The Story of My Life

Given three days off in a row, Audrey and I found three different ways this week to enjoy the Golden Gate Bridge, in order to see as much of heaven as we could on earth.

Day One, East of the Bridge: Treasure Island

In the bay between San Francisco and Oakland lies a man-made island, constructed in 1937 by the Army Corps of Engineers.

This is Treasure Island, World War II departure point for American soldiers embarking on their journey to fight the Japanese Empire, and home of the 1939 San Francisco World's Fair, ironically titled "Pacific Unity."

Currently covered in dilapidated, toxic, asbestos-filled naval buildings, and gradually sinking into the bay, this oddity of oddities is virtually abandoned today except for the Treasure Island Bar and Grill (home of the best garlic fries in San Francisco), plus a couple of movie companies who lease the abandoned airplane hangars, and a small community of impoverished families housed in makeshift barracks on the north end of the island.

The Island Bay Homes Community Housing Project offers not only a roof over our less fortunate neighbors' heads, but unrestricted views of the San Francisco skyline, including both bridges, the Bay and the Golden Gate, the construction of which the World's Fair was intended to celebrate.

This photo from the 1930s shows treasure Island being constructed (foreground) simultaneously along with the Bay Bridge.


By 1939, the year the Pacific Unity fair opened, Japan had been at war with china for eight years and out of the League of Nations for six. During the course of the fair, two participating European countries had to close their booths as their real-world borders were being overrun by Nazi forces.

Day Two, West of the Bridge: Baker Beach

Just west of the Golden Gate Bridge lies Baker Beach, famous for its views, both of the bridge and of the clothing optional sunbathers. (Eli and Audrey were a little shy their first time at a nude beach.)


Looming above Baker Beach is the affluent neighborhood of Sea Cliff, where mansions rise above cliffs of Serpentine, California's State Rock, seen here being dominated by Audrey.


Day Three, Over the Bridge: American Normandy

Right across the Golden Gate Bridge lies miles of vineyards and local farms, appropriately dubbed the American Normandy for its landscape, its coastline and of course for its cheese.

It is here among the idyllic pasteurs, happy cows and swaying palm trees that the current world financial crisis has manifested its positive side: The best use for an abandoned bank building ever.


Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, whose home base is situated in the Ozark hills near Mansfield, Missouri, is the world's largest heirloom seed project. They opened their second location, the Heirloom Seed Bank, two months ago in the town of Petaluma, 20 minutes north of San Francisco.

As you may already know, massive food conglomerates have been endeavoring for years to genetically modify food crops so their seeds will not reproduce, forcing farmers and consumers to buy their homogenized produce.

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds has stated the goal of turning all of Sonoma County into an heirloom seed zone, where every plant grown in this region is sustainable, unique and most importantly non-GM.

We picked up some American huckleberry seeds, Italian artichoke seeds and Mexican pepper seeds. The world is in our garden again.

While in Petaluma (previously also home to our friend Sarah, owner of AV Framing back in Fountain Square), I also managed to fall down for no reason for the second time since we moved to California. This time I only scraped my hands.

After coffee at a waterfront bistro, we took a short drive from Petaluma to the Cowgirl Creamery, home of some of our favorite local cheeses. We picked up a quarter pound of "San Andreas," an unpasteurized, vegetarian rennet sheep's cheese to enjoy with the bottle of Sorrentino Gragnana Audrey bought from work and made the journey through the coastal farmland of Pt. Reyes to the famous light house, where wild deer keep watch over the Lighthouse Watcher's apartment.

Three days, three ways to take advantage of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Please enjoy this happy slideshow of our recent adventures, if you like happiness.