Ah, the ocean. Being a Pisces, it really is one of my happy places and I am ashamed to say that I don’t get there as often as I could. For a while during the pandemic even the parking lots were closed so you couldn’t even stay in your car to watch the waves or the sunset.
Ocean Beach is a great spot to go to if you want to see the Pacific Ocean.
It is across the street from the end of Golden Gate Park and when I was young there was a small amusement park nearby, Playland at the Beach. Sadly that closed in 1972. Up the street is what used to be the famous Cliff House, which also sadly closed this year due to the pandemic and leasing issues.
The view from the Cliff House dining room. These rocks are usually full of seals.
I can sit for hours looking at the waves crashing against the shore and watching the sun set.
And here’s a quick video. Posting these pictures makes me want to go back to the beach this weekend!
“O” is also for the Orpheum Theater. This is one of the easiest venues for us to get to because it is right across the street from the BART station. We saw a few shows there, one of which was Rain, the Beatles Tribute.
The theater only sits about 2000 people so most every seat is a good one. I went on the website while researching for this and I see that they are starting to open up again. There is a new play about the Temptations called “Ain’t Too Proud” that looks like it might be good. I think I’ll keep my eyes on that for sure.
Second full week of the A to Z done! Have a nice weekend. See you Monday for “P.”
Being Italian it was natural for me to want to include North Beach in this A to Z and I was happy to see there was a coloring page for it. “Little Italy,” as it is called, is known for St. Peter and Paul Church and was home to the likes of Joe DiMaggio, who lived there for a while with Marilyn Monroe. It was also the site of the “Beat Generation” beginnings. Our friend from Kerouac Alley, Jack Kerouac, hung out there as did Allan Ginsburg and in that neighborhood you can find the City Lights Bookstore! Amazing how all these things come together, because as you leave North Beach, you enter Chinatown. In fact, as I walked around Washington Square to take my pictures I think I saw more Asians than Italians!
I was lucky and found parking right across the street from the church (you can see the tail end of my Honda HRV on the right of the picture behind the tree) and got out to walk around Washington Square. There are lots of benches around the park, a nice pathway and in the middle is a statue of Ben Franklin with a time capsule in it, to be opened in 2079. It looks like there were not very many people around but actually it was quite bustling with people walking their dogs and doing exercises. As I have been taking these pictures around the city I’ve been particularly mindful of privacy issues so I waited until I had a clear shot.
Remember Lillie Hitchcock Coit, the woman who loved the volunteer firemen and who Coit Tower is named after? She also has a statue here in Washington Square dedicated to firemen.
All around the square are Italian restaurants and stores. I ate at Original Joes a few years ago. Great food.
And we can’t leave out the Italian Athletic Club. I can remember going to Knights of Columbus dances there with my parents. They were always hoping I would meet some nice Italian Catholic boy – LOL
A couple other snaps from around the square. The Barbary Coast was a red-light district on the edge of North Beach, home to brothels, bars, jazz clubs and variety shows like the current day Beach Blanket Babylon.
I don’t know why people have to deface the street signs.
And as I was getting back in my car I looked up and this is what I saw. It is becoming an old friend!
I have one more “N” for today and that is another of the 7 Hills, Nob Hill, home to Grace Cathedral and many of the city’s upscale hotels like the Mark Hopkins, Fairmont, and Stanford Court. It is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city, sometimes called “Snob Hill.” Grace Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of California. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave a sermon there in 1965 celebrating the completion of one of its renovations. I’ve never been inside but it is very impressive from the outside. (Times have changed of course but when I was growing up it was a “sin” for a Catholic person to go in a church of another faith). I mentioned trying not to get others in my pictures and that was a challenge in the case of the stairs, below. There was a guy running up and down them for exercise and I had to time my picture just right.
Amazing carvings on the door.
The stained glass window is very pretty at lit up at night. Speaking of stained glass, across the street from Grace Cathedral is the Masonic Center Auditorium. It is a small venue and has an amazing stained glass window in the lobby depicting the story of the Masons. We went and saw the illusionist Michael Carbonaro there. It was a great show. If you have never seen the Carbonaro Effect on TV, you should check it out. I did text “CARBO” to try and meet Michael after the show but we didn’t get picked.
Okay, we are almost at the end of the second week! I hope you’ve been having fun with me as I travel the City of San Francisco and that you’ll continue on with the journey. I have a few more surprises coming up!
Disclaimer notice. The coloring book pages are from the inserts the San Francisco Chronicle put out and I mentioned them in myĀ theme revealĀ so you can go to that to get the info about the artists if you are interested.
