Sausalito: No longer just a discontinued Pepperidge Farm cookie
posted June 10th, 2010 by EverywhereistWhile Rand and I were in San Francisco, we actually had a day (gasp – yes, a whole day!) where he wasn’t glued to his computer, working on projects of which I have a dull glimmer of understanding. We asked a friend (and SF resident) how we should spend the day, and since we’ve already done Alcatraz and a handful of other touristy sites, he suggested Sausalito.
Like the cookie.
Naturally, we were both sold: Rand, because he loves having time off to explore new things, and I, because I love chocolate chunk anything.
I will tell you now: Sausalito is sorely lacking in the cookie department. It is clearly a case of false advertising (I should have expected this, given that there were no Mint Milanos in Milan). Still, it was a pleasant day trip from SF.
Sausalito is located in Marin county and is not, as I had previously assumed (in what could only be described as a drunken haze) some sort of island. I would like to take a brief moment to once again reiterate that geography is kryptonite to my Batman (and come to think of it, I’m not so great with analogies, either). It’s a short ferry ride from downtown, and catching the boat is quite an awesome experience, as it meant we were some of the few people in the San Francisco Ferry terminal who were actually going somewhere.
Plus, the ferry terminal itself is pretty lovely.
Yay! Dork love!
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Our chariot. Err, ferry.
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The ferry runs fairly often (about once every hour to hour-and-a-half), and adult ticket fares are only about $16 roundtrip. It’s well worth it, given the views. Be warned that it is just a passenger ferry, so there won’t be any tour guides telling you what anything is (this resulted in a lot of people pointing out the Bay Bridge to their fellow travelers and identifying it as the Golden Gate Bridge – despite the fact that the two are drastically different in color). On the plus side, you don’t have to groan through annoying jokes, nor do you have to tip anyone!
Bye-bye, stench of urine!
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We force some German tourist to take our photo.
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NOT the Golden Gate Bridge.
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Dork Love II: Still Geeking after all these years.
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Because everyone rides on the top deck of the ferry, the lower deck has been perfectly preserved in its original 1978 state.
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The ride to Sausalito takes one-half hour. Many of the seats on the upper deck don’t have shade, but usually there are a few empty covered seats, and Rand and I opted for those, since, as Seattlites, sunshine frightens and weakens us. Once we arrived at the island of Sausalito we noted that it was a lot hotter than San Francisco – a good 10 to 15 degrees. Boo.
Immediately after getting off the ferry, we spotted a nice gentleman who was balancing rocks in some crazy configurations. He was incredibly friendly, and when I tipped him a dollar, he insisted on giving me a postcard. I liked him very much. After a bit of research, I found out his name is Bill Dan, and he is known as a “rock balancer” (which would be so awesome to have on a resume). He even has his own YouTube station.
One of Bill's rock balancing sculptures.
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The artist at work.
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The views from the Sausalito boardwalk are pretty fantastic. While it was dreadfully hot, we decided to walk up and down it for a bit.
The city is just off to the left. Off to the right are embarassingly expensive houses.
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The view of San Francisco from Sausalito.
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Downtown Sausalito wasn’t unpleasant, but it is incredibly touristy. There are bicyclists everywhere (I think you can rent bikes in town), kids running around with ice cream cones, and gobs of souvenir and clothing shops. Truth be told, it might have been the least interesting part of Sausalito. I wish I had more photos of the downtown area, but sadly, my computer can’t read RAW files from my camera, and I can’t presently afford the software that will enable it to do so (an amateur problem, to be sure). The thing is, you aren’t really missing much. Yes, it’s cute, but it’s similar to any other little touristy waterfront town. The ferry ride, boardwalk, and people watching were far more enjoyable, in my humble opinion.
The only photo I have of downtown Sausalito (Oh, don't you start complaining).
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After a few hours, we headed back to San Francisco. The ferry ride back was less crowded that the one there, but everyone was asleep. If you were so inclined, you could very easily rob someone. I chose this poor schlub:
I stole his wallet. He stole my heart. I'd say we're even, since my heart is probably worth about $73, anyway.
