visiting the washington monument Companies that have offices downtown include Avis, 675 Post St. ( & 415/8855011; www.avis.com); Budg

Companies that have offices visiting the washington monument downtown include Avis, 675 Post St. ( & 415/8855011; www.avis.com); Budget, 5 E mbarcadero Ctr. ( & 415/433-3717; www. budget.com); Enterprise, 222 M ason St. (&415/837-1700; www.enterprise.com); Hertz, 325 Mason St. (&415/771-2200; www.hertz.com); visiting the washington monument and Thrifty, 350 O Farrell St. (&415/788-8111; visiting the washington monument www.thrifty.com).

The Presidio Founded in 1776 as a Spanish garrison, this nor thwest corner of S an F rancisco r emained a militar y installation for mor e than 200 y ears. The U.S. took o ver in 1846 and later planted sev eral pine and eucalyptus trees, ev entually changing the sandy , barren hills into a delightful wooded area with mor e than 400,000 tr ees. In 1994, the army handed o ver control of all 1,500 acr es to the N ational P ark Service, visiting the washington monument to become par t of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Today families come her e to hike, play golf , sunbathe at Baker Beach, and even play a fe w frames at a little bo wling alley. The old officer s club has a well-stocked visitor s center, and the old militar y PX market visiting the washington monument is no w Sports Basement, the cheapest place in to wn to buy spor ting equipment.