Scattered Thoughts . . .

After our exciting and memorable walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, we boarded a Presidio shuttle bus to make our way to the other side of Crissy Field to the Palace of Fine Arts. Because this iconic landmark is right outside the gate of Crissy Field and the large dome is seen from many points on The Presidio, I was constantly being drawn to it.  This was definitely a place I wanted to visit and to photograph. This landmark, which is seen in many movies and television shows, was built after the great earthquake of 1906. As fires burned throughout San Francisco and spread across the eastern parts of the city, survivors moved west toward The Presidio.  The Presidio set up refugee camps which housed 16,000 or so residents as the city recovered and rebuilt.   Within four years, the people of San Francisco were eager to show the world that they "had risen from the ashes".  In 1910, the city's leaders decided to host the twentieth century's first great world's

After a very busy day of traveling to San Francisco from Sacramento, checking into our inn, walking to lunch, hiking up Inspiration Point and watching the sunset on Crissy Field, we spent a quiet evening back at the inn.   After a long and busy day, dinner was clearly going to be later than we wanted.  We relaxed in our suite, had a few drinks, and talked while we waited for the food to arrive...  this downtime made it difficult to keep our eyes open at this point after a long, busy, active day... We ordered an assorted barbeque dinner for six and had it delivered to our suite.  When it arrived, we brought the food down to the dining room to eat.  The dining was comfortable and the food was delicious!  We ordered from The Pub in Ghirardelli Square (yes, the chocolate people) opposite the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park.  The food really was delicious but it was far more food than we could eat! After dinner, we spent a little time out back at the firepit...

After our short hike to Inspiration Point from behind our inn at The Presidio, we hopped on a shuttle bus to take the winding, circuitous route overlooking the Pacific Ocean all the way down to Crissy Field.  Crissy Field is on the opposite side of The Presidio from Inspiration Point and it was getting late so there was no time to walk back down the trail and then walk to Crissy Field.  Besides, at this point in our cross-country journey, I'm not sure any of us had the energy to do so anyway.   I wanted to spend some time here at Crissy Field for two reasons.  First, this is an old Army airfield that is now a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and I'm always interested in visiting airfields.  And second, this field is a beach on the shores of San Francisco Bay adjacent to the Golden Gate Bridge where the sun would be setting in the west over the Pacific Ocean.  I definitely wanted some photographs as the sun was setting behind the Golden Gate Bridge.  Before we

After a delicious lunch at the restaurant in the Officer's Club, we headed back to the inn so we could freshen up and get a change of clothes.  Our luggage was waiting for us in our closets in each of our suites.   The Presidio has hiking trails all throughout the grounds.  One trail begins right behind the inn and takes you up to Inspiration Point so that was our first sightseeing trek on The Presidio.  The hike is easy, the scenery is nice and the weather was beautiful...  especially since a few days previously, we were freezing and wet in four feet of snow in Vermont! It is a short hike up to Inspiration Point...  the trail is wide and well-groomed...  I think it took us only 15 minutes to the view on the point...   Inspiration Point provides views of the bay, Alcatraz (below), the Palace of Fine Arts (the dome in the foreground) and one of the hillside residential areas (the following photo)... From Inspiration Point, we knew we wanted to head al