The bus climbed steadily out of the Richmond district and into the Presidio. Immediately the landscape changed, the houses thinned, and the busy city of San Francisco seemed to vanish. Looking to my left the view of the entrance to the bay was spectacular, small sailboats dotted the deep blue waters under and around the glorious expanse of the Golden Gate Bridge.
I jumped off the bus around the Main Post area of the Presidio and began to explore. The area seemed more like a museum then a neighborhood center with mostly vacant buildings and very few people milling about. At the Presidio Bowling Center I spoke with Darrell Herbert, the general manager, who informed me that there are still plans for redevelopment of the area. “We were almost closed as they were going to put a new contemporary museum right in this spot,” he said. “Now we are trying to sign a long-term lease.” He described the bowling center as being, “a place for the community” and “great for kids.”
The Presidio is part national park and part San Francisco neighborhood and is truly one of the city’s greatest gems. When the military left the area in 1994 the Presidio became part of the National Park Service. The National Park Service Presidio Visitor Center has been temporary moved to the historic Officer’s Club, an event space. Inside the Visitor Center I spoke with an enthusiastic seasonal interpretive park ranger, Chris Norman, who told me about how great it is to work in the Presidio. “Everyone comes up to me and says, ‘you have such an amazing job working here.’” He continued to talk about how fantastic it is working in such a beautiful spot with so much history, “ it is like being a part of something bigger then yourself.”
I walked across Crissy Field and out to Torpedo Warf to admire the view of the bridge. Reagan Cua, who was out crab fishing for the day said he comes out to the Presidio whenever he gets the opportunity and that he likes “the peace and quiet, the view of the Golden Gate and that the area draws all types of different people.”
Chita and Dave Edlund, a couple visiting from the South Bay, came to the Presidio to celebrate their wedding anniversary. “We wanted to see some parts of San Francisco that we had never visited before,” said Mrs. Edlund. “It’s beautiful here,” Mr. Edlund chimed in, “we are amazed at all the people and things, there is so much to see.”
I hiked up a trail leading to the entrance to the Golden Gate Bridge and then hiked beyond that past Batteries Godfrey and Crosby and along part of the California Coastal Trail toward Baker Beach. I took in the awe inspiring views and the smell of fresh air excited to learn more about this oasis of nature and history within the bustling metropolis of San Francisco.
