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photo by Donald Kinney
The fountain in downtown Sausalito reminds me of huge overflowing goblet more than one that spurts. The drips put on quite a light-show when backlit in the early morning sun.
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photo by Donald Kinney
Sausalito is a tourist destination -- sort of a sidetrip spill-over from San Francisco just across the bay. Bring plastic or a wad of cash, because visiting the restaurants and shops in Sausalito isn't cheap. Staying overnight in Sausalito will definitely cost an arm-and-a-leg.
I suggest arriving in Sausalito early, well before tourists filter out of their pricey rooms or bicycle over from San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge. But before 9AM you can find the local residents -- these are mostly successful "creative types" -- out to enjoy their town sans tourists. Every local seems to have some sort of exotic dog at the end of a leash, and these are friendly people who don't shy away from saying hello or chatting for a moment with the odd photographer with the worn out baseball cap and hole in the knee of his jeans.
These two local gentlemen were enjoyng a fine conversation about I-don't-know-what -- maybe some juicy gossip about that deluxe
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photo by Donald Kinney
This is Sausalito's mascot. As you might be able to see, seagulls like to perch on it's hind-quarters and take a crap.
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photo by Donald Kinney
But there are two camps of locals in Sausalito -- the "creative types" in ritzy homes on the hill with oodles of cash, and other "creative types" that can barely rub two nickels together living in makeshift and very funky houseboats at Gate Five on the west side of town. Here tourists are shunned -- beware of pirates. Some get mail, some don't.
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5 comments:
You may be the first person to photograph the fountain in Vina Del Mar park as an abstract. Lovely! It's worth mentioning, I suppose, that the locals have mostly given up Bridgeway, the main street through town, to the tourists. The locals have another street, Caledonia, to call their own. There's a funky, inexpensive and unbelievably good Indian cafe called Sartaj, an Italian restaurant called Cafe Da Vino, which serves espresso drinks in the morning and deliciously affordable Italian cuisine at night, a movie theater that shows art films, a sushi restaurant (that's wonderful but not particularly affordable), many other neighborhood shops and even a dive bar where the saltiest of the salty dogs go and sometimes live out their lives. It's worth it to wander down this quiet street, if only to get a better sense of what Sausalito really is for the locals. It's not unusual to overhear conversations from working actors, musicians and artists in Cafe Da Vino or Sartaj nor is it unusual to see and be approached by the likes of "Van Bo", one local homeless man who's actually making a name (and several awards) for himself as a self-taught painter.
Anyway, thanks for catching some fresh views of Sausalito. You know, the website always needs new photos... ci.sausalito.ca.us
Thank you very much for your visits and nice comments. I appreciated very much your photoblog too!!! We'll keep in touch!
I'd rather not get mail, and a funky houseboat is still on the water, so how bad can it be? (Though I'm sure I'd prefer the ritzy home on the hill.)
I've had great fun taking photos of that fountain too. The water patterns are wonderful. And I love the bike with the light string.
I remember the days when there was still a fleamarket in Sausalito. Gate 5 was far more "run down" (funky?) than it is now. I had an answering service called "Katchina Answering Service" There were actual people sitting behind a switchboard answering the phone, there! From time to time, I dropped my check in person and was always really intrigued by the dichotomy between the 2 words, on one hand the very, very wealthy people up the hill, and on the other, the people living in Marin City and those practically homeless living behind Gate 5. There are a few houseboats left, yes, but the vast majority of the hippies and others are long gone.
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