Pt. Molate

Pt. Molate is a recently re-opened beach park in Richmond in what I think is the south side of the Richmond-San Rafael bridge. The area has some interesting history. Just past the beach was once the largest winery in the US, employing about 400 people. Thanks to prohibition, it closed and was eventually taken over by the Navy as a fuel depot but is now abandoned.  When we drove past the ghost town we had to do a lot of explaining about what we meant by ghost town ("lock the windows" i heard a voice from the backseat prior to our explanation!)

There was just one other person there when we rolled into the park just past 10 a.m. on a recent Sunday morning. The beach itself was not that easy for kids to access (there was a steep edge so adults needed to help the little ones get down) but the beach itself provided exciting things to discover like crab remains and glass made smooth by the water. The water, well it was the Bay; which meant a bit funky. I asked the girls to not go in but of course Amara had to at least let her feet touch the water. I am not sure we would frequent there often but it's close enough a drive for the girls to get their fill of sand play and to enjoy the beauty of Mt. Tam and the San Pablo Bay.