Billy Goat and the Swing
I’ve been cooped up for a couple of days, so I wanted to go climb a rock or something similar. My last such adventure to Kite Hill worked out well, so I looked again to my maps for an unknown-to-me green space…
Billy Goat Hill Park it is!
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I took Mission Street all the way to 30th, and took in some sights along the way. Curiosity shop window:
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Iconic sign for the Doré photo studio (I wonder if it’s considered a coup in the neighborhood if they choose to display your quincinera photo among their examples of recent portraits in the shop windows?)
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It’s so great to see the old New Mission sign and marquee all freshened up; so many of our old movie houses are fading away or have been demolished… I’m so excited for the Alamo Drafthouse to re-open the theatre!!!
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The Designated Landmarks wiki page needs to update the photo (no. 245) to reflect it’s fabulous makeover…
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Quincinera dresses for sale in the former home of the Foxy Lady Boutique…
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Near 24th Street…
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Roccapulco‘s neon sign…
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You know you’re in the Mission when…
Chalkboard sign outside a coffee shop above Cesar Chavez…
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Fantastic vintage neon…
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Greens outside the hardware store…
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Dolores Street and the iconic date palms…
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view from Upper Noe Recreation Center on 30th: playing fields, courts, and a dog park…
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Someone has figured out how to grow coffee on trees!! I must find out their secret!…
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Detail of a front yard shrine…
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Almost to Billy Goat Park!
The grade becomes so steep, the road needed to be built as a switchback:
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So, I made like a Billy Goat, as the name of the park suggests…
WOW! Bernal Heights in the distance:
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And if you didn’t know, now you do—
There is there is a rope swing hung from one of the main, large eucalyptus trees in the park. It’s so fun!!
In a perfect world, this swing would always be hung by an industrious person with an engineering degree; however, I’m going to guess that this is not always the case. I say, the mysterious provenance of the (ever-changing cast of) swings is part of the excitement of flying out over the steep hill into space!
(but, just FYI, at your own risk!)
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Whhhheeeeeeeee!!!!!
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Trunk of the swing tree, with M and A keeping watch over downtown…
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There weren’t too many people here, and it was very peaceful and mind-clearing to hang out on the swing for a bit and watch the city ebb and flow under my feet…
(click me to expand and zoom and scroll)
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Climbing the steps further up the hill, above the swing tree…
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And back down again—this little spot on the other side of the swing tree has stunning views of downtown, the Bay Bridge (top right, easier to see in person), and the islands in the Bay…
(click me to expand and zoom and scroll)
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There are also hummingbirds among the other birds and lizards and wildlife, and flowering vines and berries crawling up the incline…
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So happy I know this spot is here. I highly recommend it for taking a break from your day. You’ll need to trek up a pretty steep couple of blocks to get there, but it feels amazing to get to the top and take in the sights after scaling the residential area.
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Time to work my way back home…
I stayed above Mission in Noe Valley, grabbed an (iced) coffee, and ran into this great old neon…
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And continued on down (or up, as the block dictated!) Dolores Street. I previously posted a brief item about the date palms that line the median all the way up and down Dolores, and I decided to take a bit of a closer look at them today as I traveled…
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As I noted before, they are on a short list of trees protected by the city, and designated as Landmark Trees…
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Would you like to work out your calves? Skip Mission Street and walk through the Mission District a couple of streets over…
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And here you go, the reason they are named Date Palms:
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Beautiful glowing red-purple leaves crossing back over to Mission Street…
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And the Viracocha shop window on Valencia, always a treat for the eyes (the inside of the shop is gorgeous and full of lovely things, as well)…
And just because I think it’s funny… When I got home and was peeling off layers, I noticed my arm hurt when I touched it—hahaha, this is what will happen if you hook your arm around the swing ropes to take a photo of your feet over downtown! Whoops. Totally worth it, though! 😉
Where should I go tomorrow?
- MILES WALKED: 5.53
- NEIGHBORHOODS: Mission District, Noe Valley
[…] 18 July 2015 […]
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