Parks 43 & 44: Presidio of San Francisco/Golden Gate Recreation Area and Fort Point National Historic Site

5/25/14. We left from Southern California this morning and hit the I5 at 7am to head north to San Francisco. We were amazed again at the vast expanse of agricultural fields once you get over the Santa Monica Mountains.

This time, evidence of the drought was everywhere. It truly looked like one big desert with patches of bright green where the fields are irrigated. Many fields of nut trees were completely dead.

















We were thrilled to see the coast and the green lushness of San Francisco. After we got to the city, we headed right for the Presidio since it was almost 3 pm. We stopped first at the Visitor's Center and decided to change our plans slightly and visit the other park sites before they closed today.

As always, the ranger was very helpful and we did a walking tour of the Presidio's main military post. It was a beautiful clear, cool day and there was a Memorial Day celebration on the main parade ground with music and food tents. We had some fantastic cheesy grits and strawberry lemonade on our walk. 

The buildings reminded us a great deal of Fort Hancock at Sandy Hook. They had similar barracks and officer's quarters, although many of the buildings had interesting Spanish architecture incorporated into the eastern style.

Next we drove down to the parking are by the bay and walked along the path down to the water. The views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco Bay were unparalleled. It was truly a perfect weather day.

 We stopped at the Warming Hut and got a passport stamp, then walked along the bay to Fort Point. This fort is very well reconstructed and looks very much like the other forts we've visited such as Fort Clinton in NY.  The gift shop had just closed when we arrived so Catherine convinced one of the young rangers to let her in to get our passport stamps.

We walked back up the hill to our car, enjoying the amazing view of the bay. It was a terrific day and we are excited to explore more of the San Francisco area tomorrow!