Today I visited Twin Peaks and Marshall Beach in San Francisco. I am at an Airbnb for a few days in Mission district. I’ve got a four day layover between the user experience conference I attended for work last week – UX Week 2018, and Ticketmaster’s design summit, based in Hollywood, LA, next week.
In case you don’t know, San Francisco has so much fog, its got a nick name. Karl. Even a Twitter and Instagram. So, I wasn’t upset when Karl showed up today.
To prep for my sight seeing, I woke up this morning and went to Philz Coffee, located just down the street from my Airbnb. It’s a laid back pour over coffee chain with custom blended coffees, teas and pastries. Each barista puts grounds into an individual filter. And then, from an impressive distance I might add, 205-degree water into each coffee-filled filter. Every cup of coffee is personally made for each customer. The Mission District location is the original, which opened in 2002. One wouldn’t think this place is an institution, based off all the mismatched furniture, and friendly staff. However, this spot is Silicon Valley, Mark Zuckerberg’s favorite coffee, among many other SF locals. Philz has no espresso drinks at all. I ordered a Turkish coffee, which has flavors of Cardamom, Herbs, and Tobacco. The barista even topped my personalized cup off with some fresh basil.
I brought my cup with me into my Uber ride to Twin Peaks. It was a beautiful drive up to the top of the hill. From the concrete parking lot view, I could see a 360-degree view of San Francisco. What I could see behind Karl, anyway. Then I ventured a bit further, and found the natural hills that Twin Peaks are known for. Coastal scrub and grassland complete with flowers and other greenery.
It was a great workout hiking up and down the manmade wooden stair paths. Seeing the natural California landscape was really beautiful. I climbed about three peaks, and there were hardly any people because most folks stayed in the parking lot area. Some animals that live there are brush nesting birds like the white crowned sparrow, and brush rabbits.
Next, I went to the Golden Gate Overlook, which had a military structure nearby that had a pretty decent view of the bridge. Then, I wandered onto a dirt path, which led directly to the coast. I could see a secluded beach at the bottom of steep cliffs, and decided to see if the path would lead me there. It took about 10 minutes to get down all the dirt paths, and stairs. I found Marshall Beach – a long narrow and secluded beach that stretches from the Golden Gate Bridge south to North Baker Beach. The waves were very strong, and it was also very rocky. From the sand was an amazing view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Apparently the tide can get so high the beach isn’t even accessible. Swimming isn’t safe. There are cold temperatures and also rip currents. Marshall’s is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
