California dreamin" -trip report on a beautiful weekend in San Francisco!
Feb 28th, 2004 | 09:13 PM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 17,106
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California dreamin" -trip report on a beautiful weekend in San Francisco!
Hi, all! I thought I'd tell you about a wonderful time in a great city, San Francisco! Maybe this will help you decide on where to go in San Francisco!
It was a beautiful day, a gorgeous day in SF today. After several days of huge rainstorms, the air was clear and crisp and, very early on, there was not a cloud in the crystal clear blue sky.
On this - a rare, free weekend, I've decided to go to places I haven't been and do things I've not done in SF, ever. Like, after living most of my life in the Bay Area, I've never been on a cable car, for heaven sakes!
After arriving in The City around 9 am, I head to my favorite morning coffee place in North Beach, but Cafe Greco is full and it's too beautiful to sit still, so I park the car and hike all the way up to Coit Tower. All along the way there are these elderly Asians hiking up the steep cliff or doing tai chi on the flatter parts. A number of local residents are walking their dogs, while a group of young people have gathered to clean up the park around Coit Tower. At the top there is a water fountain and,as I taking a drink, I notice that lower down, there is a drinking fountain for the dogs as well! I walk all around Coit Tower, watching people play with their dogs, tourists taking pictures before the statue of Christopher Columbus, and everyone generally enjoying this wonderful morning.
Hiking down the Filbert Steps, I meet an elderly woman hiking up. She must do this regularly. What stamina!
Hiking further down, I reach the Church of Saints Peter and Paul. There is a Vietnamese wedding going on and they tell me I can't go in for the next two hours. Too bad! So I continue walking along Columbus and admire the statue to the Volunteer Firemen of San Francisco as it stands to one side of Washington Square (which is not square, but looks pentagonal!). An artist exhibit is being held in Washington Square and people are walking around admiring the paintings which are all for sale.
I continue on Columbus and gawk at all the people sitting on the sidewalks having their Saturday morning coffee, reading newspapers, and eating pastries. The sun is so bright that it's shirtsleeve weather! I pass the Fior d"Italia, the "oldest Italian restaurant in the US", peer inside and see a huge mural along one wall. It's fun, just walking along and being part of the busy North Beach Saturday morning coffee klatch.
Two blocks from Washington Square, I entered a church, the National Shrine of St Francis of Assisi. It's cool in the Gothic interior and there is a choir practice going on. It is a beautiful and quietly spiritual moment. San Francisco is named for St Francis of Assisi and it seems very appropriate that the church dedicated to him stands in the middle of Little Italy.
Back out on the busy street, my time on the meter has just expired, so I drive off towards Lombard Street and, with brakes screeching, drive down "the crookedest street in the world". What fun! It's incredibly narrow and only one way. Groups of tourists are walking down while other groups are walking up.
After Lombard Street, I head towards Van Ness. At the "bottom" of Van Ness, up against the Bay, there is free parking. Four hours, at that!
I park and walk to the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. Having peeked in before, this time I go through the entire museum, all three floors of it. The front lobby is taken up with models of sailing ships. Then out on the porch and to the left, there is a huge room and it is filled with models of steamships to modern battleships. Walk counterclockwise and you will move forward in history. The next level up, there is a fascinating display of "scow schooners", the workhorses that transported everything around the Bay. There is also a number of displays on fishing vessels. Up top on the last floor, it's a much smaller room with displays of signaling devices. Now I know why that hill over there is called "Telegraph Hill"!
My time in the Maritime Museum has proven to be most interesting. I didn't know I was THAT interested in ships!
Outside of the Museum, I follow the shoreline on the San Francisco Bay Trail to Fisherman's Wharf. It's almost noon and the Wharf is crowded. Where did all these people come from? Are they all tourists? So many tourists - and it's only the end of winter!
Woohoo! It's time to take my first cable car ride! There is a long line of future passengers. I overhear a teenager say that the cable car is full but they will let just a few more people on, "Just tell them you'll hang" "OK!" so I walked over to the conductor and said, "I'll hang!" "Come on up!" I grabbed a bar, hopped onto the step, and hung on for dear life!
