Any old-time San Franciscans out there who remember Playland-at-the-Beach?

[PufPuf23]

18. My Mom liked the "Hot House" (I had forgotten the name).

I have so many good memories of Playland at the beach and Great Highway of years from about 1960 to 1971.

First with my family. We lived part of the year (school year) in the East Bay from 1959 to 1965.

In mid 60s when I was 10-12 my older sister rode horses competitively and some of the Horse Shows were in Golden Gate Park. My Mom would let me bring a friend and drop us off for the day at Playland.

When I was 13 in 1966, I was sent to a boarding school in Marin (from home in the most rural Humboldt). The 3rd weekend I went with another student via Greyhound from San Rafael to San Francisco to see Haight Ashbury. I went back with another school friend several weeks later and met two slightly older hippy girls in the Haight who suggested we go to Playland (rekindling my love of the place).

In 1967 had one of those epic days. Still at Marin boarding school, I went with a life long friend (heart attack killed him in 2006) and our girlfriends to the Haight, Playland, and a Doors concert at Winterland (my first rock show). My friend's girl was old enough to drive and we told her Mom we were going to the beach (the assumption was Stinson and probably would be back late because of movie and dinner but we had major plans!!). The girls' Moms had figured out that there was some ruse by our late arrival back in Terra Linda but we hemmed and hawed plus we were nice boys and they were nice girls too. Good students that didn't get in trouble.! Leah was my first love and I still have professional pictures of us from formal dances.

So I made occasional trips to Playland until 1971 in conjunction with music, the Haight, and various other late 60s San Francisco things, most with that same buddy. He was from the Westlake District of Daly City near HW1 and Playland had been part of his life too. He had slot carts and we would go into the slot car track between Playland and the Cliff House. Later we went to a Grateful Dead show when it was turned into a rock hall.

The last time I was there was in Fall 1971. I had started college (unwillingly forced by parents). I had a car and took a girl from school to her parents in Saratoga. We spent the next night at my other best friend of grade and high school (same Playland frind from Horse Show days) in school at Berkeley then the day in San Francisco where we attended a Catholic Mass and went to the Cliff House and hiked down into the Sutro Bath ruins. We never went to Playland and, when I returned to area several years later, Playland was gone.

Thank you for the memories.