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Wednesday, March 3, 2010

On the Beaten Path

I said I was setting out to explore my backyard, and I did. I finally went somewhere! Well I guess 385 miles to San Francisco is more like my very extended backyard, but it's still in my state! Half shrouded in fog and almost disappearing completely in parts, the Golden Gate Bridge really is incredible (and not in the opening scene of Full House kind of incredible...the real kind). It. Is. Cold. Even though it's just 52 degrees this marine air makes it feel much chillier as the damp breeze pinches your cheeks and frizzes your hair. Somehow, it's still so romantical up here that couples can't seem to maintain a decent space between themselves. Maybe they are just trying to keep warm. Some exotic Brazilian tourists pose for crazy pictures to take back to friends and family that are missing out on this. A French family stops for photos. The wide-eyed, young daughter is eager to take as many photos as humanly possible..."Maintenant, avec Papa!" One with Daddy now. The whole world passes through here, even if for some it is just on the daily commute home from the grind. Vista Point is cloudy, cold, littered with tourists and we are only here because our exit to the Presidio jumped out of nowhere, and we missed it. Clearly, this is on every tourist's map of things to see in San Francisco, and I sincerely doubt locals ever stop off here on their way to or from anywhere. But it turned out to be a beautiful mistake. This bridge is a truly magnificent structure. And although it always seems more enticing to get 'off the beaten path' and discover something untried, sometimes you need to take a glimpse through the eyes of a visitor in order to experience your own environs. On the beaten path isn't so bad sometimes.

3 comments:

Matthew said...

Odd how on my trip to SF for a week I never saw fog. Guess it's something to look forward to on my next trip out there.

Meliha said...

What a great picture...you really captured it!

--Meliha
http://straddling-continents-cultures.blogspot.com/

Tim said...

Great post! Actually a few times I strolled through the bridge on the way up to Mendocino, all I got was fog..which at the time was a bit depressing since the fog dampered our vision from the top of the hill...but was a unique experience to walk along the eerieness/vast fog tunnel the bridge created...Im gonna get back on writing too, thanks for the motivation ;)

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