San Francisco Firsthand

Tackling the Monday morning traffic at 8:20 a.m., we headed north to Marina Bay Park and Rosie the Riveter World War II National Historic Site.
Here, clean and well-manicured, the Bay Trail in Richmond offers amazing outdoor opportunities. With 20 miles of Bay Trail in place, Richmond stands out as having more Bay Trail than any other city on this planned 500-mile hiking and biking route encircling San Francisco Bay area. Planning is evident. There were interpretive signs and small parks all along the four miles we walked. Shimeda Friendship Park, with its simple wooden dock posts, pays tribute to Richmond's sister city in Japan; yachts lined the harbor docks.

During World War II, 18,000,000 women worked here in defense
industries and support services. The Kaiser shipyard workforce was the most productive in the U.S. Women worked alongside men around the clock to drive a wartime economy. Today the area is perfectly manicured with flower gardens, luxury yachts, neatly kept condominiums and million-dollar homes.

Leaving the popular Bay Trail, we took the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge back to the Marin Headlands and Point Bonita by the Golden Gate Bridge to explore some of old Fort Baker. Battery Mendell protected San Francisco Harbor in 1905. The "disappearing guns," then an ultra-modern invention, could shoot eight miles out to sea and retract to protect both the guns and the soldiers who operated them. In 1943 they were replaced by Battery Wallace, guns much less visible, that were buried into the hillside and could shoot twice as far. Today both inventions of warfare are ridiculously obsolete. "Just think of all the wasted money for this," said Andy. But it wasn't wasted then, since the gun emplacements served their purpose.

Battery Townsley, built in 1938, featured rotating turrets at the hilltop, but signs warned of slumps and moving earth since the 1989 quake. The .6-mile climb scaled a steep rounded embankment that commanded an expansive view of the waterfront. Down below 25 or 30 surfers waited patiently for the right wave. "The sets are too far apart to be good today," explained another visitor at the top. "It's too calm for good surf."

"Pacific," I said to Andy. "For the first time since we've been here it's living up to its name."

San Francisco Harbor, long considered the most important and strategic harbor on the West Coast, required protection for military and economic purposes. Our last stop of the day, Battery Yates included six three-inch guns aimed at the Bay from 1905 until 1946 for defense. We picked our way around and over the cement platforms for views of San Francisco and the towns surrounding beautiful San Francisco Bay.