(First Cliff House, courtesy San Francisco Memories
第一代Cliff House)
(Victorian style Cliff House, Courtesy of www.sfgenealogy.com
第二代維多利亞式的Cliff House )
Cliff House 是舊金山西海岸懸崖上的一間餐廳。它雖然有150年左右的歷史，但今天的Cliff House跟之前可是大不相同。之前有兩代Cliff House都被大火燒掉，而今天的Cliff House又是經NPS大幅整修後的結果。
第 一代Cliff House是於1863建好，1868又擴建的。當初Cliff House的功能，是給上流社會的人士，在下面Ocean Beach沙灘上駕完馬車後，有個可以休息的地方。登記名冊上除了有三位美國總統之外，還有當時舊金山有權有勢的家族，像是Hearst(蓋赫式古堡的) 與Stanford。1881年，Cliff House被富豪Adolph Sutro買下，不過1894的聖誕節，會被大火燒光。
一 不做，二不休。既然Cliff House燒掉了，Sutro便會再蓋起一座Cliff House，而且這次的規模比之前的還要大得多。第二代的Cliff House搞得富麗堂皇，共有八層樓的維多利亞式建築。除有多個宴客廳，舞廳，酒吧，餐廳和廚房外，上面的樓層還有畫廊，還有展示珠寶和別的藝術品的房 間。當初，Cliff House週末或是夏天時候熱鬧和繁華的景象，其實是可以想像的。如果有人好奇Cliff House的位置太偏遠，對有錢的Sutro根本不是問題。他直接將鐵軌從市區鋪到了這兒，讓城市裡的人們也能過來。Sutro也在同時期蓋了Sutro Baths池子，可說是提供給舊金山的市民完全的娛樂。很不幸，這座城堡式的房子，雖然逃過了1906的舊金山大地震，但翌年還是跟第一代一樣付之一炬。
1909 年，第三代的Cliff House被建好，而樣式跟第一代比較相近。經大蕭條還有二戰後，Sutro的後代將Cliff House經營權賣給了其他人。中間，裡面和外觀都有被改過，不過1977 National Park Service接掌後，更是在2002做全新的翻修，回到1909新古典風的樣子。今天的Cliff House延續之前的傳承，繼續給路過的遊客提供高級美食還有觀望太平洋的絕佳位子。
Cliff House裡面有兩家餐廳，一家是高級的Sutro's，另一家是比較「平價」的Bistro，不過說是平價，但一人中餐$20-$30也是跑不掉。 這天經過Cliff House的時候，一來沒那麼多閒情逸志，二來沒那麼多金錢可以揮霍，只在旁邊看看海景，並到旁邊的巨大照相暗盒(Camera Obscura)看看。很可惜，那個暗盒那一天也是關的。不過，真要進去看，還要有心理準備要花個$2-$3。
The Cliff House is a restaurant that sits on top of a cliff (hence the name) on one of the western ends of San Francisco. Along with good weather, it gives beautiful views of the Pacific and offers a beautiful sunset. The Cliff House has been burned down by several fires and rebuilt several times. The first Cliff House was build in 1863 and was fairly modest in terms of scale. It would be bought by Alfred Sutro, a millionaire and later mayor of San Francisco.
The original Cliff House burned down in 1894, and Sutro rebuilt the Cliff House in an elaborate 8-story Victorian style. During the same time, Sutro would begin the construction of the Sutro Baths, to be described in more detail below. The Victorian Cliff House would offer fine dining, dancing, and other forms of entertainment of utmost elegance. Despite the remote location, Adolph Sutro also built a railroad out here so that the public had easy access to the site. The Cliff House would survive the 1906 earthquake, but not the fire the year after.
Today, the current standing Cliff House has also undergone various remodeling and reconstructions, and it resembles its original appearance rather than the grand Victorian style. It now houses both a casual bistro and also a fine dining restaurant. Not really into putting our money into food here, there is a giant Camera Obscura right next to it that allows you to capture the waves of the Pacific Ocean.
