we stumbled upon a group of college-aged men dangling a milk crate attached to two Home Depot ropes over their balcony. They seemed like they were trying to assemble a pulley system to lug things from the sidewalk directly to their top-story apartment. As we were passing by, I waved my newspaper at them.
“Do you guys wanna read some poetry?” I called.
“Yeah, put it in there!” they shouted back.
After a second of hesitation (I really did want to read the poetry, I hadn’t even opened it yet) I dropped it in the bin, and walked away as the group excitedly toted up their newest catch. It’s just one mini-adventure after another in this Daily Explorer, isn’t it?
3:17 pm, A Field Trip to San Francisco
After a short recuperation at Max’s abode, we made our way to the Rockridge BART station, a 20-minute walk away. In Berkeley, unlike San Jose, every part of this city is accessible by either walking, or a well-developed and maintained public transport system. Max and I had many conversations about our desire for a more robust public transport system throughout the Bay Area as a whole. To our surprise, BART trains usually ran once every 20 minutes, regardless of your chosen destination. No matter what arbitrary time we showed up, there seemed to be a train available very frequently. After consulting the spiderweb of a schedule map, we took the yellow line towards the San Francisco Airport, towards the Yerba Buena Gardens.
3:48 pm,San Francisco, Amidst Superbowl Preparations
One very entertaining accordion performance by a middle-schooler later, we found ourselves in the heart of Downtown San Francisco. Max was amused by how surprised I was to have traversed the entire width of the Bay through BART’s underground tunnel system. Our itinerary today, since sunlight was already fading, was to visit the Yerba Buena Gardens, and take advantage of this “Free-Skate” period in their ice rink. Though, admittedly, walking through East San Francisco was nerve wracking, we reached the center by 4 o’clock.
The Yerba Buena Gardens is a large two-block complex cultural center in West San Francisco, home to an arts facility, bowling center, ice-skating rink, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, gardens, and much more. Often, the sizable Moscone centers host a wide range of events: most recently, the Superbowl, which will be hosted in Santa Clara this year. As we walked down the street, in fact, we were able to pick out large groups of tourists, with their oversized luggage and distinctly Superbowl-themed merch. We even got lost in a restricted, metal-detector guarded area before realizing our mistake and slipping out as soon as possible. With an ordinary Daily Explorer, this facility would have enjoyed an uninterrupted full day’s worth of activities, but with the sun already threatening to set, Max and I decided to enjoy what we could see before dark. And thus, we entered the considerably popular ice skating rink, to test our hand—or rather, our feet—on the ice.
5:04 pm,The Competitive Spirit Never Dies
To my delight, I was much more skilled at the art of skating than my colleague. Thanks to my experience with rollerblading, I did not struggle staying on my feet as much. Max, however, suffered a slight learning curve before learning the ropes—and he has the snow-covered pants and bruised hands to prove it. After an hour’s worth of skating around in a circle, trying out new tricks, and generally avoiding the massive clump meandering around the rink, the ice cleared for the zamboni, and we changed out of our skates.
My poor fellow journalist, red in the face, remarked upon the other skaters he noticed in the rink. There was a little boy in the far left corner, geared up with hockey regalia, following his instructor who whizzed about with grace. There was a couple tottering about, both equally unsteady despite the girl’s elegant personal skates. There was an older woman in a neon pink coat: clearly the most comfortable on the ice out of everyone there. Especially in public recreational spaces like these, people-watching is a rich pastime, and given more time here, we would have explored the gardens, memorials, and restaurants the Yerba Buena gardens had to offer. I might have even shown him the Arts Center where I auditioned for my first film—but alas: another time.
5:37 pm,The Remainder of a Night in San Francisco
After a very difficult search for a dinner spot, we settled on Chaat Corner, a cozy Indian restaurant with a very spicy Chicken Biryani. For some reason or another, we spent the entire time “yes-and”-ing each other as if we were in a business meeting about pertinent (increasingly ridiculous) corporate business. After a nerve-wracking walk back to BART, (and a short detour through a restricted Superbowl party area), we re-boarded the yellow line back towards Berkeley, and drew this issue’s Daily Explorer to a close.
Although admittedly a far less structured Daily Explorer, this laid-back adventure into urban spaces thanks to public transportation was a nice change of pace: but just wait until the next, for the return of the Shield writers you know and love.
PHOTO ALBUM:
THE VERDICT:
- For a day trip to San Francisco, dedicate more than a couple of hours; especially if you’re considering visiting the Yerba Buena Gardens
- Take advantage of the public transportation available to the Bay Area. Though Berkeley, Antioch, or Richmond may seem a million miles away, public transportation brings them within reach.
- Exercise caution when walking through San Francisco at night.
Join me in the next issue for yet another adventure, hopefully with more time to explore the site in question, and with more guests from The Shield.
Signing off until next issue,
The Daily Explorer