At the western end of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park lies one of the uglier municipal beaches in California.
The Cliff House restaurant...
...and Sutro Park loom over the beach...
...but there are no bathrooms provided anywhere, except for the birds.
Still, its rawness and utter lack of public facilities has compensations...
...and thousands of people on a beautiful New Years Day took advantage of the natural beauty of the place.
There was a crazy, toothless guy...
...who had a bathing moment of madness in the ocean...
...and there were parents playing at water's edge with their children.
Ocean Beach is known for its rough surf, riptides...
...and many deaths each year from rogue waves that pull out the unwary...
...but on New Years afternoon, there was a low tide and gentle conditions onshore...
...that had couples embracing...
...surfers playing...
...and walkers enchanted.
Happy New Year! thanks for these wonderful pictures, and all the great writing in 2006.
ReplyDeleteMy dad had an Ocean Beach story.
ReplyDeleteDuring the depression my dad was out of work a lot. Sometimes, with nothing else to do that cost zero, he'd "take a hike" on the beach.
On one such outing he discovered the body of a dead woman. Being a good citizen he notified authorities and led them to the site of his disocvery.
One of the cops gave him ten bucks, a fortune in those days.
I like photo #5. The flat film of water is the star of the shot but everything else is going on, too.
ReplyDeleteMan, the Cliff House, at least as seen from where you were, is uuuugly! I hope the next quake destroys that POS.
Dear Willie and joannao: Thanks so much. I happen to love these photos since they're all pretty in slightly different ways, and they appear after the statement "one of the uglier municipal beaches in California."
ReplyDeleteBut Willie, you're right. The new Cliff House looks like a Beige Neoconservative Prison and I haven't had the courage to walk inside. The Seal Rock Inn is still the cheap, greasy-spoon delightful place for breakfast just up the hill.