(Cliff House today)
(Giant Camera Obscura)
今天來到Sutro池子的廢墟，很難想像當初1896開始營運的時候這邊車水馬龍的樣子。上述的大富豪Adolph Sutro，也是舊金山後來其中一任市長，在蓋起最華麗的維多利亞Cliff House後，便開始想下一個商機。他跑遍了全世界漂亮的海灘，看到許多潮間帶(tide pool)在漲潮時會有水。於是，他開始有了一個構思：他可以蓋全世界最大的潮間帶！換句話說，他要蓋全世界最大的室內公共澡堂。
利用海水漲潮，他的池子可以在一小時內就裝滿。如果是退潮時，則有強力抽水馬達，將海水抽進來，不過所要花的時間則要到五倍。上面名信片圖片可看 到，Sutro池子除了下面地基是用水泥，上面都是有玻璃窗戶和屋頂，有自然採光。更不可思議的，裡面七個不同的池子，一個淡水，六個海水，竟還都加熱到 不同的溫度！池子裡的遊樂設施也是很齊全，有跳板，溜滑梯，高空鞦韆(trapeze)，彈簧床等。當時世上流行一說，認為泡鹽水對身體有益，因此池子開 張後，不缺乏大批的人潮前來光顧。Sutro池子的規模之大，可同時容納超過一萬人。
之前說到Sutro為了使城市的人可方便到這兒，他自己花大錢蓋鐵路，讓當時一趟來回的火車票，只需花5¢的低價。民眾到了Sutro Baths除了來游泳之外，Sutro更是不忘提供來的人更多樣化的享受。別的館裡，更是有博物館，動物園，還有表演廳。不用跑到埃及，就可看到木乃伊。 不需要到非洲，就能看到獅子。不用特地跑，每週在Sutro Baths就能看到馬戲團表演，拳擊比賽。Sutro主打的，就是讓人來這兒能健身以外，更可以看到整個世界上包羅萬象的東西。來Sutro一趟，真的是 可以待上一整天呢~~~~
可惜，維持Sutro池營運所需要花的金額實在太過寵大了。Adolph Sutro過逝之後，他的子孫更是經營不善，最後拱手賣給別人，但最後還是正式關閉了。1966年，正當池子跟館子要全部拆掉的時候，一場大火直接將它整 個燒掉。看來，Adolph Sutro所蓋的東西，常常難逃火的災難。
今天，除了下面的水泥以外，剩下的東西大部份都早已不在。現在真的很難想像，當時盛況空前的樣子。如果不是許多圖書館和網路上的舊檔案還 真不知道有這麼一大段的來歷。要前來參觀遺跡的人，仍可到下面走走，只不過漲潮時刻，還是要注意安全。這一天我們到的時候，太陽差不多已經要下山了，所以 只在高處往下望，沒有下去走的衝動。利用剩下的時間，我們直接好好享受夕陽的落日餘輝。這不正是這幾世紀的人，被引吸前來欣賞的美景嗎？
(Sutro Baths with Cliff House in background)
Sutro池子的模樣，背景還看得到Cliff House
(indoor of Sutro Baths
共有七個不同溫度的室內池子)
(ruins of the Sutro Baths today
池子廢墟)
(Sutro Baths ruins from a higher view)
(sunset on the coast
在Cliff House和Sutro Baths邊的夕陽)
The Sutro Baths opened in 1896, when Adolph Sutro built and also owned the Victorian Cliff House.
Sutro had a dream of building the largest indoor public pool ever created, and that he certainly did do. Utilizing the ocean tide waters, the pools would be filled during high tide, like a tide pool. While low tide, a pump would be used to pump the water in. There would be 7 pools in all, one freshwater and the remaining six saltwater. Most impressive of all, they were all heated to different temperatures!
If that wasn't enough, the Baths would have glass covers allowing sunlight to come through. The pools also provided every type of entertainment possible, including springboards, trapezes, trampolines, and of course, slides. In the other buildings away from the pool, Sutro equipped the place with museums, restaurants, and shows. One could see exotic animals, artifacts and relics from the world, and much more.
Needless to say, the Baths required high maintenance and operating costs and did not do so well in terms of business. The Baths were in the process of being torn down when a fire in 1966 really did the job. Today, sadly, only concrete structures of the ruins remain. The ruins are open for visitors to walk around, but it's always good to use caution, as advised by the NPS. During high tide, the ocean waves can come in hard.
We came from Cliff House, and it was getting late. We didn't bother to walk down to the ruins on this particular day. Instead, we enjoyed the beautiful sunset, which many people have been coming to this place to see for the past few centuries. Had it not been for documented photographs and early video footage (by Thomas Edison) of the Sutro Baths, it is hard to imagine how crowded and bustling this place used to be.....
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