|
You are here: the-vu>
Travel> Birkenstock
Tour
San Francisco - The
Birkenstock Tour!!
By Mike (Roadie) Marino
Published March 2003
San
Francisco has been a magnet for the curious and
restless since The Bay Area was first spotted
by Spanish explorers. In their wake came pirates
intent on plunder and The '49er's came to sift
and pan financial nirvana from the regions riverbeds.
In the semi-faboulous Fifites, "the beats"
came to be "down", and the youth culture
of the '60's came to get "high". The
City by the Bay has attracted the cool and the
uncool, the sinner and the saint, as well as the
gentle and the downright scary!!
Today,
the new adventurer's come from around the planet,
armed not with musket and gold pan, but video
recorder and travellers checks. They speak a multitude
of dialects from Mandarin to Minnesotan and from
Bavarian to Bronxian, as they scour the city for
palate pleasing restuarants...credit-card-to-the-max
shop until you drop sprees in Union Square and
of course, to hit the high tourist spots of Fishermans
Wharf and the multitude of culturally rich neighborhoods.
On this Roadhead Tour du Jour, we'll leave the
trolley car's and souvenir shops far behind and
discover the "green" riches of The Bay
Area from The Golden Golden Gate Bridge to Golden
Gate Park. Your Birkenstock's will walk quietly
on silent paths in Muir Woods, and you'll stand
in stoney silence as you gaze down through the
fog at the City by the Bay from the awe inspiring
heights of Mt. Tamalpais. Now, grab that cheap
bottle of port and let's hit the road!
The undisputed signature
structure of San Francisco is the Golden Gate
Bridge. It labors day in and day out, handling
the chaotic volumn of commuter traffic that pours
into the city on a daily basis, but on a more
serene note, you can also walk the expanse and
marvel at the sights and sounds that surround
the senses. As structures go, The Golden Gate
Bridge is stately, sophisticated and shrouded
in a mysterious fog elegance..it is truly the
Katherine Hepburn of bridges. That being the perception,
The Bay Bridge, by contrast, is the undisputed
heavy metal monster of machismo!! Grey and steely,
it not only spans the gap between Oakland and
San Francisco, but has an interesting side journey
if you exit about midway to Treasure Island!!
Named for Robert Louis
Stevenson's famed novel, the island was part of
the San Francisco Exposition in the 1930's, and
ultimately a port for Yankee Clipper's plying
the Pacific in the spirit of Bogartian mystery
and suspense. Today there is a museum on the grounds,
and is the site of the yearly Polynesian Festival,
complete with flowered drinks and Hula dancers.
It also offers one of the most spectacular dead-on,
head-on sea otter views of San Francisco from
sea level, and by driving around the back of the
former naval base, you'll find Nash Bridge's floating
office made famous by Don Johnson and Cheech Marin..sorry..couldn't
find the 'Cuda!!!
In "the City"
itself you'll want to take in the "green
space" of all "green spaces" on
the West Coast by making trackstracks to Golden
Gate Park. As America's pastoral past gave way
to industrialization, a zombie like mechanization
gained a strangle hold on urban society and a
need for "green" was realized. San Francisco
was in the forefront of this movement and a thrifty
green thumbed Scotsman, named John McClaren, had
by 1890 transformed enough of the area's sand
dunes into a West Coast Garden of Eden, minus
the serpent and the apple, and it was the birth
of Golden Gate Park.
Today Golden Gate
Park is home to a plethora of activities and attractions
from bocce, baseball and basketball to arboreteums,
art and aquatic wonders.THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY
OF SCIENCES is home to THE MORRISON PLANETARIUM
with it's one of a kind projector system that
brings the heaven's up close and personal, to
it's Ozzy Osbourne super sized, mindblowing 12
speaker sound system. THE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
is pure Jurassic complete with dino displays,
bones, and a giant bang-a-gong T-Rex! THE AFRICAN
HALL will transport you to the savannah's a continent
away, and WILD CALIFORNIA is a flora and fauna
romp through California's natural history past.
