Touring @ Home (1)

When we visit other places, countires, we discover amazing sights and attractions. Oftentimes, just as amazing sights are right under our noses in our hometowns. Last week, we hiked the costal trail in San Francisco. We entered the trail at El Camino del Mar and Point Lobos Avenue, just up the hill from the Cliff House and the Sutro Baths. Here's a little history about the trail from Urban Outings on SF Gate:

The Coastal Trail follows the rail bed of the steam-powered Cliff House railroad, which was built by Adolph Sutro to lure people from downtown San Francisco out to the baths and the Cliff House. Although landslides forced the railroad to close in the 1920s, the rail bed itself is now part of the Coastal Trail, with dazzling views of the Pacific Ocean, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands.

From there, we passed the Painted Rock and came out to the resdiential district on El Camino del Mar in Outer Richmond. The houses there were exquisite. See for yourself some doorway photos photos I snapped.

From El Camino del Mar, we hiked to China Beach to take a quick break, then headed back the way we came. On the way back, we took the stairs down to Mile Rock Beach. It's a whole other world down there. Breath-taking, relaxing, all the worries of the world left behind...

We spent some time sitting on the rocks by the beach, listening to the fog horns of commercial freights and the crashing waves.