Post #760840 by JenTiki on Tue, Mar 15, 2016 6:46 AM

There is a cool hiking trail at the foot of Mt. Tam in Stinson Beach with amazing views of the town and the ocean. A friend of mine used to live in Jerry Garcia's former house right at the base of the trail (the highest house in town). If you go again I can tell you where to find it. One of the best days of my life (that inspired my butterfly tattoo) happened in Stinson Beach, so I have a very sentimental attachment to it. I sometimes think if I ever win the lottery, I'll get a place on the beach there for when I want to get away from everything and just commune with the ocean. The best time to go is early October when the weather is perfect and the Monarchs are migrating.

There is a real fort under the San Francisco end of the Golden Gate bridge called Fort Point. It has been turned into a kind of museum where you can see the old soldier quarters, dining areas, etc. When I was a kid we had a summer school class called "Outdoor Ed" where we got to spend a night there and live like the soldiers did, eating the same kinds of food, sleeping on the straw mattresses, keeping watch shifts overlooking the bay throughout the night, and learning how to march and load the cannons. Also, if you weren't aware of it, the Walt Disney Family Museum is in the Presidio and has some great exhibits. Definitely worth a visit next time you're in San Francisco.