I like Sausalito and will often visit when I’m in San Francisco. The town’s name means “Little Grove of Willows” and it is supposedly often compared to the European Riviera. This is certainly an over statement, but, from the bay, Sausalito looks just like a doll’s town on the mountainside. The houses are small and pretty and most of the houses have gardens around them. The town measures about 7.5 miles across, and the main road looks like a side street in one of the richer neighborhoods of New Delhi.
There’s not much to see- a long row of touristy shops, some museums, and a big commune that lives entirely in house boats. Some of these houseboats are very expensive- we saw one that is made of shingles and costs millions of dollars. Jeremy, brought up in Sausalito, and loving the town like no other, volunteers time every weekend to take tourists like me around the town in a jitney bus (The Sally) and give a commentary. He even showed us the momentous spot where he had his first beer.
What you really want to feel in Sausalito is its natural peace and quiet. The harbor is protected from the wind, so the weather is warm and balmy. You can sit at the harbor and watch the tide come in. If its not tide time, you can still see Angel Island and Treasure Island and Oakland, and San Francisco and Berkeley in the distance. You can watch the gulls and cormorants fly and dive. You can see all the boats and make fun of their outrageous names. You can even sit and watch the tourists! There are many parks in Sausalito, and they are very well kept. You can have a good sleep at these parks, as I do, with my jacket under my head and a book covering my face.
And another thing. As an Indian, you can’t, you just can’t miss out on one of the most expensive houses in town- belonging to disgraced alcohol baron, Vijay Mallaya.
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