San Francisco

The October Daye series primarily takes place in or near the human city of San Francisco, California. The following are real-world places mentioned in the books.

For a map-view of locations, visit the Map of the October Daye Series.

Borderlands

Borderlands Books is a San Francisco independent bookstore specializing exclusively in science fiction, fantasy and horror. The store makes appearances at horror and science-fiction conventions, and has hosted numerous events with authors and other genre visitors. In 2008, Borderlands' owner Alan Beatts and general manager Jude Feldman were jointly nominated for a World Fantasy Award under the World Fantasy Special Award: Professional category. In late 2009, Beatts opened Borderlands Cafe adjacent to the bookstore.  The original Sphynx mascot, named Ripley, died in May 2010.

Borderlands Cafe is owned by the same people as Borderlands Books. It sells espresso drinks, light snacks, trashy paperbacks, and magazines. Their signage advertises "No Wi-fi", seemingly a way to differentiate them from the other ten [Cafes] on Valencia that San Francisco's Macbook set tend to use as second offices. The seating is set up as several larger five or six person tables rather than smaller two-seaters, probably to promote conversation, community, and love.

In the series, Borderlands is hidden from fae notice by a powerful glamour. Arden Windermere works at the book store, while Madden works in the cafe. Arden gives up her job when she becomes Queen in the Mists; Madden splits his time between barista and seneschal of the Court in the Mists. Real-world bookstore staff Alan, Jude, and Ripley make appearances at the shop.

See More:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderlands_Books
• https://borderlands-books.com/
• https://borderlands-books.com/cafe.html
• https://localwiki.org/sf/Borderlands_Cafe

Colma

Colma is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 1,792 at the 2010 census. The town was founded as a necropolis in 1924. With most of Colma's land dedicated to cemeteries, the population of the dead—about 1.5 million, as of 2006—outnumbers that of the living by nearly a thousand to one. This has led to Colma's being called "the City of the Silent" and has given rise to a humorous motto, now recorded on the city's website: "It's great to be alive in Colma."

In the series, Kerry, Stacy, and Mitch live in Colma.

See More:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colma,_California

Fisherman's Wharf

Fisherman's Wharf is a neighborhood and popular tourist attraction in San Francisco, California. It roughly encompasses the northern waterfront area of San Francisco from Ghirardelli Square or Van Ness Avenue east to Pier 35 or Kearny Street. One of the busiest and well known tourist attractions in the western United States, Fisherman's Wharf is best known for being the location of Pier 39, the Cannery Shopping Center, Ghirardelli Square, a Ripley's Believe it or Not museum, the Musée Mécanique, Wax Museum at Fishermans Wharf, and the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

In the series, a hidden cove about six miles down the coast from Fisherman's Wharf is the location of the mortal entrance to the Queen of the Mists's court. October Daye discovered the knowe in 1992 after the Queen's olde home collapsed on itself. The main entrance is through a cave that never quite empties with the tides, and those with weak magic are forced to wade in the the water to enter.

See More:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisherman%27s_Wharf,_San_Francisco
• https://fishermanswharf.org/

Fremont

Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It was incorporated on January 23, 1956. Located in the south of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Fremont has a rapidly-growing population of around 230,000. It is one of the largest cities by land area and the fourth most populous city in the San Francisco Bay Area, behind San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland. It directly borders and is the closest East Bay city to Silicon Valley as formally defined, and is thus often associated with it. The city has an extensive and rapidly expanding base of both tech industry and workers.

In the series, Fremont is home to the County of Tamed Lightning, which primarily operates out of the tech company ALH Computing. They produce Summerlands-compatible technology such as cell phones and music players for the fae.

See More:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremont,_California
• https://www.fremont.gov/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Valley

Golden Gate Park

Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, United States, is a large urban park consisting of 1,017 acres (412 ha) of public grounds. It is administered by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, which began in 1871 to oversee the development of Golden Gate Park. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape to but 20 percent larger than Central Park in New York City, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles (4.8 km) long east to west, and about half a mile (0.8 km) north to south. With 24 million visitors annually, Golden Gate is the third most-visited city park in the United States after Central Park and the Lincoln Memorial.

In the series, Golden Gate is an duchy that hosts a myriad of independent fiefdoms such as the Tea Gardens and the Court of Dreaming Cats. The denizens of Golden Gate fiercely defend their independence, even when emissaries of local nobles urge them to join the fold.

See More:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_Park

• https://goldengatepark.com

Half-Moon Bay

Half Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, United States, located approximately 25 miles (40 km) south of San Francisco. Its population was 11,324 as of the 2010 census. Immediately at the north of Half Moon Bay is the Pillar Point Harbor and the unincorporated community of Princeton-by-the-Sea. The urban area had a population of 20,713 at the same census. Half Moon Bay is known for Mavericks, a big wave surf location.

