FE. We drive up from Monterey to San Francisco along US1, gorgeous coastline as expected. As surprise guests (sorry) we drop in with Rusty and Barry, our good friends in Santa Cruz, and admire their wonderful home with a gorgeous view of town and ocean.

Fog drifts in and out on our way to SF, where we stay with Greg and Anne, more great friends, who share our interests in good food and wine. Greg prepared an outstanding shrimp étouffée and supplied us with ample bottles of his greatest cellar selections. Next day we enjoy SF with our friends, using the very functional (listen up Boston!) public transportation system while walking almost 8 miles. This blog covers both days.

RN: The Golden Gate Bridge, an icon of San Francisco, is a magnificent suspension bridge that spans the 1 mile opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean.  It was built between 1933 and 1937, a truly awesome achievement for the time given the wild winds, dense fog, and the rapidly flowing water under it. The roadway for the bridge sits 230 ft above the water line and the two towers that hold its suspension cables are 746 ft high.

We took a bus with our friends Anne and Greg to the Golden Gate Welcome Center and planned to walk across the bridge, but, alas, the fog enveloped everything and we could barely see the bridge, so we turned the other way to walk through the Presidio to an area called the Tunnel Tops.  Tunnel Tops is a beautiful park built over the tops of two tunnels that guide traffic on US101 to the Golden Gate Bridge.  As we walked away from the Golden Gate, the fog gradually cleared until we could see the two towers of the bridge.

FE. The walk to the bus starts by enjoying a neighbor’s whimsy front-yard

Towers in the mist

Goofing at Tunnel Tops

View of the playground at Tunnel Tops with The Golden Gate Bridge

The big hydrofoil sailboats preparing for a race with Alcatraz in the background

Walking from Tunnel Tops towards Fisherman’s Wharf

Moon over the corkscrew building near the Embarcadero