A to Z 2021 – U is for Union Square and the Urbano Sundial

Union Square is a public plaza in the middle of downtown San Francisco. It is the hub of the upscale shopping and boutique retailers. There is a place you can rent bikes to tour the city and a coffee shop.

I was able to park and take a stroll around the whole square taking some pictures for us. On each corner is a huge heart. More about those in a future post.

In the center is the Dewey Monument honoring Admiral George Dewey, hero of the Spanish-American war. On the top is a statue of Nike, Ancient Greek Goddess of Victory.

And all around the square for several blocks are the stores that are out of my price range.

Well, maybe Macy’s is okay. Actually, I remember when I was a little girl there was an Emporium Department store and going into the city with my mom to shop at the Emporium was a real treat, especially during the holidays because the store was all decorated and had a huge tree in the middle of it. There were rides on the roof too, which we got to go on after sitting on Santa’s lap. We would be there before the store opened and they would ring a bell when they unlocked the doors. What a push there was by all the women wanting to get in and get the sales! Union Square is also close to the theaters I mentioned yesterday and there is a hotel, The Westin St. Francis, right across the street.

My next “U” is the Urbano Sundial. This is another one of those spots I happened to find while looking at the map of the city. When it was first built in 1913 it was actually part of the Ingleside Raceway. I had no idea that this was even a thing. Of course 1913 is a little before my time.

The original design had a fountain in the middle with statues of seals playing in the water but that didn’t last very long. There are several benches ringing the sundial so you can sit and pass the time. Kids (and maybe some adults?) like to climb to the top and then slide back down. I wasn’t having any of that!

Some occultists claim this is a bit like Stonehenge or the Pyramids, a “cosmic calendar built on a power spot.” How would you feel having something like this in the middle of your street?

Taking a break tomorrow and coming back on Monday with the home stretch in the A to Z. I have all my pictures ready for the finale so I feel pretty confident I’m going to be able to cross the finish line in this race.

Disclaimer notice. The coloring book pages are from the inserts the San Francisco Chronicle put out and I mentioned them in my theme reveal so you can go to that to get the info about the artists if you are interested. I did the coloring and took the pictures.