Thought Paper 5: Ocean Beach

Kendall Steele

8 October 2012

FYS: Visualizing San Francisco

Professor Asher

Simplicity at its Finest

            In a city like San Francisco, where people are busy and spend most of their time looking at their phones instead of the road ahead of them, it is nice to have a place to escape from; a place where things are simple and not clouded with miscellaneous things. At Ocean Beach, the signs are minimal, which allows people to appreciate what is right in front of them. The beauty of Ocean Beach is fully appreciated, due to the simplicity of the signs, the Beach Chalet, and its public availability.

            To begin with, the lack of signs found in and around Ocean Beach is refreshing. Instead of being bombarded by sign after sign, Ocean Beach’s signs are simple and only tell you necessary things. Such as, signs that tell you that dogs are permitted, signs that inform you of whether or not the waves are temperamental, and where you can find the restroom. These signs are important, and they are not a distraction. In my opinion, the simplicity of the Ocean Beach signage is great because it allows people to fully appreciate what is resting below their feet. People will spend that extra minute looking at the waves crash, enjoy the feeling of the sand crunching in-between their toes, and really tasting the salty water as the wind guides the scent down their nostrils onto their tongue. Now that I have talked about the lack of signage, I’m going to talk about the Beach Chalet.

            When I walked into the visitor entrance of the Beach Chalet, my jaw dropped to the floor. All the walls were covered in beautiful frescoes from the 1930s. I loved this facet of the Chalet, because it is so true to that time period. The frescoes transport people from the present back to a time of self-discovery and innovation. Furthermore, the beauty of the Beach Chalet is shown through all the wonderful artifacts displayed throughout the visitor’s section. Some of these artifacts include an old deck of playing cards, beautiful China sets, and pieces of traditional 1930s clothing. So the interior of the Beach Chalet has a beautiful story that is expressed through frescoes and artifacts. This story only makes Ocean Beach more unique and stand out from other beaches. Now that I have talked about the Beach Chalet, I am going to discuss its public availability.

            Ocean Beach is such a beautiful place, and it is doing its best to preserve a part of history that many have forgotten. So what is so great about this destination is that it is open to the public. Everybody can enjoy the beautiful frescoes and beach. In fact, another great facet of this public destination is the fact that dogs are permitted. I was amazed by the amount of dogs running around the beach. They were playing fetch and making new doggie friends. At other beaches, dogs are not so lucky. So its great to see that this public place is even public to dogs. In my opinion, the fact that this historical site is public is what is going to keep it running and thriving. For the people will see all the beautiful work the WPA put into the Beach Chalet, and they would never want to tear it down.