If you’ve read my posts you may know that I am a San Francisco Giants fan and probably should have figured that I would try to get them in this A to Z somehow. Since the coloring book had McCovey Cove, I decided to use that as my intro.
We are very fortunate to have a great friend who has a boat and has hosted us a couple of times on trips around the Bay. Each time we go we take a break at McCovey Cove which is a little cove in the bay next to Oracle Park, where the Giants play. It may be an “unofficial name” but everybody around here certainly knows about it. During games the cove is filled with people in boats and kayaks trying to catch a home run ball.
If you look closely you can see that the scoreboard has changed from one picture to the next. The newest one is on the bottom. HUGE screen.
Also in the cove is a statue of Willie McCovey.
There is also the Lefty O’Doul bridge, named after another famous Giant. The bridge rises to let boats pass through. It is really interesting to watch it. You can just see one coming through on the right. The parking lot to the ballpark is across the street so you have to walk over that bridge to get to the stadium. We take the train though so don’t really get to that side much.
We went to our first game since the pandemic last weekend. It was so much fun. The Giants are being very cautious and you have to show proof of vaccination or negative Covid test taken within 72 hours of the game along with your id. Seats are separated a lot as they are only operating at 22% capacity. There was no one sitting directly in front of us or directly behind. There was no one else in our row so we never had to cross in front of anyone if we had to use the restroom. The concession stands were open but you ordered from your seat and then they notified you when your food was ready. It was very well organized and I felt comfortable being there.
M is also for Museums and there are a lot of those as well. I mentioned the deYoung Museum when I talked about the exhibit for the Summer of Love. It is located in Golden Gate Park near the Japanese Tea Garden. When I drove by there recently they were having a Freida Kahlo exhibit.
Along Fisherman’s Wharf I mentioned the Wax Museum but there was also the Maritime Museum. The building looks like an ocean liner and was built as part of the New Deal Works Progress Administration in 1939. Imagine if the American Jobs Act gets passed, we could see more things like this happening.
There is the Museum of Modern Art located in downtown and the California Academy of Sciences, also in Golden Gate Park. There is an Asian Art Museum, a Contemporary Jewish Museum, a Museum of African Diaspora and even a Cable Car Museum which I tried to go to but couldn’t really find.
I got all excited when I saw there was a Museum of Ice Cream but when I went to take pictures there was a lot of construction going on in the streets around it and besides being closed, it didn’t have any windows for me to look in. Another disappointment, but maybe I’ll wait a while and try again for that one and the Cable Car Museum.
I keep thinking that these museums will have windows like a storefront but they are all in buildings with minimal signage. Maybe because they don’t want people breaking the glass to get in and steal things. That would make sense!
Anyway, that’s my “M” and I’m sticking to it. Hope to see you tomorrow for “N.” Any guesses?
Disclaimer notice. The coloring book pages are from the inserts the San Francisco Chronicle put out and I mentioned them in my theme reveal so you can go to that to get the info about the artists if you are interested.
Lombard Street might be something that you would recognize as a San Francisco landmark. It is said to be the “crookedest street in the world” with 8 turns. It was originally a straight road but it was so steep that people were afraid to drive down it!
I drove down to the bottom but obviously I couldn’t drive and take pictures so I went around the block and found parking at the top of the hill. I got out and walked about halfway down.
The view from the top
Steps going down the side
On the path down
About half way down
Looking back up
Coit tower and Bay Bridge
Coit tower
Stairs going back up
View from the bottom looking back
I am lucky to be able to get these shots early in the morning and during the week before the crowds come. On the weekends sometimes there are long lines of cars waiting to go down this hill. So much so that there is talk of having to pay a toll or get a permit! I know I would be torn about living there; is it worth the inconvenience of having so many cars driving by or is the view enough to compensate for that?
Lands End is the other “L” I have for you, especially if you are someone who likes hiking trails. When we went to Immigrant Point Overlook the other day, Lands End was on the schedule as well. I tried to make things easier for my hubby by mapping out a route of several spots to hit in one sweep.
Because it is not easy for Bill to walk on all the trails, he let me out and parked to wait for me to explore and take pictures. I didn’t want to stray too far and take advantage of him so there is lots out there left to investigate. As you can see by the signpost, there are several different paths that you can take and they lead to many interesting spots.
I did walk a short way down one path because I was looking for the labyrinth but it turns out I was in the wrong part of the trail. No worries, once again I got some gorgeous views and the sun was out!
