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San Francisco, California
All Photos © Tim N. Touchton
Each photograph
is available as an 8x10 for a cost of $ 12.00
plus $2.00 shipping. Check or money order only please.
This lighthouse was photographed on June 22, 2000 on our way out of San Francisco
and heading
north up the coast. We stopped at the Fort Point Historical Site, which is
the last exit JUST BEFORE
the Golden Gate Bridge. It is located near the Presidio, off Lincoln
Blvd at Long Avenue, DIRECTLY
under the Golden Gate Bridge. You can see part of the Golden
Gate Bridge in my first photograph. This
area where we pulled off is a tourist viewing area above the fort and to the
right of the bridge. There is a
"fast" food place (very expensive) and rest rooms in this area.
You can get out and walk across the bridge
from here, look at a cross section of the massive cable that supports the
bridge and walk down to an old
fort area along the water front. You actually have to drive down a winding
road to get to Fort Point. The walk
across the bridge was an experience in itself. Rich and I only walked a third
of the way across. There were
people on bikes, people walking and basically a lot of activity on the bridge.
Cars are driving within a foot or
so from where the pedestrians are. We stopped directly above the fort and
realized at that time how high we
were. It was extremely windy on the bridge with the Pacific winds blowing
up the bay. I got pretty nervous
up on the bridge, but Rich loved it. There is a sign on the bridge stating
NOT to throw "missiles" from the
bridge. Hmm, I don't think I could even carry a missile and most likely someone
would notice me if I had a
missile with me. Ha Ha
After we finished our bridge walk we went back to the parking area and I
bought some food. I bought
some hot dogs, chips and cokes and boy the hot dogs were big ones. Rich was
waiting in the van
because he was cold and I tried to carry the food (2 large hot dogs, 2 bags
of chips and 2 very large
cokes) by myself. The wind was blowing hard, it was cold (in June) and I was
having a hard time holding
everything. Rich just sat in the van laughing at me and then a bag of chips
fell and blew away. I didn't think
it was very funny but he did. After we ate I drove down to the fort and Rich
went roller blading along the
waterfront road leading to the fort. The road was rough and it was windy so
he didn't have much fun skating.
The admission to Fort Point is free and we stayed about an hour or so. I could
have stayed longer, except
we still had a full and long day ahead with more lighthouses to see, plus
a VERY long drive up the coast.
The fort is a 3 story building, made of brick with many rooms and historical
photographs. There was a bus
load of school kids while we were there and so I had to plan my photographs
around them running around.
It was extremely windy on top of the fort with the wind blowing under the
bridge. Rich and I would go to the
end of the fort closest to the bridge and jump and the wind would blow you
a few feet eastward. Pretty cool.
If you ever in the San Francisco area you cannot leave without seeing this
lighthouse and the Golden Gate bridge.
Specifics about the Fort Point Lighthouse:
This lighthouse was established in 1855.
It used a small Fifth-Order Fresnel lens.
There was never a battle at the Fort.
Fort Point is part of the Golden Gate Bridge Recreation Area.
There are tours and canon loading demonstrations, self guiding audio tapes
are available for rent.
The fort is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
It is closed Thanksgiving and from December 25 through January 1.
You can get information at 415-556-1693
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