Amongst the other places I visited in California was San Diego, which in the city itself, isn’t particularly interesting. Sure there’s the Gaslamp Quarter, but when I compare that to the vibrancy of other cities, particularly with the likes of New Orleans and its French Quarter, there really isn’t much to get excited about. But that’s not to say that it’s not worth a visit.
After a three hour drive from LA along the coast by Oceanside (it took longer, but the aim was to see the Pacific and stop along the way), I arrived in San Diego, only to be disappointed by the lack of anything worth seeing in the city centre. But San Diego’s main attraction (apart from being the first city across the border from Mexico), is Balboa Park. Famous for its zoo, one of the US’s prized attractions, it is also home to many museums. With everything from the Museum of Art, a Botanical house, a Japanese Peace Garden, a museum of photography, a train museum, a science museum, etc., etc., it’s like a cultural theme park. The architecture of the buildings is extraordinary, and honestly, I actually enjoyed myself there, and wished I had more time to visit some of the museums.
Balboa Park
Given this year was to be the year of road trips – Cornwall and Scotland had already been beaten earlier in the year – I had to do another. And so I took the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) up to San Francisco from LA. Didn’t start too badly (well,except for a couple of wrong turns), but I did pick up my first ever speeding ticket. I was travelling at [redacted], but fair enough if I get caught. Anyway, I drove more sensibly after that.
Heading up past the Big Sur and a couple of national parks, it was a nice drive. In many ways the rugged terrain reminded me of Scotland, but instead of the purples, greens and browns of the Highlands, it was all plain brown everywhere, as California thirst for some water. I was in California a month after the huge wildfires, and some of those were still burning. No rain had fallen for a very long time. But having done Cornwall and Scotland this year, the drive wasn’t as spectacular as I hoped, but maybe trying to drive 450 miles in around 7-8 hours took its toll, and by the time I reached San Jose I felt I just wanted to get to San Francisco as soon as possible.
Arriving in San Francisco was as pleasant as I expected. It was simply a gorgeous place, and I was delighted to have visited it, even if I wasn’t able to meet up with my friend Mona over that weekend. On a Saturday morning, I headed out and visited the Piers, starting from the Ferry Terminal and heading up to Fisherman’s Wharf, a nice walk. After the obligatory visit to the Pier 39 amusements, and a boat trip for $10 round the Bay from Fisherman’s Wharf, I took up a recommendation from a friend to do a bike ride.
There are plenty of bike hire companies in San Francisco, and I picked one up from Fisherman’s Wharf again. My route would take me over the Golden Gate Bridge and into Sausalito. From there, I’d take the ferry back to Fisherman’s Wharf. It was suggested I should head all the way up to Tiburon, but simply I didn’t have time and would have been stuck as I would have missed the last ferry back.
Cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge was a fantastic experience (if not one that told me I was pretty out of shape since my old cycling days!). Riding down to Sausalito, we passed a small village on the Bay, a scene where it was evident how fragile the environment was. A few weeks before, the Cosco Busan collided with the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and dumped 58,000 gallons of oil into the bay. In this village, they were still cleaning up the remains of this spill, men in white suits, mopping up the thick black oil from the rocky shoreline. Not a good thing for a delicate environment such as the Bay.
Sausalito is a beautiful little town on the north side of the bridge. Pretty much a picture postcard town, with lots of quaint little shops. I had only heard of Sausalito before from the film of the same name, starring Leon Lai and the excellent Maggie Cheung. But I hadn’t realised how beautiful it really was. I’ll have to go back some time to the town to explore more.
If anyone thought that the cycling option was unique, think again. There must have been up to 200 bikes on the ferry back from Sausalito stacked next to each other. A nice little cash cow I think.
As it’s now my aim to do as much dancing as possible wherever I go around the world, I joined the original Lindy in the Park, the first free outdoor Lindy hop event which is held in the Golden Gate Park every Sunday lunchtime. One thing that’s guaranteed with Lindy hoppers around the world is that they’re always friendly. And thanks to Ken and Naomi for the friendly welcome, and for dragging me into a out-of-towner’s jam (basically, where an out-of-towner is put in the middle of a circle and partners come in every so often taking the previous one’s place). I must be getting good at that now!
Anyway, sadly, at the time, LitP had their equipment stolen, and used borrowed equipment. I’m delighted that they’ve now raised enough donations to replace it. So if you’re in the San Francisco region, pay them a visit.
Dancers at Lindy in the Park
So I’m now in love with San Francisco, to add to the list of Botswana, Switzerland and Shanghai and a number of other places. One day I’ll be back.
For more of my photos from California, visit my gallery.
Links:
Gallery: Bright Intervals | California 2007
Lindy In The Park
Lindy List – List of Lindy hop events in the San Francisco Bay area
Tagged: California, Friends, Lindy hop, Lindy in the Park, Photos, Places, San Diego, San Francisco