Gone to Seed

We're still in Aquatic Park (probably because it's so nice this time of year). Most of the Wharf, deservedly, gets dismissed by locals, but this is one place with something for everyone. The Hyde Street Pier and Aquatic Park comprise the National Maritime Museum and they are perfect places to enjoy a beautiful late spring day. If you approach the park via the trail from Fort Mason, you can forget all about the crowds that throng such attractions as Hooters, Rainforest Cafe and the Wax Museum. It's easy, and not entirely fair, to dismiss the Wharf. Good things are happening and The City seems to be making an attempt to spruce the old cash cow up a bit. Lord knows, it seems the tourists will put up with anything. They still flock to the crowded sidewalks strewn with "performers" covered in silver paint. Then again, if you stay away, you'll miss the Musee Mechanique, the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien and the U.S.S. Pampanito. That would be a bad thing.
Back to Aquatic Park; the scrappy shrubs pictured above used to spell out "Aquatic Park" and were a very nice, old-fashioned touch. Now they're just ill-maintained shrubs. I'm hopeful that they'll be groomed to their previous perfection once the ongoing park rehabilitation is complete.