Marini Plaza

This tiny, inaccessible, almost-hidden park used to be part of the Washington Square before Lombard Street cut across it. In 1952 it was named to honor Frank Marini, a major benefactor of the Salesian groups at the Church of St. Peter and Paul you see across the street. The bears are California's state symbols, and one of them is positioned the same way as the bear on the California flag. Their author is unknown, but the Drinking Man was sculpted by M. E. Cummings, a local who contributed many works to the city. Stay for a while by the little pool and let it calm you.