For this expedition I was planning to do another leg of the Crosstown Trail (or the Doublecross Trail) but I was in the mood for something shorter. Online I found a book about walking the 49 Mile Scenic Drive (conveniently titled Walking San Francisco’s 49 Mile Scenic Drive).
The 49 Mile Scenic Drive was created in 1938 in anticipation of visitors to the following year’s Golden Gate International Exposition, for which the WPA built Treasure Island (Expedition 56). The route has changed over the years many times. It’s no longer a loop since JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park is now closed to car traffic and the Great Highway is too. So it makes a lot of sense to walk it instead. The wonderful seagull sign dates from 1954.
I started at City Hall plaza, which looks pretty good these days. I don’t remember seeing this restaurant before. There are two fairly large playgrounds too. City Hall was busy on a Wednesday afternoon; people carrying fancy clothing (a wedding, perhaps?). I saw several groups of dressed up folks. I also didn’t remember the statue of Abraham Lincoln out in front.
I couldn’t find out for sure, but it seems the Department of Public Health building was built for that purpose, given that it has a caduceus above the door. The Bill Graham Civic Auditorium was constructed in 1915 as part of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. This enormous fair took up the entire Marina district and spread into Fort Mason to the east and a big chunk of the Presidio to the west. The Marina didn’t exist yet, the fair was built on a filled-in swamp.
The public library, designed by I.M. Pei, opened in 1996. There was a book sale going on in front. The building is full of natural light, not only in the central atrium. I saw lots of these desks along the windows with lamps and outlets. This was the only empty one I saw; lots of patrons here on a Wednesday afternoon. Across the street, the former library is now the Asian Art Museum, guarded by a pair of fu dogs.
I was bummed that the Kahn and Keville marquee is gone, because the business is gone and there’s now a building there. The guidebook was written in 2016 so the disappearance is fairly recent. A block down is the fabulous Phoenix Hotel, former 50’s motor lodge. It was remodeled in 1987 and became a popular rock star lodging. Sadly, it may be replaced by a new hotel or apartments building when their lease runs out in September.
In 2004, this area around Larkin and Eddy was dubbed Little Saigon. It has its own fu dogs; I guess they are pan-Asian, not just Chinese? The area is kind of run down now. Many businesses closed during the pandemic.
Tommy’s Joynt Hofbrau has been around since 1947 and I bet its decor has barely changed. Apparently, it’s the last Hofbrau in the city. I love it when places like this still thrive! Sidebar: Across the street, there used to be a hotel everyone loved to hate, with its blue and white checkerboard facade. It was the Jack Tar Hotel (according to Wikipedia, Jack Tar is a slang term for a sailor!)
I didn’t get through the first leg outlined in the book because I decided to go INTO the library and that took some time. I’m also now curious about the 49-Mile Scenic Route, created by Chronicle reporters that includes southern SF neighborhoods left out of the original, among other changes.