Marathon Pundit: California Collision: Marin County

Thursday, October 29, 2009

California Collision: Marin County

This is my penultimate California Collision post.

After our visit to Point Reyes National Seashore, it was time to head back to San Francisco, drop off our rental car, and return to Morton Grove. But first we had to travel through the heart of Marin County.

It is the wealthiest county in the nation. Marin is also known for it's über-liberal politics, its dedication to New Age religions, and overall hedonism.

The American Taliban, John Walker Lindh, is from Marin, which led President Bush to quip in 2002 that he was "some misguided Marin County hot-tubber."

With Mrs. Marathon Pundit behind the wheel, I had the opportunity for to gaze at Marin and notice a few things. My observations are of course not scientific, but considering we were on major thoroughfares, what I saw, or didn't see, says a lot:

Just one big box store, a Target.

Two major franchised fast food outlets, a McDonalds and a Subway.

Marin County residents probably view this as a good thing, but remember, big boxes charge the least for products, which means that money saved could be used to purchase a second hot tub.

On the other hand, perhaps Marin-ites know that discounters bring in the riff raff, who might ascertain a method to live in a tony town such as Tiburon, ruining their paradise.

Even from the relative safety from the passenger seat on a freeway, I could feel the California smugness.

And that will be a topic of my final post of this series.Hotel LaRose