In the series, Half-Moon Bay is home to the Ryan Selkie clan.

See More:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_Moon_Bay,_California
• https://www.half-moon-bay.ca.us

Japanese Tea Garden

The Japanese Tea Garden (Japanese: ジャパニーズ・ティー・ガーデン) in San Francisco, California, is a popular feature of Golden Gate Park, originally built as part of a sprawling World's Fair, the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894. Though many of its attractions are still a part of the garden today, there have been changes throughout the history of the garden that have shaped it into what it is today. The oldest public Japanese garden in the United States, this complex of many paths, ponds and a teahouse features plants and trees pruned and arranged in a Japanese style. The garden's 3 acres contain sculptures and structures influenced by Buddhist and Shinto religious beliefs, as well as many elements of water and rocks to create a calming landscape designed to slow people down.

In the series, the Summerlands side of the Tea Gardens are a faerie knowe belonging to the Undine Lily.

See More:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Tea_Garden_(San_Francisco)
• http://www.japaneseteagardensf.com

[Mission] Dolores Park

[Mission] Dolores Park, a sixteen-acre park in San Francisco, was established in 1906. It is bounded by Church, Dolores, 18th, and 20th streets, and sits between the Mission and Castro neighborhoods. The park features a soccer field, six tennis courts, one basketball court, a multi-use court, a playground, and two off-leash dog play areas.

Although the formal name of the park is "Mission Dolores Park", which is found on signage and documents, it is generally referred to as just "Dolores Park" in news articles and conversation.

In the series, Toby and her housemates move into an old Victorian facing the park. The house belongs to Sylvester Torquill, who has owned it since the area was first being developed for housing. The house includes a much-coveted parking space that her mortal neighbor is highly interested in.

See More:

• https://sfrecpark.org/Facilities/Facility/Details/Mission-Dolores-Park-188

Muir Woods

Muir Woods National Monument is a United States National Monument managed by the National Park Service, named after naturalist John Muir. It is located on Mount Tamalpais near the Pacific coast, in southwestern Marin County, California. It is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and is 12 miles (19 km) north of San Francisco. It protects 554 acres (224 ha), of which 240 acres (97 ha) are old growth coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forests, one of a few such stands remaining in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In the series, Muir Woods contains the entrance to the Court of the Mists under Arden Windermere's leadership. Allies from Saltmist are able to use a beach-side access point to lend their support to the young queen.

See More:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muir_Woods_National_Monument
• https://www.nps.gov/muwo/index.htm

North Beach

North Beach is a neighborhood in the northeast of San Francisco adjacent to Chinatown, the Financial District, and Russian Hill. The neighborhood is San Francisco's "Little Italy" and has historically been home to a large Italian American population. It still has many Italian restaurants, though many other ethnic groups currently live in the neighborhood. It was also the historic center of the beatnik subculture and has become one of San Francisco's main nightlife districts as well as a residential neighborhood populated by a mix of young urban professionals, families, and Chinese immigrants.

In the series, the Queen of the Mists's original knowe is located in North Beach. When it collapses on itself, it creates a gaping crater in the middle of the busy street.

See More:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Beach,_San_Francisco

Paso Nogal Park in Pleasant Hill, CA

Paso Nogal Park is located in Pleasant Hill, California. It features a variety of wooded walking trails, picnic areas, and sports fields. Parks in Pleasant Hill are maintained and managed by the Pleasant Hill Recreation & Park District. The district is a separate entity from the City of Pleasant Hill.

Pleasant Hill is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 33,152 at the 2010 census. The area began to be developed in the 1920s, as former agricultural land was subdivided for housing. 

In the series, Paso Nogal contains the entrance to the Duchy of Shadowed Hills, held by Sylvester Torquill,in the Summerlands.

See More:

• https://www.pleasanthillrec.com/Facilities/Facility/Details/Paso-Nogal-Park-10
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasant_Hill,_California

San Francisco Art Museum

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco: the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, referred to in the series as the "San Francisco Art Museum" and locally referred to as the "Legion of Honor", displays a collection spanning more than 6,000 years of ancient and European art and houses the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts. Opened in 1924, the Legion of Honor showcases European painting, sculpture, and decorative arts, ancient art, graphic arts, and contemporary art.

The museum building occupies an elevated site in Lincoln Park in the northwest of the city, with views over the nearby Golden Gate Bridge and the distant downtown skyline.

In the series, museum contains the entrance to the County of Goldengreen, originally held by Evening Winterrose and currently held by Dean Lorden.

See More:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legion_of_Honor_(museum)
• https://www.famsf.org/visit/legion-of-honor

Nearby Cities

The cities of Berkeley and Albany are located east of San Francisco, across the San Francisco Bay.