Chiefly photos from the collections of the authors.

“The San Francisco Bay Shoreline Guide takes us on a walking and cycling journey around San Francisco Bay, unfolding the wonder, drama and beauty of one of the great estuaries of the world.”--Robert Redford "From the bustling waterfronts of our cities and towns, to our wild, windswept, and thankfully, protected natural wetlands, this is our fantastic guide to all of the magnificence of the San Francisco Bay Shoreline. Grab it and go on world-class journeys in our own backyard. I'll see you along the trail!"--Doug McConnell, Television Producer and Reporter “This guide helps to create an awareness and appreciation of San Francisco Bay.”--Sylvia McLaughlin, co-founder of Save the Bay Praise from the previous edition "There are absorbing stories here for the armchair reader and detailed guides for the active explorer. Read, enjoy, and cultivate your roots in the region."—Harold Gilliam "Comprehensive and copiously illustrated, this Guide is a treasure-house of user-friendly information. It reveals the equivalent of a national park hitherto unknown in our midst."—Margot Patterson Doss "This book is a complete guide to the Bay Area. All that's missing are the smells, so perhaps the next edition should be scratch and sniff."—Robin Williams

For many years, visitors traveling to San Francisco came via ferry, and the Ferry Building, one of San Francisco's most famous landmarks, stood ready to welcome them. In the 1920s, the Ferry Building was the world's second-busiest transit terminal (after Charing Cross, London), with more than 50,000 people a day passing through the elegant structure, designed by architect A. Page Brown and opened in 1898. When the 1906 earthquake struck and the ensuing fire was destroying the city, the venerable waterfront icon stood above the ruins, giving residents hope that the city would recover and rise from the ashes. By 1939, with the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge both open, ferry traffic fell off. By the late 1950s, ferry service ended altogether, and the building's beautiful facade was blocked by the double-decker Embarcadero Freeway. With the freeway's demise after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the Ferry Building was restored and reopened in 2003. It is once again a beacon of civic pride, a landmark listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and a public space that anchors the San Francisco waterfront.

Los Angeles transportation's epic scale--its iconic freeways, Union Station, Los Angeles International Airport and the giant ports of its shores--has obscured many offbeat transit stories of moxie and eccentricity. Triumphs such as the Vincent Thomas Bridge and Mac Barnes's Ground Link buspool have existed alongside such flops as the Santa Monica Freeway Diamond Lane and the Oxnard-Los Angeles Caltrain commuter rail. The City of Angels lacks a propeller-driven monorail and a freeway in the paved bed of the Los Angeles River, but not for a lack of public promoters. Horace Dobbins built the elevated California Cycleway in Pasadena, and Mike Kadletz deployed the Pink Buses for Orange County kids hitchhiking to the beach. Join Charles P. Hobbs as he recalls these and other lost episodes of LA-area transportation lore.

A KidLitTV recommended book! A large-format picture book about a bunch of boats found on a busy bay, buoyed by simple, spare, and lyrical text. Inspired by the San Francisco Bay but with universal appeal, the book features a spectacular double-spread gatefold finale showing a boat parade and fireworks glowing against a city backdrop.