Tours of Oakland that send a message
Postcard scavenger hunts boost local spots, human interaction
After Jena Pruitt graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2014, she booked a one-way ticket to Italy. Then she backpacked across Europe for two years. “That one-way flight turned into something no one was expecting,” said Pruitt, 25, who didn’t return until Mother’s Day 2016.
As the Oakland native looked for jobs in the Bay Area after her return, an idea popped into her head: What if she created a scavenger hunt in which participants are given a series of images printed on postcards to search for locations where those photos were taken? And what if those images led them to certain spots, such as local restaurants, stores and coffee shops — as a means to help participants learn about a neighborhood and its history?
She knew a place people should explore and learn more about right in Oakland: the Temescal neighborhood.
Pruitt now leads what she calls “postcard scavenger hunts” on Telegraph Avenue in Temescal for anyone who wants to spend $38 for a three-hour tour. Participants have been visiting from places such as Singapore, Australia, Chile, New York and and Los Angeles.
Pruitt gives guests a cardboard box with postcards, stamps and a pen. On the box flaps, she writes personal notes. Pruitt uses images of Oakland murals and sites on the postcards as a guide to local restaurants, stores and coffee shops. When the tour group finds the image featured on each postcard, Pruitt has her guests write on the postcards, stamp them and drop them into mailboxes.
It’s a clever way for people to explore a place and send their friends and family refrigerator art.
“I’m really excited about the potential it has to impact the way that we’re communicating with each other,” Pruitt said.
Pruitt offers her tour through Airbnb Experiences, a platform of activities designed and led by locals. Though most of her guests are tourists, she finds that Oakland, San Francisco and Emeryville residents also book her tour.
“In a lot of folks’ mind, Oakland is not approachable,” she told me. “And so I wanted to start with a place that was approachable. It’s very walkable. It’s central.”
I like this new look for the so-called gig economy, because people like Pruitt get to put their personal knowledge and personality to work rather than performing app-directed tasks like delivering food or people to destinations. Pruitt did the math: If she hosts one tour a week with at least 10 guests, she could make $1,200 a month after Airbnb’s cut.
This summer, Pruitt plans to operate the tour two to four times a week.
“At this point, I’m supporting myself because of these postcards,” she said. “That’s how I pay my bills.”
On a recent Saturday afternoon, Pruitt had a racially diverse group of 10 people. Someone brought their dog.
One of the first stops was to take selfies in front of a majestic geometric mural at MacArthur BART Station. The playful mural looks like colorful balloons waiting to be inflated. The tour also went to Arthur Mac’s Tap and Snack, a beer garden and restaurant on the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and 40th Street, and Contact Records on 40th Street.
Pruitt stops at local businesses hoping to introduce them to new customers.
“How is this strategically uplifting local businesses?” she said. “Are we bringing real foot traffic and real dollars spent into these places?”
Pruitt is gregarious, which gave the tour I took with her in March the ambiance of friends on an afternoon jaunt. We met at Cafe Dejena, an Eritrean cafe on Martin Luther King Jr. Way that I’d never visited. Our first stop was Marcus Books, an independent shop on the corner of 39th Street and MLK Way that’s been selling books by and about black people for five decades.
I’ve noticed the mosaic tile trash cans on Telegraph Avenue, but the mural of a woman wearing a two-piece bathing suit, and lounging on her back while soaking the toes of her right foot in a round tub, had escaped my gaze.
It’s on the side of Dandelion Post, a women’s clothing store.
“We never see a full-figured, what looks like a woman of color in this kind of position,” Pruitt said. “So it’s incredible to engage with women on self-care and health. And also engage with men. Who are you going to send this postcard to?”
There’s a mural of a blackand-white map of Oakland on the side of Baby World — well, what was Baby World. The family-owned business, which sold baby clothes, furniture and gear, closed last year.
Oakland is rapidly changing, and Pruitt’s scavenger hunt is, in some ways, an exercise in the recording of history.
“Once that business is changed, that mural is gonna be gone and this postcard will be the only lasting artifact of that mural,” Pruitt told me.
I’ve made a point to get to know my neighbors, but the scavenger hunt reminded me that I’d stopped looking around where I live, run and bike, as if there were nothing new to discover.
Pruitt wants to explore more of Oakland with her guests, like the areas that aren’t featured on postcards.
“I really want to go where there are more folks of color,” Pruitt told me. “Temescal is safe, but there are places where you get a more authentic experience, so I want to see what it looks like to venture into those spaces.”
Yes, all of us need to travel out of our comfort zones to experience something different. It’s the only way we’ll understand each other better.