I really didn't plan it, but I found myself driving to Cesar Chavez park this morning. It's a park by the Berkeley Marina which sits right on the San Francisco Bay. This is the picture that I took. On the left hand side you can see the Bay Bridge and Treasure Island, then San Francisco is just next to that. If you look straight into the middle of the picture...that's where the Golden Gate is, although it wasn't visible because of the fog.
In fact, the fog is why the bay wasn't discovered earlier. Explorers to this area first came in ships and were looking for inlets...for that illusive Northwest passage. But from the ocean the fog, combined with strategic placement of the island now called Alcatraz, made it hard to see the entrance. It's pretty small given the size of the bay itself.
The first European to find it (the native peoples had known it was there all along) was a Spaniard who was traveling overland...looking for that damned NW passage again...and it was so big that he actually declared that he had found it. It is huge...and beautiful.
Cesar Chavez park is one of my favorite places to walk. There are dogs there with their people. There are incredible birds, sometimes the odd snake, wild flowers, trees. It really is very soothing. Sometimes when the bay is rough enough, you can get sprayed with water if you are sitting or walking by the rocks.
7 comments:
Sure beats Crapsville!
San Francisco is a place I hope to visit sometime. If so, I'll be sure to pop over to this park. :0)
Alcatraz discovered by a Spaniard. Makes sense to me.
Good history lesson along with a great pic. Thanks!
Oh man. I wish people would stop reminding me how many beautiful places there are in the world that I've never been to. :(
I need to get out more!
I love the sea.
When I went to San Francisco last year, one of the things I made sure to fit in was a wander along the coast and a little swim.
I'd never seen the Pacific side of the world before... wonderful.
I'm a bit late catching up with your posts, but sorry to hear you've been feeling down. This might not help at all, but when I'm down I sometimes feel a bit better for looking at the sea (not always a possibility: I live in London). It's that thing about it being so much bigger than everything else on the face of the earth that does it... and the sound of it...
red
Red One - yes, water in all it's natural forms seems to put everything in perspective. Today, it was so foggy up in the hills that the water was condensing on the trees and it was "raining." How amazing...
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