The houseboat was in what is now called Waldo Point Harbor, it is a large community of docked and seemingly permanently tied up boats often with whimsical additions or bizarre shapes.
We were told that one houseboat, which was for sale, was previously owned by Shel Silverstein, poet, singer-songwriter, cartoonist and author who moved to the floating community in 1967. The one bedroom, one bath houseboat built on a WWII balloon barge is yours for the ridiculously cheap price of $390,000. Silverstein named his floating home Evil Eye.
Back in 1969 the community was just called Waldo Point and wasn't as organized and legal as today. We spoke to the folks in the office who were not sure if the same houseboat that Jay had lived on was still there and possibly rebuilt. However they were interested in making a copy of the following article we took with us from the August 11, 1969 edition of the San Rafael Daily Independent Journal which tells about Jay and his houseboat. They did know that Jay had lived there but not the particulars about the boat.
Colonel Paul Tate, Sharon's father, as the article says, often visited Jay on his houseboat because he lived and worked nearby. Col. Tate was stationed at Fort Baker, a five minute drive from Waldo Point. It was where Tate was when Doris Tate called him with the news about Sharon's murder.
Fort Baker today is a National Recreation Area with an absolutely stunning view of the San Francisco Bay and Golden Gate Bridge.
Above are the buildings where Paul Tate would have worked.
We also made the trip to Colma and Holy Cross Cemetery where Abigail Folger is interred. 'Gibby' and her mother are next to each other in the mausoleum at the cemetery. Going to visit the resting places of the victims is always a very humbling experience.
The San Francisco Bay Area has a surprising number of connections to the murders, we wanted to be sure to include the victims when doing our Northern California tour.
ADDED FOR LYNN:
9 comments:
So I get home from a hard day. I see a new post with 16 comments..... and I'm treated to this.
Col if you think 'tour' posts are 'lame' how do you feel about your comments here.
Night all.
The comments are probably more insulting to the victims than a rubbing would have been had anyone done a rubbing.
Thanks for all the pics guys. I didn't know Gibby was buried in Colma.
One of the saddest things about the murders to me was that Colonel Tate was watching Sharon's latest movie while she was being murdered, so proud of her and wanting to call her and tell her the next day.
Were you able to tour the buildings at Fort Baker? Was there just the houses, or was there more? I love state parks in CA, there are interesting things to see, such as abandoned mining towns, the old zoo at Griffith Park etc
Lynn, I added some more pics from Ft. Baker for you. There are lots more buildings. To of them, like the one focused on contain nice shops and restaurants. If you turn around, the Golden Gate is right behind you. Very good that the CA Parks Dept preserved the area. It's beautiful.
Oh, and there were no rubbings of anyone's memorials. That's just silly.
Darn, the drama has been excised ;-)
The Drama never leaves us Robert.Never
Thank you, thank you. Gorgeous!
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