I was amazed by the size of that boat going toward the bridge. Then again, I’m amazed by the Golden Gate Bridge too!
Lands End is certainly a fitting name for this spot. I know that anybody who likes to hike would have an excellent time exploring all the different trails. One leads to the memorial of the USS San Francisco, a WWII cruiser that was involved in the Battle of Guadalcanal. And sometime I may even go back to try and find the labyrinth!
Disclaimer notice. The coloring book pages are from the inserts the San Francisco Chronicle put out and I mentioned them in my theme reveal so you can go to that to get the info about the artists if you are interested. I did the coloring and took the pictures.
Hello and welcome to the letter “K” in our A to Z Challenge this year. In an effort to be completely transparent, I am using one of the locations that was a disappointment for me, Kerouac Alley.
I mean, reading the description that Wiki has for it and even looking at some of the pictures that Trip Advisor has made it seem like a really cool place to go and it filled one of the more difficult (for me) letters in the challenge. When I got there, it was early in the morning so admittedly none of the shops were open yet, however, I didn’t even attempt to go down the alley to look for the inscriptions that are supposed to be there.
My initial disappointment was in the street sign itself. The other side had a bunch of stickers over it so you couldn’t even read the name. This side had no stickers but it did have an electrical wire wrapped around it. I mean, come on folks.
Looking down the alleyway, I could see someone standing around there and since I was by myself, I didn’t think it would be smart to go down.
City Lights is a famous bookstore and it would have been nice to be able to go inside but it wasn’t open yet and, again, there was someone standing around (I purposely avoided taking his picture) so I didn’t feel comfortable getting any closer.
So all in all, that was not the exciting experience I was looking for, but as I said, in the spirit of transparency, I’m including it. Maybe if my husband had been with me we’d have ventured farther down the alley.
Then I had to scramble to see if I could find another “K” spot. OMG I did and what a good one it was! Much like the Ina Coolbrith Park,Kite Hill Open Space is tucked away in a corner in the middle of a residential area.
It was another hike up a hill but it was certainly worth it.
Kind of a neat path. Not too steep because it was on a curve.
Once at the top the view was amazing. Too bad the day was so cloudy.
There were a couple of places to sit and enjoy those views.
My dad used to give me a kite for my birthday every year. What fun it would have been to take it up to Kite Hill to fly it!
My car is the silver one way down there.
The path down
So even though Kerouac Alley was a bust, I think I managed to save the letter “K” with a Kite.
I knew about Chinatown but I didn’t realize we had a Japantown in San Francisco as well. I found the Japantown almost by accident as I was driving to a different location and happened to see the big pagoda. I decided to go back and check it out. Turns out it is one of only three Japantowns left in the United States!
The Japantown Peace Plaza was donated by the city of Osaka, Japan, San Francisco’s sister city, in the 1960s. The large statue is an eternal flame monument.
Eternal Flame Monument
There is another statue at the entrance to the plaza. It has some wonderful carvings depicting the immigration of Japanese to the US.
There are also some areas to sit and enjoy the scenery.
On either side of the plaza are the East and West Malls and across the street is a mall with restaurants and shops. We have eaten at the Benihana there once. It was delicious of course.
You might think that the Japanese Tea Garden is located in Japantown but you’d be wrong.
It is in Golden Gate Park and unfortunately the day I picked to do my exploring was a Sunday and it was very crowded. Plus, I was by myself so I couldn’t even have my husband drop me off and go around the block while I took the pictures, so this is what I got. It does look like the coloring page though.
It is the oldest public Japanese Garden in the United States, built as part of the Worlds Fair SF had in 1894, slightly before my time – LOL.
I’m sorry I don’t have more pictures to show you. You’ll just have to come to SF and check it out! Only $6 for non-resident seniors!
And so we start the second full week of the A to Z. Are you with me so far?
Disclaimer notice. The coloring book pages are from the inserts the San Francisco Chronicle put out and I mentioned them in my theme reveal so you can go to that to get the info about the artists if you are interested. I did the coloring and took the pictures.
Who is Ina Coolbrith and why does she have a park named after her? Turns out she is a poet. In fact, the first California Poet Laureate. She has a very interesting history, which you can read here. It took me several tries to get some pictures of the park in San Francisco that is named after her but it was definitely worth it. It is on one of those hills I mentioned yesterday, Russian Hill. I finally found some parking toward the bottom of the hill and walked up to the top.
It doesn’t look like much at first but once you get around the path the whole city is visible.
