Cliff House - Primed for Time Travel Perfection (San Francisco Field Trip)

The Neo-Classical, Greek Revival Art in
the Cliff House is a strong clue to any regular historic traveller, that
there's at least one time travel portal nearby!

I'm pretty sure there's a time portal in or around San Francisco's Cliff House. Perhaps my difficulty in finding the entrance to a trip back in time, is the number of eras this quintessential bay area locale evokes.

The Sutro Baths finally closed down in the 1960's.
The ghosts remain.

There are a limited number of public buildings in the area that survived the 1906 earthquake. This restaurant, with it's beach front location and view of the one time Sutro Baths public bathhouse, is one that did. And it's also one of my favorite places to return again and again. Locals, in and near San Francisco, have been traveling to the Cliff House for a special supper in a prime ocean location since 1863. The baths and associated marine recreation activities opened to the public in 1894. 

Upstairs at the Cliff is a little more casual, but the views are still there.

This week we went up for a birthday supper, we'd put off a month back. I'm glad we waited until it was just the right night. We chose to eat upstairs. It's less expensive than the reservation-only downstairs, though definitely not a budget meal! The scenery and setting made our tasty, simple prix fixe suppers stellar. We thoroughly enjoyed our supper at the Cliff House, followed by a walk along the promenade, with a view of the historic Sutro Baths, and ended with by walking back along Ocean Beach. 

I didn't manage to find my way back in time to take in the sights of 1920's swimmers cavorting in the classic Grecian entryway of Adolph Sutro's baths, or catch a glimpse of late nineteenth century railroad baron  university founder Leland Stanford or famed newspaper owner William Randolph Hearst chatting over a racing form and cocktails.

But, then again, maybe my own time's the best for travelin' to.

~ ~ ~

Web Resources

Download a free copy of the music for the golden age tune, "Moonlight at the Cliff" from http://www.sanfranciscomemories.com/cliff/souvenirs.html

History of the Cliff House http://www.cliffhouse.com/history/

The Sutro Baths http://www.nps.gov/goga/historyculture/sutro-baths.htm