During last week-end , we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to visit the beautiful Sausalito city ,about 10 miles from San Francisco . This place has a rich history, originally occupied by the coastal Miwoks , later with the Spanish occupation of the Bay Area and the independence of Mexico.The development of the area was initiated by William A Richardson who arrived in California in 1822. The place initially named Rancho Saucelito – meant a small cluster of willows , with a fresh water spring.
Before the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937, Sausalito was an important ferry connecting the North and South across the Bay. Interestingly , many people still use the ferry to reach their work place in San Francisco regularly . The present city is part of the Marin County spread across an area of 2.26 sq miles [0.49 in water] with 7000 plus population.
An important tourist attraction of Sausalito is the enclave of houseboats , now permanently anchored to the water front on the Richardson Bay . These got built by artist squatters after World War Two , initially to avoid taxes . Those days, there was a thriving ship building industry in Sausalito. The city has a beautiful coast line on the Bay on one side and a hill-side opposite to the Bay .
Being a tourist attraction very close to San Francisco , there are many good restaurants with Mexican , Italian and American cuisine . We spotted an Indian Restaurant named Avatar’s which is famous for their Indian – Mexican fusion food. We were in for a very pleasant surprise for lunch when Mr Ashok Kumar greeted us and suggested a mysterious assortment of Punjabi and Mexican food ,ending with his main attraction – namely a dessert called Avatar’s Dream. The food and hospitality were excellent and it was definitely a great place in Sausalito.