Posted on 10/04/2013 6:03:16 PM PDT by nickcarraway
San Francisco's famous Cliff House restaurant on Thursday joined other popular attractions that closed as a result of the federal government shutdown.
An employee answering the phone at the restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean on the western end of the city said the business closed its doors after Wednesday night because of the shutdown.
Because Congress failed to pass a budget by the end of the day on Monday, all federal services deemed "non-essential" have been shut down until an agreement is reached.
National Park Service spokeswoman Alexandra Picavet said the Cliff House had to close because it is a concessionaire with the park service.
Officials sought to get an exception to keep the restaurant operating, but were denied and the business joined other local concessionaires that are closed, including Alcatraz Cruises, which transports people to the famous penitentiary, and the Warming Hut at Crissy Field, Picavet said.
"It's really sad," she said. "It's so counter to everything that the National Park Service does."
All national parks in the region have also closed because of the shutdown, including Muir Woods National Monument and Fort Point at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Picavet said a total of 209 federal employees in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area have been furloughed as a result of the shutdown.
Despite the closure, Cliff House employees have worked to find alternative sites for people who had planned a wedding and a couple other special events at the restaurant this weekend, Picavet said.
"They have worked tirelessly to find them a different place not affected by the shutdown," she said.
The Cliff House, located at 1090 Point Lobos Ave., has undergone several incarnations due to fires after initially being built in 1858.
“I would not be surprised to see Zero shut down the Interstate System.”
Don’t tease me. Only in a perfect world would he do that. There would actually be pitchforks and torches chasing down Democrat politicians if that happened. Oh please let it happen.
Wait, why would they close something in a town with two independents and one Republican? What’s the point? It’s the wobbly LIV’s in the middle you have to reach if you want to blackmail Congress. San Fagcisco doesn’t have any of those.
US Highways and Interstate Highways are owned and operated by the several states not the United States. They get federal funding for construction and maintenance, but are owned and operated by state agencies.
Has the Fed closed the Presidio in San Francisco yet? They’ll have to close Disney/Lucas Arts to do that.
If they live in the Bay area, odds are good (obviously not 100%) they were two-time Obastard voters, and are therefore not "innocent." They purchased this. I have no sympathy at all.
The Feds are closing businesses down with less pretext than that.
Point taken, yet there are still some functioning adults in Northern CA, no?!
Nonetheless, my point remains, I couldn’t imagine trying to navigate changing the venue at this point.
Agreed. I’d be pretty PO’ed if I have tens of thousands of $$ invested in preparations for a wedding, only to have the venue cancelled.
And if they’re Obastardbots, they blame the TEA Party, no doubt, so the “teachable moment” does not exist.
Who’d a thought it, but the hippies in Bolinas, in the Pt Reyes National Sea Shore, are just taking down all the signs posted by the park service and going about their business.
Interesting. Then again, what has ever stopped the hippies from doing what they want to do?!
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