Bay Bridge
Coit Tower
Alcatraz Island
Imagine the sunrise coming up with this view
Standing at the top you can see the city skyline with the Bay Bridge to the right, Coit Tower slightly to the left and then Alcatraz Island on the far left. I envy the people who live in this area and can get a view of the sunrise every morning. It must be spectacular.
There are some benches to sit on and several other paths to walk down. I have to go back (sound familiar?) because I didn’t go any farther than the first level. It is on a pretty steep slope and I could see that there was another bench to sit on at the next level.
I didn’t see any signs at the top so it’s another one of those places that you wouldn’t know was there unless you were looking for it. So peaceful and pretty. Very well kept.
I was going to use International Airport for another “I” but then I found something even better. Immigrant Point Overlook. I said to my husband, “Hey hon, how’d you like to go for a ride in your new truck and take me to a couple of places in the city so I can take some pictures?” It worked! While he drove, I had the owners manual out so if he had any questions about the truck settings I could answer them. Aren’t I helpful?
Immigrant Point Overlook is a spot on the coast where you can see for miles. There is a picnic area across the street and there is a trail you can go down but I found the best view was right on the edge. You can see the boats coming in from the Pacific Ocean.
There is a wall with an inscription from President Woodrow Wilson:
“We opened the gates to all the world and said, ‘Let all men who want to be free come to us and they will be welcome.'” Here’s a video I took of that and the view.
So you can start the day with sunrise at Ina Coolbrith Park and end the day with a sunset at Immigrant Point Overlook. In between head down the Embarcadero to Fisherman’s Wharf and Ghirardelli Square with maybe some lunch or dinner at Chinatown. Doesn’t it make you want to come to SF?
Whew, one full week of the A to Z done! (I was able to do a whole recap in this post, did you catch that?) We are going to the Giants game today. Have to have proof of vaccination or negative test within 72 hours to get in and they are only filling to 22% capacity so I feel pretty safe. Sunday I plan to visit as many new (to me) bloggers as I can. Have a great rest of your weekend!
I was in Catholic grammar school during the Haight-Ashbury heyday so I didn’t really get involved with the hippie drug scene. I did know a little bit about it though and a few years ago when the de Young Museum had an exhibit called “The Summer of Love Experience” we went to check it out. I wrote about that here. My husband is a little older than me and had lived in San Francisco for a while so he was very familiar with the era and the area. I do love the clothes! I really want the suede jacket and the blue crochet sweater, although I bet that one is pretty heavy.
They had flower shaped cookies in the gift shop. My coat looks like it belongs in the show, doesn’t it? After the exhibit we rode around the streets in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood for a while. They certainly have some interesting places including some more Victorian houses.
The famous Grateful Dead House is in the Haight-Ashbury district too. It is the one in the middle with the gate but I kind of like the purple one next door. Just regular folks own it now.
Grateful Dead house then
Grateful Dead house now
Just a cool house
Also, in case you haven’t noticed so far, there are definitely a lot of hills in San Francisco! Look at what I’ve been driving through, and sometimes walking up and down, to get pictures for your entertainment! Sometimes I get a little nervous, even when I’m in my car. Thank goodness for automatic transmissions. If I had to use a clutch – I shudder to think.
In fact San Francisco is said to have been built on seven hills: Telegraph Hill (where Coit Tower is), Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Rincon Hill, Twin Peaks, Lone Mountain (or Mt. Sutro) and Mt. Davidson.
Mt. Davidson is the highest natural point in the city (928 feet!) so I thought I’d give that a look see. The coyote alert didn’t stop me because it was daytime and there were some other folks around so I figured the coyotes would stay away. The hike up the hill was definitely worth the view (click for 16 second video).
At the top of the hill hidden in the trees is a giant cross. It was Palm Sunday when I went up and people had brought some palms and left them at the base of the cross. I am amazed that you can’t see the cross until you get at the top of the hill. It is 103 feet high itself!
I didn’t know until I was writing this post that they have an Easter Sunday sunrise service every year. I bet that is spectacular. You may also remember the cross from a scene in the first Dirty Harry movie. I don’t know how they were able to run and move around on that hill in the dark. It took all my concentration in the daylight!
It seems like there are a million hills in San Francisco and I may, or may not write about a few more of them, we still have letters in the A to Z Challenge left. Hope you’ll climb them with me.
I have written about this before but it’s been about five years so I thought I’d refresh everyone’s memory. When I turned 60 I realized that I had never walked across the Golden Gate Bridge so that’s what I wanted to do for my birthday. We drove across and parked on the Sausalito side of the bridge. After a mimosa toast, we started across to the San Francisco side.
