Yes, another location selected for its bearable temperature. At 12:30 it was a sunny, perfect 68 with a light breeze. I headed for the Golden Gate National Cemetery from the BART station, half an hour on foot. There’s no bus service in that direction and San Bruno lacks bike share.
But I had to stop at this wacky gas station first. This 10 foot dinosaur seems to be devouring Putin? I thought it might be the pope at first but it was just the paint peeling off his head. 🙂 Along with a vegan food truck, it sports a shop selling only vegan treats. And Poseidon posing with a giant ice cream cone. Google calls it a Shell station but it’s branded as Hangry Planet. Their website says they have a virtual reality car wash! Must return someday. I love bonus stops on my expeditions!
Next I visited the cemetery which is almost six times larger than the San Francisco National Cemetery (Expedition 37). At both cemeteries, veterans’ spouses are buried with them, with the spouse’s name on the back of the marker. I visited the graves of Congressman Leo Ryan, who served in the Navy, and Dan White, a Vietnam vet.
Ryan was killed investigating Jonestown in 1978; he was awarded a Gold Medal as the only member of Congress killed in the line of duty. A few weeks later, Dan White shot and killed Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. (Sidebar: Two years earlier, Moscone had appointed Temple leader Jim Jones as chairman of the San Francisco Housing Commission.) I moved to San Francisco in late August of that year; needless to say, it was a tumultuous introduction.
To change the vibe, I visited Artichoke Joe’s Casino, which opened in 1916 and is still going strong. It’s open 24 hours a day, along with its restaurants which locals rate highly. It’s not glitzy (except for the crazy print carpet) but had many fish tanks and this cool wall of water and bubbles.
Next stop was the Sanatan Mandir (Hindu temple) in downtown San Bruno. It wasn’t open for another 20 minutes but I tried the door anyway (because it often works!). The man inside (the priest?) heard me and let me in and welcomed me to take off my shoes and take photos. The place is a tiled ceiling office building with brilliant colored figures and murals. The priest went back to chanting while I looked around.
The rest of my visit was a walk up and down the main drag, San Mateo Avenue. It’s notable for being lined almost exclusively with small local businesses representing many nationalities. Too bad Costa’s Just Things, a vintage toy store, is permanently closed (Harry Costa died at 91 a few years ago). What a great store name!
