One Park, One Museum, One Stamp at a Time
I have been to San Francisco a couple of times in the past but was excited to return now that I have begun my National Parks quest. My cousin was getting married in the San Jose area but we decided to come to town a little early and spend a day visiting San Francisco's NPS units. We flew into town int he evening and made our way to our hotel near Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. We wandered around the Ghiradelli Square area and then grabbed a bowl of clam chowder at Boudin Bakery. I am a sucker for clam chowder in a bread bowl! We then called it a night so that we could get an early start in the morning. Golden Gate NRAAfter breakfast at the hotel, we caught an Uber to the Golden Gate Bridge and the Welcome Center for the park. I picked up the stamps there and we talked with the ranger and grabbed a map. We found out that Fort Point was closed that day so we weren't able to check that out on this trip. We started out on the Golden Gate Bridge itself, walking out about a third of the way across. It was a classic bay area foggy morning which allowed for some cool pictures of the bridge masked in the clouds. After the bridge, we walked along the coast on the San Francisco Bay Trail to the Crissy Field Warming Hut. From here we continued along the trail and walked along Crissy Field itself. I was not familiar with the aviation history of the area and it was interesting to see the old airfield and hanger buildings that are finding modern uses. At the end of the former airfield is a marsh and wildlife area. We saw some amazing birds feeding in the wetlands. We next made our way up to the Presidio and the visitor center there. We did a brief lap around the old parade grounds before heading back to the bay trail. We stopped by the Crissy Field Center for one last stamp (they were closed but mailed me a stamp!) and visited the wave organ jutting into the marina. This marked the end of the trail along the bay but we continued our walked back toward our hotel. We made our way to Fort Mason which serves as the headquarters for Golden Gate NRA and San Francisco Maritime NHP. The headquarters were closed for lunch when we arrived and we were not able to stick around due to time constraints. This was a little disappointing since I have heard that the HQ is a treasure trove of NPS stamps. San Francisco is also a part of the Juan Bautista de Anza NHT, as de Anza's journey ended with his founding of San Francisco. This trip along with my previous days in LA brings my total stops along this trail up to 6. San Francisco Maritime NHP and Ferry RideAs I mentioned, we were in the bay area for a wedding which included a family dinner in San Jose that evening. This meant that we had a deadline to catch the ferry over to Oakland and meet up with my family. The only real rush we felt during the day was at San Francisco Maritime NHP. We really did not have time to explore this park in any real way. We were able to quickly walk by the ship and do a brief pass through the museum while I picked up the stamps for the park. The Maritime Museum is located in an old bathhouse building. I grew up near the Port of Los Angeles which has its own maritime museum in an old ferry building; I thought the two buildings looked pretty similar. After a quick pass through, we made our way back to our hotel to grab our bags and then caught the ferry from Fisherman's Wharf to Oakland's Jack London Square. From there, a friend picked us up and we went to our family dinner and the wedding festivities began. New Units Visited: 2
Golden Gate NRA - San Francisco Maritime NHP Total Affiliated Areas This Year: 8 Total Units: 22
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