After our refreshing pints at 21st Amendment, we
got back on the road. The pace of our
touring may have me remembering things a little bit out of order. We headed directly across the peninsula,
through the Haight District, past the Panhandle, and then to Golden Gate
Park.
There is a small island there that Brian enjoys visiting,
and he wanted to show it to us – plus it was convenient to the Beach Chalet so
we could stop in there if needed…which we did.
The feature of the island is a collection of wildlife, including
raccoons, squirrels, and a host of birds, perhaps including the “Wild Parrots
of San Francisco,” but we didn’t see any that day, neither up in the Presidio nor in the Park.
We took some time enjoying the botanical displays and the
old windmill, and headed over to the beach.
The Chalet was too crowded, so we headed up the hill to the Cliff House,
which I had visited with Brian back in 2010.
We walked down from the new parking lot and visitor center at the top of
the hill, above the Sutro Bath ruins.
It just happens that the ruins are one of my favorite sites
in San Francisco, and I was glad for the chance to look them over. Brian and I had spent a couple of hours
checking the place out in 2010 – there’s an old blog post here: http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2010/07/sutro-baths-ruins.html. If memory serves, we also made our way down
to the Cliff House for refreshments that time as well.
We grabbed a spot in the café and had some beers and
Popovers(!) – I think all three of us share a passion for this pastry. The Cliff House is one of the few places I
know us where they are always available, so we had some. Also, since Mary likes to make them from time
to time, we picked up a pack of their mix – Brian had sent us one a while ago,
and we had them for breakfast…now we have a pack at the ready for another batch
sometime!
Refreshed, we rolled out to our next stop, Coit Tower, a
must-see tourist sight. Traffic was a
little backed up, so Brian let us out while he waited in line for parking, and
we walked up. We enjoyed the view, but
didn’t take the time to check out the restored murals or go up in the towers,
since we’d seen them before. Seriously,
the view is enough to make the stop worthwhile, and Brian arrived just in time
after we’d finished a walk around the summit.
It was getting on towards dinner time, and we’d planned to
drive down to North Beach to take a walk and then enjoy one of the restaurants
there. It was a beautiful evening, and
diners and strollers were out in full force.
We chose a place and had some wonderful pasta dinners, then walked a
short way for dessert at an espresso joint.
There are lots of shared memories about North Beach, Mary
and I had been a few times and remembered the espresso place from one of our
visits. Of course, Brian has been to
many of the places up there, so we enjoyed talking about fun times there.
Dusk was upon us, and Mary and I needed to get back to East
Bay. Brian offered to drive – much appreciated
– so we got to go across the new Bay Bridge (hey, I even have a post on that –
right here: http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-new-bay-bridge.html
There’s an old saying that San Francisco is everybody’s
second home town. As far as American
cities go, that is definitely true for Mary and me, and we’re lucky to have
friends there who call it their actual home town! After a full day of
sightseeing, we had fully refreshed our memories of the place, and at last the
vacation was over – all that was left to do was to drive down to San Jose the
next morning for our flight home.
No comments:
Post a Comment