Sir Francis Drake Boulevard Sir Francis Drake Boulevard Sir Francis Drake Boulevard is an east–west arterial road in Marin County, California, running from just west of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge (where it intersects with Interstate 580) to the trailhead for Point Reyes Lighthouse at the end of the Point Reyes Peninsula. It is a main thoroughfare through the communities of Larkspur, Greenbrae, Kentfield, Ross, San Anselmo, Fairfax, Woodacre, San Geronimo, Forest Knolls, Lagunitas, Olema, Point Reyes Station, and Inverness. It is named for the English explorer Francis Drake, whose ship "The Golden Hinde" landed somewhere along the Pacific coast of North America in 1579,
Thomas Doughty (explorer) established the idea that a ship's captain was its absolute ruler, regardless of the rank or social class of its passengers. Doughty befriended Drake during Drake's military actions in Ireland. Drake, Doughty and John Wynter left Plymouth, England in 1577, purportedly on a simple trip to Alexandria. Drake's real mission was to interfere with Spanish treasure fleets in the New World; whether he proceeded with the full knowledge and sanction of Queen Elizabeth I, and whether his original intent was the circumnavigation of the globe are still topics of scholarly debate (see Kelsey, "Sir Francis Drake: the Queen's Pirate.") The