San Francisco Marina Guide
The Marina is a neighborhood that is famous for being one of the San Francisco neighborhoods to sustain the most damage during the 1989 Loma-Prieta earthquake. The neighborhood is built primarily on landfill which behaved like jello during the quake. For a short time after the quake, housing prices in the neighborhood plummeted. The vibrancy of the neighborhood and and housing prices have more than recovered. Today, the neighborhood is one of the desired residential areas of the cities trendy, young and professional groups. Ride a bus through the Marina at 5:00 p.m. and you'll find plenty of suited and dressed twenty-somthings listening to their iPods.
Marina Shopping and Restaurants
Chestnut Street is a cute retail street, located a one block north of Lombard street (one of two main city roads that feed into the Golden Gate Bridge). Along Chestnut Street, you can find Williams and Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Chadwick's of London and Gorilla Sports among others. At the House of Magic (2025 Chestnut), you can find costumes, party favors, party decorations and gimmicks and gismos. For restaurants, try Cozmos (at 2001 Chestnut), which typically has a young trendy clientele. They have a great bar to have a pre-dinner drink while you wait for your table. One of my favorite casual eateries is the Grove (at 2250), which I love because of its great sandwiches and salads.
Four blocks south of Chestnut is Union Street, another cute shopping street featuring a variety of restaurants and boutiques. Restaurants on Union Street include Rose's Café, Left at Albuquerque, Pizza Orgasmica, and Home as well a great French-style patisserie and the Coffee Roastery. One of my favorite coffee shops is Espresso Roma just of Union Street on Fillmore.
Octogon House
At 2645 Gough Street (at Union), sits the eight-sided Octagon House, built in 1861 by William C. McElroy. The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in California acquired the house in 1951. They rennovated the house and today operates it as a museum displaying decorative arts and furnishings of the Colonial and Federal periods. Also on view are the papers of McElroy, which were discovered under the stairs during restoration. Additional historical documents are on display, including documents featuring signatures from 54 of the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence.
The Octagon House is open to the public on the second Sunday and the second and fourth Thursdays of each month (except January) and is closed on holidays. Visiting hours are from noon to 3:00 p.m.
Fort Mason
Fort Mason at Buchanan Street and Marina Boulevard, a former military base, is one of the many places in the Marina where you can find green space at the edge of the bay. The Fort Mason Center, located in the lower part of Fort Mason, uses the old military buildings for art studios, classrooms, restaurants, shops and trade and craft shows. The also host classes and workshops for adults and children. Greens, one of the most well regarded vegetarian restaurants in the city, is also located in the Fort Mason Center. Charlie and I have attended wine tasting classes organized by San Francisco City College at Fort Mason as well.
Marina Green
Marina Green is an area of grass and greenery that stretches from Fort Mason west towards Crissy Field and the Golden Gate Bridge. Marina green is a popular spot for soccer, kite flying, frisbee throwing and volleyball. There's also an exercise routine that features balance beams, cross bars and sit up stations. You'll also find joggers, bikers, walkers and inline skaters enjoying the views and the open space.
The Palace of Fine Arts
The Palace of Fine Arts was built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, which was held in San Francisco. None of the buildings were meant to be permanent. However, the Palace of Fine Arts was so beautiful that it was not torn down after the fair. Miraculously, the palace survived the 1989 earthquake with little damage. The Beaux-Arts style structure features and dome and Roman-style curved colonnades. Surrounding the palace is a park with a duck pond. Adjacent to the palace is the San Francisco Exploratorium, which is a discovery museum with hands-on exhibits on science, art and human perception.
