The Presidio

On Friday, July 6 I visited The Presidio, a former military base located between downtown San Francisco and the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge.  This site served as a military base for three countries – Spain, Mexico and the United States.  The US Army, which occupied it from 1848 through 1994, turned it over to the National Park Service which now oversees it as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

The Presidio (there are several in the US but this is by far the largest and best known) covers more than 1,500 acres and includes former barracks, an airfield, a bowling alley and a cemetery.  It now also has a golf course, hiking and bicycle trails and open park space for the public to enjoy.  Since this was once a military base there are also many concrete “bunkers” which were once used to protect the base and the San Francisco Bay from an enemy attack.

These were houses for military pilots:

And this is the view descending down to the airfield (Crissy Field) from where they are located:

The large grassy area is where airplanes used to take off and land:

These were the general barracks, and a large, grassy “parade field”:

The red things are large plastic chairs (to either sit up in or lounge)…

… as demonstrated by these cheerful volunteers:

Anyone lose a set of car keys???

A group of school kids who had been frolicking on the grassy field found these.  When no one claimed them they were going to put them back where they found them, but I suggested that they give them to me and I’d take them to the nearby Visitor Center.  I used the panic button on the key fob to locate the car and take a picture of the license plate.  I took the keys and car information to the Visitor Center and put a note on the car.  Before I left the property the keys and car owner had been reunited.

One of the former barracks buildings has been renovated and is now a Walt Disney Museum:

And the one next to it is now the Lodge at The Presidio:

Next I went to pay my respects at the San Francisco National Cemetery:

And before I left I went back to take one more look at the Golden Gate Bridge:

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Egad!  While researching facts about The Presidio for this post I discovered that I missed my chance to see the Yoda Fountain!

(Photo credit: TheSomewhere.com)

LucasFilms, Ltd, the company which made the original StarWars movies, is based in San Francisco and their headquarters are on the grounds of The Presidio.  I guess The Force wasn’t with me the day I was there…

Go Back There Again, I Must