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And just like that, we were back in San Francisco: 15 degrees cooler, and many times more urine-y. If you’ve seen the other touristy spots of San Francisco and are looking for a quick day trip, Sausalito is definitely a good option (wear comfy shoes, cool clothes, and bring sunscreen). And if you’re a bike aficionado, pour yourself into some spandex and head on over: you won’t be alone. Even if the highlight of the trip turns out to be the ferry ride, that’s still not too shabby (after all, it ranked second on the Society of American Travel Writers top ferry rides in the world).
But remember: there are no cookies.
Tags: San Francisco
June 10th, 2010 at 11:50 am
The rock balancer was definitely the best part. Oh, and I guess hanging out with you instead of working was nice, too
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June 10th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Just a couple of thoughts:
1. Now that he’s back at work, get The Handsome Rand Fishkin to see what including “dork love” (twice!) in this post did to your Google search results.
2. The Kryptonite/Batman analogy is so awesome I will stow my nerd indignation (though Batman has used Kryptonite many times to neutralize Superman and even keeps a chunk on hand at all times in case Supes goes rogue).
4. (yes, 4) What do you know of 1978?
D. Thank you for not referencing any of the terrible songs about/to/inspired by Sausalito.
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June 10th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
I think I went there with my parents when I was looking at colleges….wait, that makes it sound like I think Sausalito is a college. No, we looked at a few colleges and then did touristy stuff. I was recovering from the flu which is why I am not really sure if the place we went was really Sausalito or not, but the description sounds similar. Actually, later I realized that my parents had gone to San Francisco on their honeymoon and that was the first time they had been back since – and there I was, ruining what probably should have been a somewhat romantic trip.
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June 10th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
Also, “Sausalito” is the house band at the Tokyo Hilton in Lost in Translation.
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June 10th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
The cookie’s been discontinued?! This is what happens when you try to change your diet to that “Fruit is nature’s candy” bullshit; you miss important info. Did you think the downtown area of Sausalito was a little preciously perfect? I don’t mean in a bad way, just that it was so tidy and neat that it could be a film set and not a real town. I volunteered on the route marking crew for the SF Avon Walk in 2008, which went into Sausalito and when we hung signs for the walkers people were friendly yet astonished that we would put up anything out of place. It was like mussing Sausalito’s hair.
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June 10th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
Philip – Busted. 1978 ended 21 months before I was born. Also, hush.
Laura – Aw, I bet they were thrilled to have taken the trip with you. Your mom and dad were always so damn cute together – remember the toy dog from your dad that your mom took to Seaside?
Deanna – I may have spoken too soon – all I know is that it is impossible to find – but no indication on their site that it’s gone forever.
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June 11th, 2010 at 7:50 am
When I was a teenager, there was a popular song I heard on the radio all the time (by some band that was probably a one-hit wonder) called “Sausalito Summer Nights” that was catchy and fun and made Sausalito sound so appealing, I dreamed of going there for years. Sounds like it should still be on my list.
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June 11th, 2010 at 11:55 am
You two are so cute together it almost gags me a little bit.
But your story about those silly people misleading others about the Bay Bridge totally brought back some shameful memories of growing up near Boston and taking out-of-towners to see the touristy things all the while making up outrageous stories about some of the famous landmarks…..which was funny at the time, and really worked best on little kids who had not done any research beforehand….
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June 11th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
Trisha – I love misleading folks, too. The trick is not to waver a second in your own personal conviction of something. If I’m able to convince people that the Space Needle was originally built as a Cold War radio tower, it’s because I’ve started to believe it myself.
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June 12th, 2010 at 9:39 am
I went there once and decided that I will move there for 6 months if I ever need to write a book – it’s just such an amazingly pretty spot and a cute town center
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June 18th, 2011 at 6:24 pm
“embarrassingly expensive houses” hahaha living in Marin, when I learned what it costs to live in “your” neck of the woods, I almost fainted. At some point you’ve got to check out Tiburon. It’s a bit less touristy, the downtown is tiny, yet definitely better, and the waterfront dining is really the best thing it’s got going.
Oh. and Tiburon isn’t an island either. It’s here in Marin.
I’m just not sure if Tiburon Software is actually in Tiburon either though.
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Everywhereist Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
We were actually there just recently – very pretty and not unlike Sausalito.
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