Day One

Aquatic Park to the Pacific

Begin your day at 1 Aquatic Park, a busy historical maritime cove with a stretch of sand hauled to the site from the excavation that created the Union Square Garage. Dolphin Club swimmers have been entering the chilly Bay waters near the cove since the club was founded in 1877. The park’s seawall is partly constructed of tombstones taken from the Lone Mountain (Laurel Hills) Cemetery in the late 1920s. Walk out on the municipal pier on the west side of the cove and watch fisherman land shiny perch and occasional striper, or haul up a net with two or three Dungeness crab.

Stroll along the bayside shoreline to 2 Fort Mason, the WWII Army depot that now houses a cultural nexus of nonprofits, many of them environmental groups. Continue along the Marina and, at the far end, walk toward the water, make a right past the Yacht Club, out onto the jetty that forms the boat harbor.

At the jetty tip is the 3 Wave Organ, an exhibit of the Exploratorium that creates a symphony from pipes that reach down into the Bay and are activated by the crashing waves. The intensity and complexity of the wave music depends on the tides and weather. From the granite seats, you get a spectacular panorama of San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz, Angel Island, Sausalito and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Walk back to Marina Blvd., cross over to Baker Street and wander through the colonnade of the 4 Palace of Fine Arts, a Beaux-Arts structure and reflecting pond built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Interna­tional Exposition. Part of the complex is the internationally acclaimed 5 Exploratorium (3601 Lyon St.; 563-7337), founded in 1969 by Dr. Frank Oppenheimer. A member of the WWII Manhattan Project at Los Alamos that produced a fission bomb and was headed by his brother, Robert Oppenheimer, he became an avid educator. At the museum, you can touch a tornado, shape a glowing electrical current, use a computer to finger paint with 1,000 colors or take a sensory journey in total darkness in the Tactile Dome (reservations: 561-0362) — 450 fun, thought-provoking exhibits in all. Walk north toward the Golden Gate Bridge and into the 6 Presidio, formerly home of the Sixth U.S. Army that now is a 1,480-acre national park.

Head to the water’s edge and the shoreline promenade of Crissy Field 7, San Francisco’s spectacular natural jewel. The 100-acre stretch of land, originally a salt marsh, was filled in after the 1915 Exposition and used as the Presidio’s airfield from 1921-36. The beaches, dunes and tidal marsh were restored in 2000, offering a premier spot for strolling, bird­watching, running, kite-flying and picnicking. It has a sweeping, uninterrupted view from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Bay Bridge. At the western end of the promenade, stop for hot cocoa and light meals at the Warming Hut 8 café and bookstore (561-3042).

Just beyond the Hut and across the road is a trailhead that leads up to the viewing area of the 9 Golden Gate Bridge as well as to a coastal trail where you can see migrating birds, whales, fishing boats and wildflowers, as well as abandoned gun batteries, other architectural World War II-era “ruins,” and gorgeous ocean and Bay panoramas. The trail goes for miles along the coast.

Stretching from the Cliff House to Sloat Blvd. is Ocean Beach, a stunning but usually windswept place for a bracing stroll. Stop at the 10 Cliff House (1090 Pt. Lobos Ave.; 386-3330), a restaurant and souvenir shop with sweeping ocean views. Behind the Cliff House on a lower terrace is the 11 Camera Obscura (750-0415), a national historic landmark. In this darkened chamber, a camera that rotates every six minutes captures a panoramic image of the end of the continent, including Seal Rock, popular with sea birds and, sometimes, Steller and California sea lions, and the former Playland at the Beach site.

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