Page:The Tourist's California by Wood, Ruth Kedzie.djvu/152

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

122 THE TOURIST'S CALIFORNIA auditoriums, stadiums and monuments to add vig- our to the landscape. In order to facilitate access to the beautified acres, a drive has been laid west from Baker Street, a short way from Market and Buena Vista Park. Within a few moments one has left the stridor of trade and the clambering sky-scratcher the gratte-ciel of the French, and entered, not a serpentless paradise, for there are reptiles no doubt in caged houses, but a Garden with which Adam and Eve would have been captious in- deed to have found fault. The visitor will enjoy more completely the divert- ing features of the park if he explore it afoot, but if time restrict him to carriage or automobile he will, even in passing, harvest memorable glimpses of tree clusters, of pools and water-falls, of Dutch mills and Japanese gardens, of youth sporting on wide greens, and of Grecian portals from Nabob Hill set in memoriam against a screen of verdure. Nearly all that one has heard most about is in the eastern half of the enclosure. To the left of the Drive, if entrance is gained by the Baker Street Panhandle, are the deer park, the arboretum con- taining trees of many climes, and the play and ten- nis grounds. The bird-house, conservatory, mu- seums, music temple, athletic field, tea and zoo- logical gardens are to the right. Almost in the centre of the park Stow Lake spreads its sheen