...and is not to be confused with the San Francisco Bay Bridge, which goes from SanFran to Oakland, further inland...
On the other side of the Bay: Sausolito
...and the famous houseboats, where Beatniks and such riffraff used to hang out
The houseboat in the middle has three other boats. Must be a problem deciding which one to use.
By the way, waterfront space is not free. They all pay rent.
There are lots of freighters going & coming; Alcatraz on the left. We tried to go see it by boat, but the boats were all booked up. In October.
One of the cables that hold up the Golden Gate Bridge.
The Three Sisters - a famous trio of some of the many Victorian houses here.
Parts of San Fran are hilly...
Hence the cable cars.
One of the cables that hold up the Golden Gate Bridge.
The Three Sisters - a famous trio of some of the many Victorian houses here.
Parts of San Fran are hilly...
Hence the cable cars.
The cable cars are a National Treasure.
There is only one route left, with no turns. There are only two levers to operate - engage the cable and the brake, I guess.
Chinatown
Fishermen's Wharf 
There is only one route left, with no turns. There are only two levers to operate - engage the cable and the brake, I guess.
Chinatown
Fishermen's Wharf 
At the Ferry Terminal
This was Fleet Week, when all the US Navy Ships are in port. My mother, who grew up in Seattle, used to talk about Fleet Week, when all the girls would go down to the wharf to admire the ships, and the sailors. That was a while ago; so this is a long-standing tradition.
This was Fleet Week, when all the US Navy Ships are in port. My mother, who grew up in Seattle, used to talk about Fleet Week, when all the girls would go down to the wharf to admire the ships, and the sailors. That was a while ago; so this is a long-standing tradition.
The Blue Angels: they were practicing all week, and performed on Saturday and Sunday.
Pretty spectacular. Can't convey the noise, which was awesome. Occasionally one of them would "buzz" us - right overhead, up close and personal.
This is another squadron.
A really serious street-person.
Tourists
Steel drums. Pretty good.
Pretty spectacular. Can't convey the noise, which was awesome. Occasionally one of them would "buzz" us - right overhead, up close and personal.
This is another squadron.
A really serious street-person.
Tourists
Steel drums. Pretty good.
The Bushman. He sits there, with the bush hiding him from oncoming pedestrians; when someone comes along looking suitably unsuspecting, he suddenly moves the bush aside and yells "BOO!" Generally, they jump very satisfactorily. He's also surrounded by a couple of tourists waiting to photograph him scaring someone (and of course putting money in the hat). (Including yours truly.)
The National Maritime Museum: a Felucca, of the kind the Arabs have been sailing in the Red Sea for millennia.
The National Maritime Museum: a Felucca, of the kind the Arabs have been sailing in the Red Sea for millennia.
The paddlewheel tugboat Eppleton Hall
A neat teaching display: The mechanical advantage is equal to the number of strands of rope connecting the two blocks (pulleys, for you landlubbers):
Young male sealions: They are resting here midway in their fall migration. For reasons nobody understands, they abruptly started doing this a few years ago.
Being young males, they do a bit of posturing, pushing and shoving, starting to establish the pecking order for when the serious courting begins.
Do sealions have fleas?
A neat teaching display: The mechanical advantage is equal to the number of strands of rope connecting the two blocks (pulleys, for you landlubbers):Young male sealions: They are resting here midway in their fall migration. For reasons nobody understands, they abruptly started doing this a few years ago.
Being young males, they do a bit of posturing, pushing and shoving, starting to establish the pecking order for when the serious courting begins.
Do sealions have fleas? By the way, if you see or hear of Performing Seals, they are usually sealions; Those are the ones with big flippers that allow them to sit up, and walk/run well on land.
Ghirardelli Square. There used to be a chocolate factory here, now just shops.
The Coit Tower (1933):
Lillie Hitchcock Hoyt left money to build this tower as a memorial to the city's firemen, who once rescued her from a burning apartment building. She also drank bourbon, smoked, drove teams of horses, married a millionaire, and was a member of the Fire Department.
Views from Coit Tower.
Justin Herman Plaza
The De Young Art Museum in Golden Gate Park. The thing in the foreground is all reflective glass, so it looks different every time you take one step...
Ancient Olmec firgure, from Mexico. Did they do Sumo wrestling?
Ghirardelli Square. There used to be a chocolate factory here, now just shops.
The Coit Tower (1933):
Lillie Hitchcock Hoyt left money to build this tower as a memorial to the city's firemen, who once rescued her from a burning apartment building. She also drank bourbon, smoked, drove teams of horses, married a millionaire, and was a member of the Fire Department.
Views from Coit Tower.
Justin Herman Plaza
The De Young Art Museum in Golden Gate Park. The thing in the foreground is all reflective glass, so it looks different every time you take one step...
Ancient Olmec firgure, from Mexico. Did they do Sumo wrestling?
A carved mammoth tusk, they said. Pretty old, then.
Modern art. Called, for some reason, 'Corridor Pin':
Hmmm
This is called Dawn Stone. This single crack runs from the museum front gate up and down, back and forth, bisecting a dozen-odd stones - the cracks in floor and stones match exactly; how did they do that? - and ends up at the door. Represents the San Andreas Fault and all the other seismic surprizes you get out here.
The Science museum. Neat roof...
SanFran Art Museum, off Union Square.
Celebration in Union Square. This is China - don't call it Taiwan unless you want a lecture about this being the Real China. The emcee is dancing with one of the dancers.
Dancers - apparently known personally to the onlookers, and enthusiastically applauded:
We also talked to some Falun Gong people. Their take on why the Communist government on the mainland is so against them, is that they are control freaks, nothing more.
Modern art. Called, for some reason, 'Corridor Pin':
Hmmm
This is called Dawn Stone. This single crack runs from the museum front gate up and down, back and forth, bisecting a dozen-odd stones - the cracks in floor and stones match exactly; how did they do that? - and ends up at the door. Represents the San Andreas Fault and all the other seismic surprizes you get out here.
The Science museum. Neat roof...
SanFran Art Museum, off Union Square.
Celebration in Union Square. This is China - don't call it Taiwan unless you want a lecture about this being the Real China. The emcee is dancing with one of the dancers.
Dancers - apparently known personally to the onlookers, and enthusiastically applauded:
We also talked to some Falun Gong people. Their take on why the Communist government on the mainland is so against them, is that they are control freaks, nothing more.
Duck Tour (we didn't take it).
The City Lights bookstore, founded by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, one of the original Beat Poets.
A restaurant that puts garlic in everything? Keeps the vampires away, anyway.
A noble sentiment...
The City Lights bookstore, founded by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, one of the original Beat Poets.
A restaurant that puts garlic in everything? Keeps the vampires away, anyway.
A noble sentiment...
But we didn't have time to go there, because...
A fitting last scene for the City by the Bay.
No comments:
Post a Comment