Lovers' Lane

I'll let the sign at the beginning of this path in the Presidio do the talking:

"This trail has witnessed the passing of Spanish solders, Franciscan missionaries and American soldiers of two centuries. It is perhaps the oldest travel corridor in San Francisco. In 1776 this path connected the Spanish Presidio with the mission, three miles to the southeast. During the 1860s it became the main route used by off-duty soldiers to walk into San Francisco. Many of those men made the trip into town to meet their sweethearts, and the trail became know as Lovers' Lane."

The Presidio is a magnificent place packed with history and incredible sights.

It's also a great place to gorge yourself on wild blackberries.

Vanity

I came across this rubble on a stroll through the Presidio. The book I was using for the walk mentioned that it is, most likely, from the 1906 Earthquake. The debris appears, to me, to be stone from burial crypts, perhaps from one of the many cemeteries that were moved from The City to Colma. Either way, they speak to the futility of grasping for permanence in this very impermanent sphere. Think of the money and effort that went into constructing whatever edifice these remains once constituted. Here they lie, forgotten for a century, once someone's

"final" resting place, destined someday to be a bench or, perhaps, a retaining wall.

Presidio Spire

A recent, and strangely under publicized, addition to the landscape at the Presidio is Andy Goldsworthy's remarkable Spire. Rising out of a newly planted forest of cypress, it pierces the air and creates a wonderful, ancient, almost pagan atmosphere. A sort of wooden Stonehenge. It located off Arguello, near the Presidio Golf course.

Obvious Things We Never Notice

How many times have you walked, rode, or driven by this monument at Dolores and Market? Ever bother to read the inscription? Wonder what it's all about? It's a memorial to the California Volunteers of the Spanish American war. They served in the Philippines and helped bring us one of our first (and most controversial) colonies. There's a fascinating exhibit at the Presidio documenting this sadly neglected chapter of our history. Do yourself a favor and visit.

P.S. That's the US Mint in the background.