Escaping the fog in Marin County, and an inspiring night On the Town

On the far side of the Golden Gate lies the Marin County, bare hills to the west and buzzing coastal towns to the east, with Highway 101 streaking through the middle. It was in a sheltered bay here that Sir Francis Drake landed and careened the Golden Hind in 1579, unaware that only a few miles to the south lay the entrance to one of the world's greatest natural harbours. Captain Cook sailed straight past the Gate too, its presence concealed by, of course, the impenetrable fog, the unrivalled defence mechanism that concealed the area's treasures for centuries. Indeed, it wasn't until 1769 that Spanish missionaries discovered the San Franciscan peninsula and pressed the local Indians into building Mission Dolores, one of the string of missions that links the whole of the Californian coast.

The hills of the Marin County west of the Golden Gate

Fog in the Golden Gate with the city beyond, seen from the Marin Hills

Away from the Pacific Coast, Marin County is usually several degrees warmer than San Francisco, with cloudless blue skies free of the chilling blanket of fog that swathes the city in the summer months. Catching the ferry to Larkspur last weekend, it was like going on holiday to Spain from rainswept London, such was the contrast. In moments, coats and scarves were discarded and the breeze no longer had the cutting power of the winds that sweep through the Golden Gate. Returning after lunch and a glass of rose in the sunshine was like plunging into an icy river - we had just passed Angel Island when the ferry was swallowed up by the murk, even the red of the Golden Gate Bridge muted by the unforgiving grey. 

Fog over Angel Island and San Francisco

Looking back at the Larkspur sunshine

The fog bank in the distance

Today, Marin County is a blend of wild open country and glamorous living. On the east side, the town of Mill Valley, from which the giant redwoods were once exported to build San Francisco, tempts celebrities to its pretty wooded ravine. Where the sea stretches inland to San Rafael Bay, a statue of Sir Francis Drake graces Larkspur and Mount Tamalpais, known as Tam, rises 2,572 feet, luring hikers to its rocky summit. To the west, trails wind across windswept, barren slopes to the sea, with the occasional military building reminding travellers of the defence mounted against the threat of Japanese invasion in the Second World War. Nestled in a fold of the hills there is the Marine Mammal Center (http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/), an admirable, volunteer-run operation dedicated to saving the sealions, seals and elephant seals that are found injured on nearby beaches. Pups are sometimes abandoned if their mothers have to go too far to find food, as has been happening in recent months, or they are injured by sharks or rubbish. The latter factor is truly appalling - the quantity of netting, plastic and old cans discarded by humans is a serious problem in the oceans. At present, a giant sculpture of a sea monster looms over the courtyard, composed entirely of old netting found in the stomach of a whale. 'The Ghost Below' is a very real danger to marine life, and one the world must eradicate. 

Elephant seals in their natural habitat, on the Californian coast near San Simeon

The Larkspur ferry landing with Mount Tam rising behind

Back in San Francisco, I was struck anew by the sometimes raw deal handed out to American schoolchildren. We take for granted how lucky we are in Britain to have excellent musical, artistic and dramatic opportunities within our schools - despite the perennial grumblings about cuts and poor teachers, pupils often have astonishing access to artistic expression. My alma mater, the King's School Worcester, had a fantastic, state-of-the-art theatre with full lighting and sound rigs, a well-equipped art department and a superb music society led by David Brookshaw, with a chamber orchestra, symphony orchestra, choir and any number of individual stars, including the then leader of the National Youth Orchestra. Such a situation is not uncommon at home, in state schools as well as independent institutions, yet it is seldom seen in the USA. Instead, children rely on non-profit organisations working outside schools for their opportunities to dance, sing, paint, sculpt, write and act. I had already encountered the admirable 826 Valencia (http://826valencia.org/), devoted to teaching and inspiring literature and creative writing, and now I have experienced the talent and dedication of the San Francisco Arts Education Project (http://www.sfartsed.org/), for which my friend Chad Jones is in charge of marketing and communications. Last Monday, I was privileged to attend a one-night-only benefit performance of On the Town, the classic Leonard Bernstein musical put on by the SFArtsEd after just three weeks of rehearsal. It was a staging of which Gene Kelly, who played the celluloid version of one of the three sailors let loose in New York for one night only, would have been proud. 

The programme for On the Town produced by the SFArtsEd, together with the

catalogue for last year's exhibition 'International Orange: The Bridge Re-Imagined', 

to mark the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge

SFArtsEd was founded in 1965, and has since introduced more than 200,000 schoolchildren to the arts. Many alumni return to take part in productions, and established stars visit to perform or teach. In On The Town, Paula West played The Diva, singing Ain't Got No Tears Left in the smoky, expressive voice that has thrilled audiences from the White House to the cinemas opposite Tilda Swinton. The other performers, from tiny girls in the chorus to tall Sergey Khalikulov, an alumnus with a compelling voice who will soon be seen in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro with the city's Conservatory of Music, easily held their own alongside her, singing and dancing with absolute dedication and keeping an audience accustomed to the highest standard of theatre enthralled. I particularly liked Ava Kennedy as the drunken Madam Dilly, Ixchel Cuellar as Ivy and Max Tarlov as the Male Narrator. All credit to the staff of the SFArtsEd for running the summer courses, educational projects and exhibitions that give San Franciscan pupils the chance to be creative, but I do wish such opportunities were available to every youngster as a matter of course, as they are for so many British children.