Biking to the Pacific

Despite our prior visits, we had never explored Golden Gate Park. Maybe I had assumed it is the area around the Golden Gate Bridge itself, which is park-like, but it is not. It is a rectangular property that is about 6 miles long and maybe 3 miles wide that goes from the middle edge of San Francisco to the Pacific. It was turned into a garden pretty much through the efforts of one man who began to plant rhododendrons and grasses that the other locals thought would never survive. He also began to reclaim land from the sea by placing sticks at the ocean's edge and allowing the waves to wash sand over them. As it did, he patiently placed more sticks. Over many years he created a beautiful park and the land over which the highway along the Pacific runs. On Wednesday, our last day in SF, Brent had his heart set on seeing the Pacific. Without a car, he decided we would take a bus to the area of the park and rent bikes. Despite a little difficulty finding an open bike shop at the start, we were successful and had a beautiful day...

Oh, San Francisco...biking to the ocean, walking along Haight/Ashbury Streets, riding buses with a wide variety of the human experience, street performers, an amazing Italian restaurant (La Briciola: the best waiter, patient and working to teach Brent Italian, squid ink risotto, crab with penne, cherry tomatoes and arugula, the best buffalo mozzarella I've ever had with prosciutto, tomatoes, and sweet balsamic...oh, my....tutti bella!!!!), a little corner Umbrian restaurant (where we gave a homeless man half our pizza...so many homeless...makes me sad...while we have so much...have always seen the most homeless on the streets of New Orleans and San Francisco....don't know if it is the local economies or the mostly mild weather....hurts my heart...we have plenty homeless people here in Chattanooga as Brent and I well know through our work at the Homeless Clinic...but....), walks along the wharf, beautiful flowers, the man I love........................tutti bella!