MY NEW FAVORITE DAY OUTING

It was so much fun a month ago, I had to do it again!

Last week, Marcia was in town and we were looking for a place to meet in San Francisco. Remembering how much I enjoyed my recent walk in Crissy Field, followed by lunch at Green's, I suggested that's what we do.

Walking along the paths in Crissy Field, with views of the Golden Gate Bridge in one direction and views of the downtown San Francisco skyline in the other direction, I feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world.



Crissy Field was originally an airfield in the U.S. Army's Presidio Base. It became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area when the Presidio was closed in the 1990s. In 2001, it reopened as a park with an expansive wildlife habitat, a tidal marsh, a beach, and a simply wonderful place to walk, run, and bicycle, while enjoying the outdoors and the spectacular views.




We started our walk from the Visitor Center and walked for an hour or so, well past the Warming Hut but not quite to Fort Point.



Both the Warming Hut and the Visitor Center have small cafés that serve beverages and light meals and snacks. The Warming Hut is a great place to stop for coffee or hot chocolate on a cool foggy San Francisco day.



Our next destination was Green's restaurant in Fort Mason. We could have walked to Fort Mason, but would have needed much more time than we had allowed; it's a pretty long walk, but all the paths are on flat ground and make for very easy walking.

If I haven't mentioned it in other posts, Green's, which opened in 1979, is San Francisco's first "gourmet" vegetarian restaurant. Actually, it is Green's that was the first high profile vegetarian restaurant in the United States. It's dining room is architecturally beautiful and looks out onto the Marina and the Golden Gate Bridge.





Initially, Green's operated under the auspices of the San Francisco Zen Center, with all the employees being Zen students. To this day, Green's continues to maintain a connection with the Zen center, but not exclusively. The Zen Center's Green Gulch Farms in Marin County continues to provide the restaurant with its organic produce. Even non-vegetarians enjoy the creative food at Green's so much, that they don't even notice that there no meat, fish or poultry is served.

Marcia had a Green Salad with Cheese.




My choice was the Grilled Vegetable Sandwich. Those tiny round objects in the garnish on my plate are the tiniest potatoes I have ever seen/eaten. Just looking at them, I thought they were olives.



I can't wait for my next visit to both of these places.