Lyford Tower, Tiburon - Oct. 26, 2012

Walking Distance: 2.8 mi. (estimate)
Walking Time: 2 hrs., 28 min. (1:25 - 3:53 p.m.)
Start and End Point: Railroad History Museum, Tiburon, CA

Tiburon (like many cities on the Bay) has several interesting historical landmarks. I visited two of these points of interest during today's loop walk -- that included great views of the Bay, Angel Island, the San Francisco skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge. I started this afternoon's amble with a visit to the Railroad and Ferry Depot Museum, located on the water, a short walk from the Tiburon ferry terminal. 

From the railroad museum I walked back into downtown Tiburon, passing the ferry terminal, and had a salad at Guaymas (restaurant and bar) out on the patio. October can be wonderful weather month on the Pacific coast and San Francisco Bay; and today, eating lunch under a sun umbrella on a sparklingly blue and beautiful day, I counted my blessings. 

I stopped briefly at The Candy Store, after lunch, to buy a few chocolate pumpkins, then turned around and headed north to start my walk. I passed by the railroad museum and made a quick stop at Elephant Rock (near The Caprice Restaurant), then continued north on Paradise Drive -- a winding and scenic drive on the north side of the Tiburon peninsula.

Note: Most of Paradise Drive (shown as a dotted green line on map) is not part of the completed/improved Bay Trail, in part due to blind corners and narrow setbacks around turns ahead. Today's stretch, however, had some sidewalks, and would be fine if I kept to the edge of the road. 

The second historic point of interest I visited in Tiburon was the Lyford Tower, a bit further up Paradise Drive. A round, stone structure with open "windows" facing Angel Island and looking out/down onto San Francisco Bay, it's worth a quick stop.

After a bit, I made a short detour and turned right to follow Mar East Street, almost to the end (momentarily leaving Tiburon city limits). I then walked back to Paradise Drive, and turned around when I reached the intersection with Solano Street. A deer grazed up on a nearby hillside.

On the walk back, I enjoyed a conversation with a cartoonist/illustrator and his wife I met who were walking in the same direction, south on Paradise Dr. We followed sidewalks and hugged the road's edge in areas where sidewalks weren't available, as there wasn't room for us to walk side-by-side. 


Wildlife Sightings:
6 pigeons; 5 crows; 23 sea gulls; 8 cormorants; 2 brown pelicans; 2 blue jays; 1 domestic cat; 2 little brown jobs (LBJs); 1 deer