If your in your Capn' Ahab mode, leave your harpoon
at the door, because you won't find the Great
White Whale at the STEINHART AQUARIUM, but you
can mix and mingle with 165 tanks containing an
aquatically astounding array of 600 species of
fish, reptiles and amphibians...alligators, pythons
and sharks...oh my!
If your taste runs
to the artsy versus the aquatic, then get in with
the art crowd at the M. H. de YOUNG MUSEUM. Built
in 1919, it's a repository of Tiffany glass, El
Greco and the famed Laurence Rockefeller Collection.
If your aesthetic engine starts redlining on all
this art and culture, and the need to touch base
with your innner self is overwhelming, take a
kharmic cappacino break at The Pool of Enchantment...it's
mocha, meditation and mantra, Starbucks style!
Gardens not only bloom,
but abound throughout the park. Irony can be found
in the Japanese Tea Garden, downright Asian, it
was designed by a Down Under Aussie in 1894. Paths,
ponds and a teahouse accent this foral palette
of Asian plants. In 1895 a Japanese gardner, named
Makato Hagiwara and family took over the gardens,
and somewhere between bonsai's and haiku's invented
the fortune cookie!! Thespians with a floral bent
will marvel at the roar of the crowd and the smell
of the greasepaint at the Lair of the Bard....THE
GARDEN OF SHAKESPEARE. It is here that Bill's
fans try to "name the work" by identifying
150 plus species of plants and flowers mentioned
in his works. If you have trouble identifying
them, alas, Poor Yorick knows them well!
The Eco-Junkie will
get their eco-ecstacy fix by visiting THE CONSERVATORY
OF FLOWERS and STRYBING ARBORETEUM. The Conservatory
is the architectural twin of London's Kew Gardens
and one of the primo examples of pure Victorian
architecture in all of Ess Eff. It's soaring dome
is a hot house home to palm trees, orchids and
an assortment of micro-climates from around the
world. Strybing Arboreteum began in 1937 as a
WPA project and today is 70 acres of 6,000 plant
species including cacti and succulents. You can
also treat your sense of smell at The Garden of
Fragrance where great smelling plants just make
good scents!
Wanna feel like Ernie
Hemmingway? STOW LAKE in the park is a fly fisherman's
paradiso sharing it's pristine water's with the
placid paddle boat and row boat enthusiasts, and
you can enjoy an eco-friendly hike 428 feet up
to the summit of STRAWBERRY HILL located on an
island in the lake that affords a panoramic view
of the park, lake and foliage surrounding the
area. You'll also treat the senses to the natural
sounds of water cascading from a quite un-natural
artificial waterfall on the Hill.
Flashback to the Sixties when you enter THE PANHANDLE.
Located at the eastern end of Golden Gate Park
and forming somewhat of a northern border to the
Haight Ashbury district, this green ribbon was
the tie-dyed hangout for free feeds of beans and
rice during the Summer of Love. Flatbed trucks
would act as portable stages and you could wolf
down your styrofoam feast while listening to the
music of such notables as the Quicksilver Messenger
Service.
After you've been
"peaced" and "loved" to a
grateful death by the locals, head on over to
THE POLO GROUNDS site of the 1967 spaced out Human
Be-In. This cosmic gathering of the spaceship
earth featured a high decibel vortex of music,
supplied and amplified by The Grateful Dead and
The Jefferson Airplane, all punctuated by readings
by literate luminaries and other icon's such as
Jerry Rubin, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti
and the Captain Kirk of the altered states spaceship,
Timothy Leary. Beam us up, Scottie!!!
Peaceful calm in San
Francisco was shattered in 1906 when a high scale
Richter rock and roller of an earthquake shattered
buildings, lives and dreams. The terror, noise
and screams of the living drowned out by the overwhelming
silence of the dead. The city lay in ruins, but
not her soul or her spirit. Today, the only official
memorial to that historic day of "When Faultlines
Attack" is in Golden Gate Park at Lloyd Lake
between JFK Drive and Crossover Drive. It's called
THE PORTALS OF THE PAST, but don't expect too
much...it's a front porch standing alone without
a house attached to it!!
