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June 03, 2004

Pacific Heights and the Marina

I took this hike on Sunday, May 23. I took my scooter up to Lyon and Green, locked up my helmet and jacket and set on my merry way. It was a perfect day for a hike — about 72 degrees and hardly a cloud in the sky.

This walk took me to the famous Lyon Street Stairs. A woman named Ann Fogelberg was responsible for the Lyon Street Pride Project, which made this awesome stairway what it is. She was responsible for planting thousands of Vinca major on this stairway. I didn't know what that was until my Stairway Hikes book told me, so don't be impressed that I know that. I also don't know what the flower in the picture is, but it's not Vinca major. But the oddly shaped trunk looked fuzzy, but gave me tree-hair splinters when I touched it.

The Lyon Street Stairway was designed by Louis Upton in 1916 and has 254 steps. I counted, and my book on stairway walks was right! When you get to the landing after the first 124 steps, there is this awesome house there. The people who live there left their door wide open. I guess they trust the tourists, eh?

At the top, I found this chainlink fence with a hole in it. The fence separates Pacific Heights from the Presidio. I guess they're trying to keep the riffraff out...

Clearly it didn't fully work. Someone had plastered a picture of Gavin Newsom, our mayor, on a dumpster. My guess is that someone from the Mission, or perhaps Lower Haight, sent an ambassador to Pacific Heights to spread the good word. Not to mention, even in this ritzy neighborhood, they still get pizza flyers on their doors. But this one is clearly from a printing press, while we in the Mission usually get ones from Indian restaurants tied to our doorknobs with rubber bands.

Wow. The Egyptian Consulate is at 3001 Pacific Avenue. Their sign says they're open Monday through Friday, 9:00am – 3:00pm.

The "No. 1" is for No. 1 Raycliff Terrace. Cool little street.

The curvy street in the picture on the right is the 2700 block of Broderick and is way more curvy than Lombard Street. The sign said it's private property, which naturally made it impossible to not take pictures.

I guess somebody doesn't like dogs in this neighborhood. Or at least ones with floppy ears and inverted triangle noses.

A block of Union Street had been blocked off for the day for a party. It looked like fun, if you are light enough to jump around in that inflatable castle. I wanted to ask one of the parents who looked in charge if I could get in, but I figured I'd spare myself the rejection.

the Marina is built on a landfill, which is the reason it sustained a large amount of damange in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. It's beautiful now, and is tons of fun to walk through, although I always am reminded why the rock and roller in me must live in the Mission.

The Curbside Cafe always looks like it'd be a great place to stop for a beer while the sun is going down. I'll have to come back when I'm not on my scooter and swill a couple.

I was disappointed that the... um... in-sink garbage disposal thingie was the best trash I found in my whole walk. That is, second only to the LA SUCKS baseball cap. They were right next to each other.

Here's how I think that happened: LA was playing San Francisco and the owner of both had decorated the cap for the big game. Man oh man, was he psyched. He even bought the good beer for the game. But when LA beat San Francisco, the dedicated fan was so angry that his wife told him to direct his energy in a positive direction and finally replace that damn sink that's been leaking into the bleach and other cleaning supplies for months. He went grumblingly about the work of removing the sink and after a bit of satisfying destruction, lugged the sink to the curb. But hadn't disposed of all his anger by the time he got the sink to the street and threw his hat down in anger. Which is where I found it.

Posted by bengel at 12:42 AM | Comments (2)