If you haven't yet been over to Cavallo Point, the beautiful new resort and lodge near Sausalito, right under the far end of the Golden Gate Bridge, it's worth going just to have a drink at its bar.



Named the Farley Bar after the comic strip drawn by the late Phil Frank in the SF Chronicle, the bar's appeal is not necessarily its cocktail list—which was at an early stage when I visited a few months ago, though I had a very nice gimlet and it looked like things were going in the right direction—but the bar itself, which is housed in the converted Preidio-style military building right on the main drive. It's a beautiful space, with two fireplaces, clubby dark leather chairs and couches and a sweet view out to the bay. On nice days you can take your drink and sit on a couch out on the deck and watch the fog tumble over the hills.

The best part for me, while relaxing in the evening sun with the Golden Gate Bridge sprawled out before me, was the feeling that I had indeed gotten away from the city, away from my head and in some ways from my era. It was like being able to step outside my own life and observe it from a safe distance. That much a sense of remove is possible at Cavallo Point, which is remarkable considering that all I'd done was drive across the bridge.