The park also has
a Buffalo Paddock, that is the lone survivor of
what was a turn of the century free ranging zoo
and there's also a Don Quioxte like windmill if
you feel like doing "the Impossible"!!
According to Simon
and Garfunkle, "it's all happening at the
zoo", and in San Francisco that's certainly
the case. Zoo's began as an offshoot of the traveling
circus that amazed and delighted Victorian and
Edwardian audiences alike. The parasol and carriage
crowd "ooohed" and "aahhed"
at the sight of elephants and the roar of not
so cowardly lions. Soon the big top would pack
it up and move on to, say, Peoria and it would
be a year until they returned once again. Eventually
someone came up the idea of a permanent setting
in the urban environs where these exotic creature's
could be on display year round and be viewed in
a somewhat natural setting. San Francisco, opened
it's zoo's gates with it's star resident named
"Monarch", a rather imposing grizzly
bear. Today, it is one of the most "animal
friendly" examples of zoo's in the world
with over 250 species roaming in simulated wild
environments and is also Northern California's
largest zoological park and conservation center
Along with the usual zoo "in crowd"
of lions, giraffe's, elephant's and chimp's, you
can be dumbstruck with awe at the antics at the
new Lipman Lemur Forest and the newly expanded
childrens zoo. Scheduled to open in 2004 is the
African Savannah Exhibit where animals indigineous
to that region will mix, mingle and network like
a group of stockbrokers at happy hour at the local
pub. The zoo also has an elephantine sized souvenir
shop to load up on zoological oriented goodies.
Eco-mania and animalia
can be pretty heady stuff, so when you want a
break, you can contemplate the chimpanzee's with
a cup of cappacino at The Leaping Lemur Cafe.
San Francisco, being as culturally aware as few
other places on earth, has found a way to combine
monkey's and Monet with a full fledged art display
at the zoo as well as the beautifully restored
Dentzel Carousel, a work of art in it's own right.
The zoo itself and it's close proximity to the
magnificent views of the Pacific Ocean make this
one of the definite "must see" place
in Ess Eff..and to think it all started with a
grizzly bear named Monarch!!
Muir Woods stands
as the undisputed coniferous crown jewel of the
Redwood Empire. Magnificent and majestic, these
towering giants dwarf miniscule mankind in their
mystical shadow. Their leafy crowns and canopies
seem to penetrate the heavens as they stand erect
and proud as rulers of their particular realm.
The Miwok Indians who originally dwelled in these
forests must have marveled much as we do today
at the sheer size of these botanical creations.
Miwoks, Spanish explorers
and 49's....there goes the neighborhood!! Combine
all that growth with the advent of the automobile
and by 1908, an already crowded region would be
visited by the first mortorized tourista!! The
forest itself was not restricted in those days
and the auto's raced through the tree's with abandon
resembling a miniature go kart track. Much damage
was being done and finally in 1924 the infernal
internal combustion engine was banned from the
forest free for all, along with picnicing, rock
and plant collecting.
Today Muir Woods has
ample parking for the throngs of tree-curious
who visit from around the globe. The cacaphony
of accents blending melodiously with the symphony
of the stellar jays and warblers that inhabit
this serene setting straight from "Lord of
the Rings". Asphalt pathways meander through
the forest cathedral of giants, crossing streams,
cool and clear, where at any moment you could
stand face to face with one of the many black
tail deer that inhabit the woodland. The redwood
eco-system also gives nourishment and shelter
to a variety of owls, bats and reptilia and amphibia.
Bootjack Trail is
off the beaten path and is an opportunity to leave
the tourist far behind as you ascend the pathway
along crystaline waterfalls and make your way
on foot towards Mt. Tamalpais. Muir Woods is more
than a golden grove of giant growth...it's a fitting
monument and tribute to the father of modern conservation,
John Muir.
