13,000 steps today, but it was up and down MANY hills! We did TWO walking tours today.
We started out in the Castro, also known historically as Eureka Valley. I learned that San Francisco is often considered the most liberal city in the most liberal state in the nation, in part because it was settled during the Gold Rush by miners and others who came from all over the world at the same time. Because so many different people arrived at once, they had to cooperate with one another, which encouraged open-mindedness and compassion. I also learned that Harvey Milk, while widely known for being openly gay and for his assassination, accomplished a great deal for his community during his short time as a city supervisor. The Castro has a strong sense of community, and even the architecture reflects a variety of styles and cultures living side by side.
It started to rain, so we were the only ones on our next tour, Making Waves on the San Francisco Waterfront. The tour began at the Ferry Building and explored much of the area that was once a cove but has since been filled in. During the Gold Rush, hundreds of ships anchored here and were eventually abandoned; later, many of them were just left where they were to be used as landfill. The city later built a freeway in this area, which cut off the waterfront from the rest of the city and led to decades of decline. The Loma Prieta earthquake caused severe damage to the freeway, making it unsafe. Instead of repairing it, the city made a pivotal decision to demolish the freeway in the early 1990s. Its removal reopened the waterfront and led to the wide boulevard, palm trees, streetcars, and pedestrian-friendly Embarcadero we see today. It is now a thriving commercial and tourist district.
I had always heard that Levi Strauss made his fortune selling sturdy pants during the Gold Rush, but this is more myth than truth. While Strauss was in San Francisco during that time selling dry goods, his famous riveted work pants were not developed until decades later. The iconic jeans most associated with him emerged in the 1870s, well after the Gold Rush had ended.
Marsh Travels 