Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SIGHTS ON THE DRIVE THERE
It will take about 60 to 90 minutes to go from San Francisco to the heart of
Sonoma's town square. Most people take the opportunity to drive over the
Golden Gate Bridge itself, on which the major route to the Wine Country, the
101, travels. Try to travel outside of rush hours, because Marin County is full of
people who work in the city and who clog the roads at key hours.
An unexpected but wholly original sight just off the 101 on the waterfront in
Sausalito, the
Bay Model
5
(2100 Bridgeway, Sausalito;
%
415/332-3871; www.spn.
usace.army.mil/bmvc; free admission; Tues-Sat 9am-4pm)
is a hangar-like space
filled with a working, wet model of the entire Bay Area. Built in 1957 by the U.S.
Army Corp of Engineers to help scientists understand the complex patterns of the
water currents and the tides, it's capable of duplicating, at a smaller time scale, the
way flow works. Buildings aren't represented, but major landmarks such as bridges
are identifiable as you walk around the space, which is about the size of two football
fields, or 1
1
⁄
2
acres. Water, which is shallow throughout, is studded with some
250,000 copper tabs that help re-create known current patterns. The facility, the only
one of its kind in the world, hasn't been used for research since 2000, leaving it to
educate school groups and the odd visitor about Bay conservation; the gift shop is
strong on the subject of ecology. A visit is quite relaxing; many days, you'll be one of
the only guests there, and the only sounds in the enormous room will be the faint
sound of the water pumps, still working away. The model sits on the site of an impor-
tant World War II shipbuilding yard, called Marinship (Ma-
rinn
-ship). Tucked away
to the left of the exit (don't miss it) is a terrific exhibit, full or artifacts and including
a video, that chronicles the yard, where an astonishing 93 ships were built in 3
1
⁄
2
wartime years.
Twelve miles north of the Golden Gate and well-marked,
Muir Woods
555
(
%
415/388-2596; $5 adults over 15; www.nps.gov/muwo; 8am-sunset)
is her-
alded as one of the best forests for admiring redwoods—thousands of them.
Teddy Roosevelt himself consecrated it as a National Monument in 1908—with
good reason, too: It's the only primordial redwood forest remaining near the city.
Of course, it's not just about 350-foot-tall redwoods—you can find Douglas firs,
bik-leaf maple, tan-bark oak, and many others, but the mama redwoods, longer
across than your dining room table, impress the most. In the 1800s, redwoods
were so plentiful here that people thought they'd never run out, and pretty much
every single building in San Francisco and beyond was built of the trees, which
are the tallest living things on Earth. You could argue that the trees got their
revenge on the city, when anything made of them went up in smoke in the fire
after the quake of '06, and today, Muir Woods is one of the last groves of the trees
(primordial or otherwise) in the area. There are three trails totaling 6 miles, from
a half-hour one to one that takes 90 minutes if you take your time. I strongly sug-
gest that you do, because the sense of stillness that you'll find even just a few yards
down the well-maintained trails can approach a spiritual experience. If you'll be
heading up to Guerneville, in western Sonoma County, you may find that the
Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve (p. 254) usually makes for a much more
secluded visit; Muir Woods tends to attract large numbers of city dwellers and
tourists (some three quarters of a million annually). In summer, Memorial Day to
Labor Day, a free shuttle bus runs from the Sausalito Ferry, which means that