In Marin County, eco-tourism
is a true double feature. After looking up to
the lofty crowns of giant redwoods, you can look
down for a spectacular view of Ess Eff from the
2,571 foot summit of Mt. Tamalpais. On a clear
day even the snowy peaks of the Sierra Nevada's
can be seen from this ring side seat to the heavens.
San Francisco grew in size following the Gold
Rush. As overcrowding became unbearable residents
of the Bay Area sought escape by getting away
from it all on Mt. Tam. Wagons breaking down on
the way up was the norm and it was not a pleasant
journey on the whole. Eventually, a small scale
railway was built to carry the locals to the top
of Tam, and in time became known as the "crookedest
railroad in the world". It earned the name
from the twisting, serpentine route it took to
reach the summit and not from any underhanded
financial dealings of it's Chief Operating Officer!
The railway was abondoned after a devastating
fire in 1930.
Today it's a low gear
cruise to the top and Mt. Tam is a fave of the
multi-gear mountain bike crowd, as they ascend
and descend the mountain with the fervor and excitement
of sailors rounding Cape Horn for the first time.
Hikers will find a 6,300 acre walkers paradise
with over 50 miles of trails..each with a view!!
Hang gliders soar silently enjoying their eagles
view of the Bay Area .. urban architecture and
Pacific fog covering the the canvas to create
a one of a kind work of art. The park also has
a picnic area for the less rustically minded and
you'll find the Visitor Center at the East Summit.
The Birkenstock Kingdom
has it's fair share of hiking and hangliding opportunities
as well as mountain biking and rollerblading.
Vista's and views dot the landscape from Coit
Tower to Twin Peaks and nothing can match the
ambiance of sitting silently on the wind kissed
cliffs and watching the sun set and the fog roll
in like soft silk. Birkenstock warriors will find
that the Golden Gate is pretty green after all.
Editor's
note: This article is not sponsored by Birkenstock.
The author is merely suggesting that the famously
unsexy but extremely comfortable footwear would
be the perfect choice for such a tour.
This
Dharmabum Roadhead writer's work has been described as DELIGHTFULLY WIERD and
WICKEDLY WONDERFUL!! Mike (Roadie) Marino is a publisher of an on line
magazine called ROAD TRIPPIN' USA. It's an asphalt kickin' journey of Roadside
Nostalgia and American Pop/Car Culture for the Chrome-Magnon in all of us. The
style is lock n load and deals with the realm of where Pop Culture and Chrome
meet Asphalt and Art!!
Mike
also writes a monthly feature column under the banner THE ROADHEAD for the award
winning Offbeat Travel zine. His column deals with bizzare ashpalt and roadside
oddities and locales from mechanical museums to Cadillac Ranch. Mike is also
a freelance writer of travel and history pieces that have been published in
magazines and ezines in the US and Europe.
Most
current project includes toiling endlessly on his first book about Pop and Car
Culture in America of the 50's, 60's and 70's. Although born in the rustbelt
of industrial Detroit, he's also been the definitive son-of-a-beach and has
lived in a treehouse in Honolulu, the tie dyed spare change neighborhood of
Haight Ashbury in San Francisco, as well as the North Beach district..where
the Beat Goes On!!
Today
Mike (Roadie) Marino lives in Missouri near the banks of the Missouri
River with his word processor. In addition, to writing and backpacking, Mike
has a penchant for Hawaiian shirts, Jimmy Buffett albums and Corona Beer. If
you would like to use any of Mike's articles some of which are included here,
contact him at the email address below or at dharmabumroadie@yahoo.com He also
accepts contract work and what the hell, a good agent wouldn't hurt either.
So contact him for rates and information. Now...Have Fun Reading...Grab A Cold
Corona..And Kick Asphalt!!!
You are here: the-vu>
Travel> Birkenstock
Tour
|
