Presidio of San Francisco

Circumambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath afternoon. What do you see?–Posted like silent sentinels all around the town, stand thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed in ocean reveries.

But these are all landsmen; of week days pent up in lath and plaster–tied to counters, nailed to benches, clinched to desks. 

How then is this? Are the green fields gone? What do they here? But look! here come more crowds, pacing straight for the water, and seemingly bound for a dive.

Strange! Nothing will content them but the extremest limit of the land; loitering under the shady lee of yonder warehouses will not suffice.

No. They must get just as nigh the water as they possibly can without falling in.

And there they stand–miles of them–leagues. Inlanders all, they come from lanes and alleys, streets and avenues–north, east, south, and west. Yet here they all unite.

Yes, as every one knows, meditation and water are wedded for ever.

Moby Dick by Herman Melville