San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park

Feb. 13, 2024

It has been about 30 years since I played tourist in San Francisco and visited this park. Back then I did some research and timed it so I was there for the free entry days. That was the first vacation that I learned to have a planned itinerary. This time I wanted to revisit a few other landmarks, so I parked in Union Square and walked 2 miles to the park. In the process of going up and down these achilles aching lovely hills, I passed Chinatown, Telegraph Hill, Lombard street, The Cannery, Ghirardelli square, the pier area and saw a view of Coit Tower. The park has a visitor center which has information on ships and shipping in the area, a pier with a few old sailing ships, a beach and another public pier that has been closed for safety issues. You can see the Golden Gate bridge from the pier or beach. There were a few hardy folks swimming in the bay out from the beach, probably training for triathlons. To get back to my car, I had to ride the cable car which has a turnaround station right next to the visitor center. The cable car was decorated for the Lunar New Year.