True Nature Stories: City by the Bay

Shrine in the Park
(red toyon berries in the background)

With rain in the forecast for the next few days I felt a little more urgency to enjoy the sunny day than I might have otherwise. I thought about going for a walk, but decided to finally take a ride down to the waterfront to check out all the new stuff that's going on down there, something I've been meaning to do for a long time.

I was surprised to feel some nostalgia as I pedaled along my old going-to-work route down the Panhandle and The Wiggle and Market Street, where I finally turned toward the coast at Second Street to emerge at the southern end of Pac Bell, er, Oracle Park.

I continued south without knowing how far I could go, and was stoked to find a bike route (part of the San Francisco Bay Trail) all the way to Heron's Head Park. From there, I turned around to explore the bayfront all the way to Torpedo Wharf. Along the way I snapped a few pix with my smartphone, feeling like a tourist who just gained a renewed appreciation for his luck in actually living here.

This is just south of Oracle Park, which you can see in the background. These new buildings are on what used to be the ballpark's Lot A. The little mini-ballpark for kids was gone, but I imagine something good will take its place when this construction is done. A little farther south I saw that half of Lot A was still there.

I was disappointed to find this closure sign when I reached Heron's Head Park but soon realized people were going back in there anyway. The shrine at the top of this post is out near the beak of the heron's head.

The Heron's Head Beak
(Heron's Head is named for the shape of the park, but it's also a popular birding area.)

The Bay Natives/Heron's Head Nursery was right across the street. The goats were in a fenced enclosure, but the chickens were on the loose.

I wouldn't be surprised if that wrecked BMW from my last post ends up in this auto wrecking yard at some point.

I turned down this street and felt like I was back in Jamestown, New York, a semi-industrial town that has seen better days in the past, and hopefully has better days ahead as well.

Picturesque Urban Decay

Looking forward to seeing this neck o' the woods when it's all built out.

This little cove has an actual beach, although only wading is allowed. No swimming due to the presence of weird and dangerous submerged objects. How hard could it be to remove said dangerous objects and make this a really nice swimming hole?

South Beach Yacht Harbor

Thankfully, not everything is new. Red's Java House is still kickin' (unlike Louis' Restaurant above Sutro Baths which closed during the pandemic after serving food there for 83 years).

Fire Department Station 35 has gotten quite the facelift since I was last down this way. Gone are the rickety pier structures and the floating planter-box garden.

Rincon Park is still sporting "Cupid's Span", but with some new building faces in the background.

I was surprised when I passed the Ferry Building to see that the next-door Starbucks was gone. I'm not a big coffee person and have never been a fan, but I'd have thought such a popular place could have survived the pandemic. Guess not. Anyway, speaking of the pandemic, there were two cruise ships in port. :)

I lived on an aircraft carrier for four years, but I am still impressed by the size of this cruise ship. I couldn't back up far enough to get the whole thing, bow to stern, in the frame.

You never know what you'll run into when you're out and about on a weekend in San Francisco. In this case it was a street closure for an early Veteran's Day Parade along Fisherman's Wharf .