The cable car rattled and rumbled up Russian Hill and then rattled and rumbled down that steep hill. Everyone was grinning and laughing. Two elderly ladies from Wisconsin, who winter in Arizona, made room for me and I sat down. As the cable car went uphill, everyone slid towards me. AS the cable car went downhill, we all slid against the last man on the downhill side. The conductor pulled and pushed his levers and kept up a running commentary. Almost everyone rode from one end of the Hyde Street Line to the other end at Market Street. We all got off and I took a picture of the two ladies from Wisconsin-Arizona for them as they sat in the cable car, then we parted.
By then I was HUNGRY! So I walked toward Union Square. It was chockablock full of people! Some people start the tourist season early!
I walked into Kuleto's, but there was a long line waiting to be seated, and I was hungry, remember? Then I went to Sears, but it was closed with a note pointing uphill to Lori's Diner. Lori's Diner turned out to be a 50s themed place with a bright green Edsel taking up a good part of the diner. Lots of families with kids and some "old" kids were enjoying the place too. I debated between the Edselburger and the French dip, the French dip won out.
I ate only half of the French dip and took the rest as a doggie bag. Right outside the diner there was a young man with a sign saying "Hungry, Will Work, Anything will help". I hesitated and then asked if he would take food? Yes, he said, so I gave him the other half of the French dip sandwich. I'm certain we both enjoyed that wonderful French dip very much. So, thank you, Lori's Diner!
The way back to my car was uphill and, as I stood way up there halfway up Russian Hill, a man walked up and waited at the same cable car stop. We started chatting. He told me he was from Hawaii. {Are there any San Franciscans out today?} We waited and waited. Three cable cars came and three times they were so full that we couldn't get on. The man from Hawaii told me that the Powell Stop would offer a better chance of getting on because "they always save a few seats". I asked if he was going to walk back down and he said that he would go someplace else, so I walked alone back down the hill. Sure enough, I got onto the next cable car that came along! Live and learn! This time I got onto the very back with the brakeman. He tried to squash as many people in as he could. One of my legs was squashed against a Hispanic teenager who looked like she wanted to be anywhere but on that cable car; the other leg was caught between a lady from Arizona and her husband ("Do you know the two best words to say to a woman?" "What?" "They are 'Yes, dear'"). Rendered immobile, my face was buried in the long flowing hair of the Arizona couple's daughter. The cable car grunted and grumbled up the hill and at the top we stopped. "Lombard Street!" declared the brakeman, "Crookedest street in the world, except for Pennsylvania Avenue."
Back at Fisherman's Wharf and finally disembarked, I took strands of blond hair out of my mouth. The street vendors were in full swing and ever more tourists were roaming around.
I decided to go into the Chocolate Factory at Ghirardelli Square - going to one familar place today! But the line was sooo long - so, no ice cream today! Boo hoo!
I sit close to the water and watch a man pile rocks together. If more people would do such constructive things, this would be a better world.
Time to move on. I circle past the parking lot on Van Ness and end up on the shore side of Fort Mason. Hiking up the hill to the viewpoint, there seems to be a huge crowd down there at the piers, so I hike down and find - tada! The San Francisco Wine and Crab Festival! Thousands! Thousands More! This is only their second year of doing this festival and it seems to be a wild success. It's already after 4pm, so I pass on purchasing a ticket.
Hiking back up the hill, I make a wide circle and happen upon the Hosteling International hostel, a wooden building hidden in the trees at the top of the hill. It only costs $22 a person a night and what a location!
I spend the rest of this wonderful day watching people play and relax on the wide grassing expanse at Fort Mason: kids chasing one another, dogs jumping after frisbies, lovers lying on the grass. It's been a terrific day!
Tomorrow, another great day! To be continued.
It was a beautiful day, a gorgeous day in SF today. After several days of huge rainstorms, the air was clear and crisp and, very early on, there was not a cloud in the crystal clear blue sky.
On this - a rare, free weekend, I've decided to go to places I haven't been and do things I've not done in SF, ever. Like, after living most of my life in the Bay Area, I've never been on a cable car, for heaven sakes!
