Next we drove west to Baker Beach, which I had been told was a great place to view the Golden Gate Bridge from, as well as a pretty quiet beach. Also there are allegedly people who bathe in the nude at this beach, though it was too chilly for that on the day we went. We were spared that experience, though I'm secretly disappointed since it would have made a funny story.
We were very fortunate that there was hardly any fog at all during our visit - we had some great views of the bridge and the city from Baker Beach!
Next on our agenda, a short drive down the coast, were the Sutro Baths (Yelp review here). This is by far one of my favorite things that we did on the trip. We spent a while climbing around the ruins and checking out all the different structures, trying to imagine what they once were.
If you ask Wikipedia, they will tell you that the Sutro Baths were the world's largest indoor swimming pool complex at the time it was built in the late 1800's. They had one fresh water and six salt water pools ranging in temperatures, as well as a concert hall and an ice rink. The building was scheduled to be demolished in the 1960's, after a steady decline due to high maintenance and operating costs, but a fire finished it off in 1966, leaving what remains.
Here is what they used to look like:
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| Sutro Baths, circa 1896. Source: Wikipedia |
And this is what they look like today:
You can actually climb all over the entirety of the ruins - nothing is roped off and there are no pathways. You can go wherever you please, which I guess could be destructive to this historic place, but really there's not much they can do to protect it from the sea no matter what, so why not I guess. I had a great time playing amateur archaeologist here, and I think Super Husband had a good time too. It was nice to do something physical that wasn't just walking.
After soaking up the sun and getting thoroughly dusty from our adventures at Sutro Baths, we found the nearest Chinese-American restaurant and plopped down for some lunch. It ended up being Hunan Cafe 2, which was just what we wanted. YUM.
After filling our stomachs well past capacity, we took our Chinese leftovers and headed for the bridge! We were blessed with immaculate weather as we cross north-bound, as seen below:
After crossing the bridge, we continued up into the Marin Headlands toward Muir Woods. It was about a 30-minute drive. We were unprepared for the treacherous nature of the roads, however. They were twisty-turny and full of hazards and blind curves. We had to take it pretty slowly, though on the way back down it felt like it was over in a second, even though we were in a conga line of slow-moving cars returning home.
When we finally made it to Muir Woods, we were very ready to get out of the car. Unfortunately, we had not heeded the signs that said "Lot Full - Use Muir Woods Shuttle", in part because where this shuttle was located was not entirely clear from the signage. Everyone else seemed to be headed to the Woods themselves regardless, so we did too.
Once we got there, we discovered just how true those signs were. There was very little parking to begin with, which was a disaster at 2:300-ish on a Saturday afternoon. There were a few people leaving, but so many cars waiting to take their place that you wouldn't believe it. I don't know how long we waited, circling the parking lot, but it felt like 50 years. We were completely enraged because people would sit at their cars, fooling around with their hiking boots or their strollers or their picnic lunches, but then NOT LEAVING in their cars. So many times. Completely infuriating!! When we did finally get a spot, we took a picture because we were so damn proud:
But then we got the heck outta there, because we did not want to be ~~those people~~ who loiter in the parking lot!! Here is some proof that we were there:
We decided to take one of the walking trails that ran up along the ridge, since there were fewer small children up there and it looked more interesting. While walking, Super Husband heard a crackling from the embankment above, and stepped back just in time to see this lump of stump crash down where he had just been standing. (It's the pile of splintered, rotten wood and ferns that you see on the trail here:)
Thank goodness for instincts! I don't know what would have happened if that had landed on him! There were no railings on this trail, and there was a steep incline downhill to the right of this shot.
After we had taken in the forest, we headed back to Alameda (and it took us over an hour and 30 minutes to claw our way through fog and traffic in order to do so!!!) and called in a 7:30 dinner reservation at Pasta Pelican, another place we had a Restaurant.com coupon for.
We actually enjoyed Pasta Pelican a lot more than we had Urban Tavern. This was more our style - and it was quiet, on the marina with a nice view, and served food that seemed "normal" and appetizing. Super Husband had some pasta, and I had a pizza. They also served up nice warm bread with olive oil, minced garlic, and Parmesan cheese for dipping. Super Husband was in garlic heaven!
After dinner we went back to the Coral Reef Inn to call it a night. Our next adventure would be an all-public-transit, final-dash through San Francisco the next day!
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