Driving across to the Sausalito side
From the rest area on the SF side.
Mimosa’s first
A toast
My mom at 93
At the SF side there is an area with a gift shop and the history.
The Red and White Fleet tour going under
All along the fencing you could see these locks. It was fun to look at the dates. I had never heard of doing that before.
It took us a couple hours to walk from one side to the other and back again but it was fun. The weather was kind of overcast but it wasn’t that cold. As I mentioned, my mom was 93 so we walked slow for her. She didn’t even really need the walker she rented! I definitely want to do that again. When we were done, we went to a restaurant in Sausalito and had lunch. Great way to spend a birthday for sure.
Another place that I have been to but not for many years. I really need to get out more! This is where they make Ghirardelli Chocolate of course. Well, used to make it. When Mr. Ghirardelli bought the whole block in 1893 they used it for the factory to make chocolate. In the early 60’s Ghirardelli Chocolate was bought by Golden Grain and they moved the plant across the bay.
However, some San Francisco residents, William M. Roth and his mother bought the land so that it wouldn’t be turned into apartment buildings. They had the square designed to hold different shops and restaurants.
Some cool rainbow steps going up to the shopping area.
There is a video of them replacing the big marquee here. Inside the square are lots of shops and a courtyard with a fountain statue of a mermaid and her babies. Now I wish I had gone up into the courtyard but I had limited time. That’s what I get for not starting the pictures for this project in February when I knew that I was going to base my A to Z on San Francisco. Oh well, add one more to the list.
This little area is directly across from Ghirardelli Square so you could go into the candy shop, get an ice cream and then walk across and sit here to watch the bay. So nice!
Wow, 7 letters already. Time is sure going by fast. I know I will appreciate Sunday as a day of rest. Please forgive me if I haven’t stopped by your posts yet, I’m going as fast as I can! Hope to see you tomorrow for “H.”
Disclaimer notice. The coloring book pages are from the inserts the San Francisco Chronicle put out and I mentioned them in my theme reveal so you can go to that to get the info about the artists if you are interested. I did the coloring and took the pictures.
Getting a late start today on my “F” post because I went with my husband and we got him a new truck. I had promised him one for Christmas and he never took me up on it. Yesterday was his birthday and I found one I thought he might like so we went and looked at it. Sure enough he liked it, but you know it takes forever in the dealership so here I am at 7 PM writing my post for the day. Fortunately tomorrow’s can be written tonight as well so I won’t be behind. It also doesn’t help that I waited until the last minute to take some of these pictures. I was doing that this morning before we went truck shopping.
And so, without further ado, “F” is for the Ferry Building. The Ferry Building is located on the Embarcadero that I talked about yesterday.
The Ferry building is the terminal for the ferries that cross the Bay. It also houses offices on the second floor and a marketplace. It was built in 1989 and the clock tower itself is 245 feet tall! There are four clock faces, each 22 feet wide that still chime every full and half hour. I have never been inside the Ferry building but In researching it, there are a lot of different activities going on including a Farmer’s Market and there are spaces available to rent for special events. Imagine having a wedding reception at the Ferry Building?
At the other end of the Embarcadero is Fisherman’s Wharf. This is really one of the main tourist attractions and I was so glad I was able to get there in the morning before the hustle and bustle. I could find parking, get out and take my pictures and then get back in the car in less than 15 minutes! During the weekend and summertime that would have been impossible.
At the Wharf are great restaurants and little outdoor places you can get seafood and then take a walk along the piers. You can also rent a trip on the Red and White Fleet or Blue and Gold Fleet that have boat trips around the bay. The Blue and Gold Fleet has an “Escape from the Rock” tour that takes you to Alcatraz. The Red and White Fleet has a “Bridge to Bridge Sunset Cruise” that looks like it might be a romantic experience.
Across the street from the Wharf are some really neat attractions. Ripley’s Believe It Or Not is one.
And Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum. I have been inside but not for a VERY long time – like maybe 30 years!
At one time there was something called “The San Francisco Experience” that took you through the history of San Francisco. They have turned that into The Dungeons:
I love an adventure so that might be fun to see too, if these things can reopen safely. All this traveling around the city has made me want see a lot of these places in more detail. I will still have the advantage of being able to go in the middle of the week so I shouldn’t hit many crowds. I promise if I do I’ll take more pictures and let you know. If you go before I do, make sure you post your pictures and let me know!
Janet's Smiles 