Cable Car Tours: Lands End Lookout
This week, Mr. CC visits Lands End Lookout during sunset. I remember going to the location of the lookout when it was nothing but a parking lot...and that was just fine because the 'lookout building' isn't really the main attraction. Don't get me wrong, it is WONDERFUL to have a clean bathroom, a museum/gift shop and a café because, hey, a hot coffee or cocoa when at Lands End Lookout will always be welcomed since the weather will rarely be anything but cold. Even on a clear day, bring AT LEAST a jacket, if not multiple layers.
After you've left your car, put on at least one jacket and maybe grabbed a coffee from the café, the breathtaking view will pull you to the edge of the cliff. Below, are the Sutro Bath Ruins; the long gone but not forgotten memories of a HUGE structure that housed 7 different pools, all of varying temperatures. According to my mom, my grandmother visited the baths many times, some of those with my grandfather. Yet, I have a feeling my grandpa didn't really enjoy the baths for the swimming, since he couldn't swim a stroke. But knowing my grandfather, I'm sure the Machismo Spanish man originally from Mexico enjoyed the view...and I don't mean the ocean (wink wink).
But I digress. We'll cover the Sutro Bath Ruins more in depth in a future post. The Lands End Lookout area is surrounded by a vast amount history. Starting with the beautiful and ALWAYS FREEZING Ocean Beach. Ocean Beach is such a special place to me. It is a place where my late Aunt, my 2nd mother, would take my sister and I, or just me alone, and we would sit, talk, walk with are toes in the sand or with our feet in the water and just be in the moment together. Ocean Beach's special meaning will also be covered more in a future post.
As you make your way up the hill, you'll encounter the classic Cliff House (see this week's WIF WED to see a timeline of the Cliff House's history). At the top of the hill...Sutro Heights Park, once the compound and home of Adolph Sutro, now a beautiful park, perfect for walkers, families for a picnic, or maybe a couple getting coffee on a first date. if you look close enough remanence of its history can be found, like the original garden statues, the guard's station, the birdbath, the stone stairs to the lookout area and the tiles where the greenhouse once stood (all these can be seen in the photos below).
In the area on the hill between the Cliff House and Sutro Heights Park and hovering over the Sutro Bath Ruins lays Lands End Lookout. This is a space where you can sit, think, meditate or stare at the view and feel like you are the only person on earth. The view, the sounds, the smells will engulf your spirit. Even when the sky is covered with a thick layer of gray fog, you can be mesmerized by the sights and sounds of the waves crashing against the rocks. And, if you are lucky enough to show up at sunset on a clear evening, THIS is what you might see...
