‘Is this even real?’ Week on Sausalito houseboat makes Bee columnist appreciate Fresno

Sometimes it takes a week in Marin County, specifically on a houseboat with an unobstructed view of Mount Tamalpais (“Tam” in casual conversation), to make a guy appreciate Fresno.

No, really. I’m serious.

My sister is a longtime San Francisco resident, but for the last year or so she’s been renting a houseboat in Sausalito. It was while living there that doctors discovered Mira needed major surgery. Who better than big brother to play nursemaid?

Situated across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, Sausalito is a seaside suburb with an internationally known community of floating homes. The best word to describe the houseboats is “eclectic.” They range from quaint cottages built from old tugboats to vividly colored dwellings with distinct artistic themes to sleek, modern designs with metal siding and sloped roofs. Many have lush, well-tended gardens.

The 400 or so houseboats are best viewed from a kayak or paddleboard, which is something my sister and I did together during previous visits. The pathways connecting their marinas, with sweeping views of Richardson Bay (an arm of San Francisco Bay) and points beyond, make for a splendid walk.

Opinion

There’s also a dedicated bike trail running along the shoreline that connects Sausalito with neighboring Mill Valley, which readers will know I thoroughly enjoyed.

So, yeah, it was a pretty nice place to spend seven days while taking care of my sister (who is recovering well, thank you) and keeping up with my own work responsibilities. Or at least pretending to.

Still, I have to admit that after 25 years of living in Fresno and Clovis, even a taste of Marin County houseboat life made me feel like a fish out of water.

At no time did that feeling strike harder than when I took my sister shopping at a locally owned “natural foods” market with a slightly faded “Black Lives Matter” placard hanging in the front window.

Normally, this wouldn’t set off any internal buzzers. But while pushing the cart up and down the aisles, it was impossible not to notice how everyone inside the store was white. There were no Black shoppers, nor employees. The only non-white skin belonged to two Latino men unpacking and rinsing organically grown produce.

I’m not relaying this to question anyone’s political or cultural motivations or use one window sign to extrapolate about an entire county. It’s simply to convey that compared to my own shopping experiences in Fresno and even Clovis, the wall-to-wall whiteness was noticeable.

Kids and homeless on e-bikes

Also noticeable — as well as slightly off-putting — were the displays of wealth. Not just in the usual places (i.e. multimillion-dollar homes, expensive cars, fancy restaurants and stores), but also the bicycles.

It’s one thing to see men my age astride $8,000 carbon frames kitted up like they’re training for the Tour de France. Quite another are the packs of school-aged kids darting around on electric bikes.

While e-bikes remain a rarity in Fresno, they’re everywhere in Marin County, a place recognized as the birthplace of mountain biking. Even the homeless-looking woman I saw picking through the recycling bin outside a mini-mart/deli had one.

One afternoon while fighting against a headwind on the bike path between Sausalito and Mill Valley, I was overtaken by a boy on an e-bike. The boy, who looked to be 12 or 13, rode with one hand grasping the handlebars and the other clutching his phone while talking into it. His legs were completely still.

“Is this even real?” I muttered in disbelief, breathing heavily, as he sped away.

After returning to the houseboat and checking in with my sister, it was time to watch the Fresno City Council debate whether 92 acres along Elm Avenue should be rezoned to light industrial. It’s a story that combines poverty, racial inequities and health disparities faced by southwest Fresno residents for generations and pits them against the city’s economic interests.

While only 200 or so miles separate Fresno and Sausalito, at that moment it felt like a million.

The city’s oft-warring council members were on their best behavior as they discussed a complicated, multifaceted topic. Even Garry Bredefeld asked thoughtful questions, the answers to which helped me understand the situation better. Well I’ll be darned.

Fresno and Marin County are so different that comparisons between the two are pointless. But spending time in one made me appreciate the other in ways that were fairly pointed.