Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A Double Crossing
The Golden Gate's impressive sister is the mighty Bay Bridge, which is not
only much longer (8
1
⁄
3
miles) but also older, having opened 6 months
before, and busier, carrying more than twice the daily traffic. It was the
largest and most expensive ($79.5 million) bridge for its time. But the Bay
Bridge's clunky, gray, industrial look can't compete with the slender ele-
gance of the blushing Golden Gate in the public imagination. While a sus-
pension bridge worked well to span the deep water of the mouth of the
bay, the muddy flats running for the 8 miles between San Francisco and
Oakland demanded a different solution. The Bay Bridge is, in fact, two
bridges (a cantilevered one and a multi-part suspension one) connected
by a tunnel at Yerba Buena Island. It's also not so much of a thrill cross-
ing it, particularly if you wind up on the lower deck, where views are
obscured. None of this diminishes its triumph as a work of engineering or
of the epic effort it took to raise it. Get a good look at its western span
from behind the Ferry Building; its mammoth anchorage was, upon open-
ing, the tallest structure in the city.
artists, both living and dead, but for me, the most interesting aspect of the place is
the exhibit, in the basement, that uncovers the structure of the Subtreasury Building
that stood in this spot from 1875 and was destroyed after the '06 quake. Of course,
the palatial
Asian Art Museum
(p. 114) is the most elaborate repository in town for
this type of art.
CIVIC CENTER & THE MISSION
The history of
Mission Dolores
5
(3321 16th St., at Dolores;
%
415/621
-
8203;
www.missiondolores.org; Nov-Apr daily 9am-4pm, May-Oct daily 9am-4:30pm;
suggested donation $5 adults, $3 seniors and students),
more formally known as
Misíon San Francisco de Asís, is the history of the early city, and there is no other
surviving building that is more intrinsic to the early days of the town's formation.
The tale goes back to the storied summer of 1776, when this site, then an unin-
habited grove, was selected for a mission in a network that ran up and down the
coast. Its first Mass was celebrated under a temporary shelter. The current build-
ing dates from 1791 and is the oldest in town. For such a rich representative of a
city that has lost so much of its history, it offers a rare glimpse into the not-so-dis-
tant past and the troubled origins of California. This adobe-walled building, with
its 4-foot-thick walls and rear garden, is hushed and transporting. It's also almost
entirely original, having survived the 1906 quake by dint of good old-fashioned
craftsmanship, and as you roam, you'll encounter gorgeous altars brought from
Mexico during the days of the Founding Fathers. The trusses, lashed together
with rawhide, are made of redwood, and, in 1916, they were reinforced with steel.
Following the chapel and the sanctuary, the tour's path visits a modest
museum in the back before proceeding outside. In its heyday, the mission was
home to some 4,000 people, but of course, most of that land was long ago sold
