Stan’s Favorite Museums #3: San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park

This museum doesn’t meet my original criteria for this blog (top 20 rather than top 10, no virtual tour), but I have included it because the photos, text and audio provide details about the ships, their builders and their crews.  The website could stand to be improved, but scrolling down on the homepage leads to six images. Historic Ships, Discover Park Collections and Around the Horn Blog are worth exploring.  At the top of the homepage, Learn About the Park opens a drop-down menu; Photo & Multimedia and History & Culture are also worth a look. The other links on the homepage lead to dead ends.  In my several visits to this park, I have always discovered something new on the pier and still haven’t made it to the museum building.  

When we are able to travel again, the park is at the Beach Street terminus of the Hyde/Powell cable car line and across the street from Ghirardelli Square, which makes it part of a trifecta of things to do in San Francisco.  Scoma’s restaurant is on the next pier to the East and Fisherman’s Wharf is the pier beyond that.