After arriving in The City around 9 am, I head to my favorite morning coffee place in North Beach, but Cafe Greco is full and it's too beautiful to sit still, so I park the car and hike all the way up to Coit Tower. All along the way there are these elderly Asians hiking up the steep cliff or doing tai chi on the flatter parts. A number of local residents are walking their dogs, while a group of young people have gathered to clean up the park around Coit Tower. At the top there is a water fountain and,as I taking a drink, I notice that lower down, there is a drinking fountain for the dogs as well! I walk all around Coit Tower, watching people play with their dogs, tourists taking pictures before the statue of Christopher Columbus, and everyone generally enjoying this wonderful morning.
Hiking down the Filbert Steps, I meet an elderly woman hiking up. She must do this regularly. What stamina!
Hiking further down, I reach the Church of Saints Peter and Paul. There is a Vietnamese wedding going on and they tell me I can't go in for the next two hours. Too bad! So I continue walking along Columbus and admire the statue to the Volunteer Firemen of San Francisco as it stands to one side of Washington Square (which is not square, but looks pentagonal!). An artist exhibit is being held in Washington Square and people are walking around admiring the paintings which are all for sale.
I continue on Columbus and gawk at all the people sitting on the sidewalks having their Saturday morning coffee, reading newspapers, and eating pastries. The sun is so bright that it's shirtsleeve weather! I pass the Fior d"Italia, the "oldest Italian restaurant in the US", peer inside and see a huge mural along one wall. It's fun, just walking along and being part of the busy North Beach Saturday morning coffee klatch.
Two blocks from Washington Square, I entered a church, the National Shrine of St Francis of Assisi. It's cool in the Gothic interior and there is a choir practice going on. It is a beautiful and quietly spiritual moment. San Francisco is named for St Francis of Assisi and it seems very appropriate that the church dedicated to him stands in the middle of Little Italy.
Back out on the busy street, my time on the meter has just expired, so I drive off towards Lombard Street and, with brakes screeching, drive down "the crookedest street in the world". What fun! It's incredibly narrow and only one way. Groups of tourists are walking down while other groups are walking up.
After Lombard Street, I head towards Van Ness. At the "bottom" of Van Ness, up against the Bay, there is free parking. Four hours, at that!
I park and walk to the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. Having peeked in before, this time I go through the entire museum, all three floors of it. The front lobby is taken up with models of sailing ships. Then out on the porch and to the left, there is a huge room and it is filled with models of steamships to modern battleships. Walk counterclockwise and you will move forward in history. The next level up, there is a fascinating display of "scow schooners", the workhorses that transported everything around the Bay. There is also a number of displays on fishing vessels. Up top on the last floor, it's a much smaller room with displays of signaling devices. Now I know why that hill over there is called "Telegraph Hill"!
My time in the Maritime Museum has proven to be most interesting. I didn't know I was THAT interested in ships!
Outside of the Museum, I follow the shoreline on the San Francisco Bay Trail to Fisherman's Wharf. It's almost noon and the Wharf is crowded. Where did all these people come from? Are they all tourists? So many tourists - and it's only the end of winter!
Woohoo! It's time to take my first cable car ride! There is a long line of future passengers. I overhear a teenager say that the cable car is full but they will let just a few more people on, "Just tell them you'll hang" "OK!" so I walked over to the conductor and said, "I'll hang!" "Come on up!" I grabbed a bar, hopped onto the step, and hung on for dear life!
The cable car rattled and rumbled up Russian Hill and then rattled and rumbled down that steep hill. Everyone was grinning and laughing. Two elderly ladies from Wisconsin, who winter in Arizona, made room for me and I sat down. As the cable car went uphill, everyone slid towards me. AS the cable car went downhill, we all slid against the last man on the downhill side. The conductor pulled and pushed his levers and kept up a running commentary. Almost everyone rode from one end of the Hyde Street Line to the other end at Market Street. We all got off and I took a picture of the two ladies from Wisconsin-Arizona for them as they sat in the cable car, then we parted.
By then I was HUNGRY! So I walked toward Union Square. It was chockablock full of people! Some people start the tourist season early!
