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March 19, 2009

Urban Outings: Nob Hill Hike to Grace Cathedral

For an aerobic walk among San Francisco's most elegant structures, walk straight up Nob Hill on California Street to Grace Cathedral. Even when downtown is dreary and foggy, on the hilltop the sun almost always shines. Nob Hill was once garlanded with the dazzling mansions of the 19th century railroad magnates—Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, Charles Crocker and C.P. Huntington—and Gold Rush millionaire James Flood. The great leveler, the 1906 quake and fire, gutted most of these mansions. Today the railroad bigwigs are remembered by the luxury hotels that bear their names.

Special exhibition
Atop Nob Hill at Grace Cathedral, a special exhibition, "Wounded in America," tells the stories of people wounded by guns. In this moving project, survivors, some in wheelchairs, describe the shooting and how it has affected their lives. The exhibition will be at the cathedral until March 27.

St. Mary's Park
Begin walking uphill (west) on California Street at Kearny. On your left, just before Grant Avenue, enter St. Mary's Square, a tiny park built right on top of St. Mary's Square Garage. Walk inside to view the large steel and granite statue of Chinese revolutionary Dr. Sun Yat-sen, sculpted by San Francisco's beloved Beniamino Bufano for President Franklin Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration.

Return to Grant Avenue to look up at Old St. Mary's Cathedral. A stern message from Ecclesiastes warns you from the church tower, "Son, observe the time and fly from evil." This was a message to the brothel-goers who once frequented the shacks lining St. Mary's Square.

Nob Hill
Continue up California Street past the widely photographed Sing Chong building, with its green and red pagoda, to Stockton Street, and turn left (south) to view the Ritz-Carlton that takes up the entire block of Stockton from California to Pine. This imposing neoclassical structure with its massive Ionic columns was once the headquarters of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. On Pine, continue uphill. Between Stockton and Powell, the picturesque Joice Alley Steps will be on your right. Walk up the steps past the tiny shrine to St. Francis and on up to California. Then continue up Nob Hill on California. You'll be surrounded by San Francisco's most opulent hotels—the Stanford Court (905 California St.), built on the site of Leland Stanford's mansion; the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel (1 Nob Hill), built on the site of the Mark Hopkins mansion; and the resplendent Fairmont Hotel (950 Mason St.).

Roof garden
Completed after the 1906 earthquake and fire with help from architect Julia Morgan, the Beaux Arts-style Fairmont has hosted many U.S. presidents. To take a break in the Fairmont's pleasant roof garden, enter the hotel on Mason Street, turn right inside the doors, then left past all the shops to the roof garden entrance. Here you can sit on a bench to look out at the city and the bay and marvel at how far you've walked. At 1000 California St., you come upon the austere, dark brownstone Pacific-Union Club—one of the most exclusive private men's clubs in the country. It was built in 1886 by silver baron James Flood as his personal mansion and remodeled in 1910 by architect Willis Polk. Legend says an employee once worked full time polishing the brass rail that circles the club.

Next on California, you will come to lovely Huntington Park. Railroad tycoon C.P. Huntington once lived here, and his widow donated the land for the park. Today it offers fountains, benches, sculptures, a playground and a sandbox. Across the street is the lavish Huntington Hotel. Cross Taylor Street and you will be at Grace Cathedral.

Before you enter, quiet your mind by walking the terrazzo outdoor labyrinth in the courtyard. At the entrance, look at the magnificent bronze Ghiberti doors. These are copies of Lorenzo Ghiberti's "Doors of Paradise," made for the baptistery of the Duomo in Florence, Italy. The originals were hidden from the Nazis during World War II.

Directly inside on the left is a statue of St. Francis by Bufano. Look at the stained-glass windows in the nave showing spiritual leaders from Moses to Martin Luther King, and visit the AIDS Interfaith Chapel. You can also walk a second labyrinth inside the church. Pick up a brochure to find the cathedral's many points of interest.

Urban Outings are presented by Greenbelt Alliance, the Bay Area's advocate for open spaces and vibrant places, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. To suggest an Urban Outing, contact Gail Todd, tour leader for S.F. City Guides and author of "Lunchtime Walks in Downtown San Francisco." For more Urban Outings as well as Greenbelt Outings, visit www.greenbelt.org/outings.

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