So many areas around the California Bay Area used to be some type of wetland. I had no idea growing up that the land under my house probably used to be part of marsh land. As I explore more of the Bay Area and specifically San Francisco, I am learning what the land looked like before its urban development.
The weekend after I finished my first semester of graduate school I took a trip I’d been meaning to take for months. Even though it was December, the weather was warm and sunny but chilled breezes required that I layer up – nothing new in The City. I took a bus to the Palace of Fine Arts which was a place I knew nothing about.
Gorgeous Redwood
Unsure whether I’d find a museum of art or something else I walked around the area and quickly learned that the name was a little misleading.
So the area was a nice space to enjoy a walk or picnic, it had gorgeous landscaping done around a lagoon and the architecture was great sight. On that day many people came to take professional photos among the gorgeous backdrop of the “Palace”. 
I still didn’t know what this place was and why it was there. Eagerly, I found a map hoping it would enlighten me, but it had minimal information about the area. It did lead me to a few information stands placed around the lagoon. One of them focused on the local wildlife so I bee-lined.
Many birds, especially ducks, frequent the lagoon and surrounding vegetated spaces. I saw turtles, juvenile herons, a bird of prey, tons of ducks, and some squirrels.
The next information stand gave more history of the Palace. It was built as a temporary attraction used to house art during the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. Apparently the building was widely considered the most beautiful structure at the Exposition, and it was built by a Californian, Bernard Maybeck.
The view from my journaling seat on the lagoon’s edge.
People wanted to keep the building standing after the Exposition was over. However, because it was intended as a temporary structure, the building wasn’t seismically sound. Therefore, through fundraising and campaigning the people of San Francisco made sure the Palace of Fine Arts was restructured to withstand earthquakes and time.
I spent about two hours at the Palace. Earlier that day I had packed a simple lunch, so I found a bench and ate while some models posed nearby for a photoshoot. Then I took a seat in the sun near the lagoon’s edge to write. While there I saw a newly engaged couple dance to a live guitarist, I heard another couple get engaged across the lagoon, and a couple quinceañera parties taking photos.
Finally on my last quick look around the Palace before I left for the bus stop I found this information stand. 
I was surprised, and then not so surprised to learn that the land used to be a wetland. The lagoon I sat by was preserved from the original natural lagoon of the wetland. I was kind of blown away.
It is no wonder that over 90% of California’s wetlands have disappeared. They naturally occur near the ocean, an area where many people want to build and live. It’s so picturesque, and people are naturally drawn to oceans. But I wouldn’t mind living next to a wetland instead of the ocean.
Wetlands are gorgeous. They invite fascinating birds to forage and rest, they protect me from storms and erosion, they keep my ocean clean and my air fresh.
snowhiteice 