I walked into Kuleto's, but there was a long line waiting to be seated, and I was hungry, remember? Then I went to Sears, but it was closed with a note pointing uphill to Lori's Diner. Lori's Diner turned out to be a 50s themed place with a bright green Edsel taking up a good part of the diner. Lots of families with kids and some "old" kids were enjoying the place too. I debated between the Edselburger and the French dip, the French dip won out. I ate only half of the French dip and took the rest as a doggie bag. Right outside the diner there was a young man with a sign saying "Hungry, Will Work, Anything will help". I hesitated and then asked if he would take food? Yes, he said, so I gave him the other half of the French dip sandwich. I'm certain we both enjoyed that wonderful French dip very much. So, thank you, Lori's Diner!
The way back to my car was uphill and, as I stood way up there halfway up Russian Hill, a man walked up and waited at the same cable car stop. We started chatting. He told me he was from Hawaii. {Are there any San Franciscans out today?} We waited and waited. Three cable cars came and three times they were so full that we couldn't get on. The man from Hawaii told me that the Powell Stop would offer a better chance of getting on because "they always save a few seats". I asked if he was going to walk back down and he said that he would go someplace else, so I walked alone back down the hill. Sure enough, I got onto the next cable car that came along! Live and learn! This time I got onto the very back with the brakeman. He tried to squash as many people in as he could. One of my legs was squashed against a Hispanic teenager who looked like she wanted to be anywhere but on that cable car; the other leg was caught between a lady from Arizona and her husband ("Do you know the two best words to say to a woman?" "What?" "They are 'Yes, dear'"). Rendered immobile, my face was buried in the long flowing hair of the Arizona couple's daughter. The cable car grunted and grumbled up the hill and at the top we stopped. "Lombard Street!" declared the brakeman, "Crookedest street in the world, except for Pennsylvania Avenue."
Back at Fisherman's Wharf and finally disembarked, I took strands of blond hair out of my mouth. The street vendors were in full swing and ever more tourists were roaming around.
I decided to go into the Chocolate Factory at Ghirardelli Square - going to one familar place today! But the line was sooo long - so, no ice cream today! Boo hoo!
I sit close to the water and watch a man pile rocks together. If more people would do such constructive things, this would be a better world.
Time to move on. I circle past the parking lot on Van Ness and end up on the shore side of Fort Mason. Hiking up the hill to the viewpoint, there seems to be a huge crowd down there at the piers, so I hike down and find - tada! The San Francisco Wine and Crab Festival! Thousands! Thousands More! This is only their second year of doing this festival and it seems to be a wild success. It's already after 4pm, so I pass on purchasing a ticket.
Hiking back up the hill, I make a wide circle and happen upon the Hosteling International hostel, a wooden building hidden in the trees at the top of the hill. It only costs $22 a person a night and what a location!
I spend the rest of this wonderful day watching people play and relax on the wide grassing expanse at Fort Mason: kids chasing one another, dogs jumping after frisbies, lovers lying on the grass. It's been a terrific day!
Tomorrow, another great day! To be continued.
Feb 29th, 2004 | 03:34 AM
#3
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,630
Likes: 0
Great report, Easy. It's all too easy to forget what great cities we live in at times. I did the same thing in New Orleans on Saturday. Went to Cafe duMonde and played tourist throughout the Quarter.
Next time I visit The City I'll print your report for some ideas.
Next time I visit The City I'll print your report for some ideas.
Feb 29th, 2004 | 05:33 AM
#5
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,739
Likes: 0
Wow easytraveler, lucky you! Sounds like a restful, rockin weekend! Thx for the report; it was a great first post to wake up to! And now on my run, i'll be thinking about how i left part of my heart in san francisco, too! (but at least the sun is finally shining, here! 
)
)
Feb 29th, 2004 | 06:25 AM
#6
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 15,749
Likes: 0
What a great report. If on the off chance that total blithering idiot Robinsen is correct, please provide us with all your other posting names. I'd love to read the other things you have written since you do it with great style, unlike Robinsen's inane ramblings.
I can't believe that after about 20 years, they are still using that line about the "second crookedest street in the US after Pennsylvania Avenue!".
I can't believe that after about 20 years, they are still using that line about the "second crookedest street in the US after Pennsylvania Avenue!".
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