The goals for this outing were for me to check out the landscape in front of the Natatorium, go to Keller Beach, and to try out a restaurant in Pt. Richmond.
What the heck is a Natatorium?! A natatorium is just an indoor pool. This one is called the Richmond Plunge and it is a public warm saltwater pool. It is fairly newly restored, in 2010 I think the building was retrofitted, solar panels installed (these panels help heat the water) and a new, native plant landscape was installed as well.
Wandering through the landscape in the front of the building I noticed that along the side by the train tracks the landscape continues. There is a regulation sized Bocce Court, a farther back behind the building there are tennis courts, picnic areas with tables and grills, a Little Free Library, and more native plants.
View of a teenager reading a plaque in front of a brick building with a large sign that says, “Municipal Natatorium”.
We ended up going to Masa to get tamales to bring with us to Keller Beach. I had been the Keller Beach before but a long time ago and I couldn’t remember what access was like. My prediction last month that my achilles tendons were giving out was, unfortunately, correct and so I am wearing a boot to try to give the left one a rest. We ended up not going all the way down to the beach but we sat on a bench looking out over the swimmers and ate our tasty tamales. We split a strawberry dessert tamale, the first dessert tamale I have ever had. It was good!
Just sitting by the water listening to kids playing in the water and the sound of wind and waves feels so restorative. I was amazed at how far out the swimmers went! I forget that people swim here. I have only been in the water here (in Northern CA) a handful of times.
View of a small beach surrounded by greenery covered cliffs, a few people are in the water and you can see the Richmond Bridge in the background.
There is so much more to explore around here I am sure we will be back. Here is a link to a PDF of the East Bay Regional Park tri-fold about this areas trails.
Plaque displaying the Ferry Point Loop and Shipyard Trail.
We also made two side trips. First, to Serrano’s Bakery in Richmond and then to TAP Plastics to get some silicon mold making supplies.
