Sunday, June 2, 2013

Sutro Self

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Our last day on the west coast, Quincy, Natalie, and I hit the Sutro Baths. These ruins of a Victorian-era bathhouse along the coastline of San Francisco are eerie, beautiful, and brutally windswept.

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There was some serious wind sweeping here. I had sand in my hair for days.

A note on my clothes: I knew that San Fran was a little blustery and chilly but was taken aback at the voracity of the gusts on the Pacific side of town. We had just hit the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood where I'd picked up this little '70s denim jacket and, despite my natural aversion to the Canadian tuxedo look, I added it to my ensemble. Haphazard, yes, but definitely warm.

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Natalie, scoping the Pacific coastline

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Quincy, commanding rocky crags

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Me, riding a lion sidesaddle

Here are the Sutro Baths, billed as the "Largest in the World," in 1894:

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photo courtesy of http://www.cliffhouseproject.com

...And what the spot looks like today:

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Wow.

vintage '70s denim jacket - A shop on Haight. I know, I'm terrible. I wish I could tell you which one.
black cropped t-shirt - A shop in Columbus that has since closed. I almost wrote "clothesed." Irony.
vintage '90s light-wash denim pencil skirt - thrift
tan cowboy boots - Mason Western via thrift
vintage '70s boot scarf - thrift

2 comments:

Frederik Sisa said...

I don't often go up to San Francisco, but when I do it seems like an interesting place to visit.

Impressive bath, back in the day. Who knew? And why don't we have anything cool like that nowadays?

Also, I wonder if they handed out giant rubber duckies too, since they already have the slides...and now I have Ernie's song stuck in my head. Way to go, me.

Oh, and it's cool you had good weather in SF. I guess it has to happen, schooner or later. :)

Becky Haltermon Robinson said...

It seems that it would take a lot of work to keep such a structure financially afloat. ...heehee!

Looking at that picture makes me so so wish the baths were still around. The YMCA is just sad in comparison.