San Francisco Area By Cary Kamp and Nancy Kamp

click on the photos to enlarge them

There I was in the middle of San Francisco Airport preparing to photograph a small plane suspended from the ceiling when Cary, our DF, said, "That's Sean Penn."

Sean Penn's back

After skipping enough mental beats to miss the best shot, I swung the camera around and clicked in the actor's direction.  He did not punch me.  So began our November 2004 trip to the San Francisco area.

By the time we were settled at our hotel near the airport (We used travel points for air, hotel and car rental, and did not want to expend all of them on this trip.) a visit to the San Francisco Zoo seemed to be the best use of our time.  We followed that up with a walk on the beach where wet-suited surfers look - and probably feel - like black popsicles.  But the sand was great, and sometimes the sun peeked in to light up the sky.

Over the next few days, we returned to the beach several times.  We especially liked Ft. Funston, named for the general whose bungling after the 1906 earthquake caused unneeded loss of life and property damage.   It's located south of Cliff House (see below), and retains a few fortified military walls.  The area is devoted to gliders, radio controlled aircraft  and dogs – there didn't seem to be any cats in San Francisco - or they just aren't beach critters.

Ft. Funston

Many downtowns lose their vitality on weekends but San Francisco is a delight for residents as well as tourists with ethnic charm, scary-steep hills to walk and drive, and lovely waterfront vistas.

Cary insisted on driving up and down the hills or walking – no cable cars or even buses for us.  In his infinite wisdom, he decided to park on Nob Hill near Chinatown.  I thought the plan was to make our way to the Fisherman's Wharf area and see Chinatown on the way back to the car.  However, there was an absence of clear communication, since the closest we got to Chinatown was a corner grocery whose sign was in Chinese characters.

cable car and double decker bus we didn't ride

not quite Chinatown

More Info:

http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com/

 

We walked (climbed) to Coit Tower, which has tremendous views of the city and doesn't open until 10:00 a.m.  We were ready to leave by 9 and missed the best camera shots - read the fine print in your guidebook.

 

Coit Tower	view of Alcatraz Island from the base of Coit Tower (1)
view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the base of Coit Tower	view of Alcatraz Island from the base of Coit Tower (2)

More info:

http://www.inetours.com/Pages/SFNbrhds/Coit_Tower.html

 

typical restaurant in wharf area

mimes at Pier 43 1/2 between Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf Do you hate mimes?

Just past Fisherman's Wharf, the US Navy moors two historic ships, the World War II submarine USS Pampanito and the World War II Liberty Ship SS Jeremiah O'Brien.  There is a naval museum and a great view of the Alcatraz Island prison - San Francisco Bay tours are available back at Fisherman's Wharf.  

USS Pampanito	SS Jeremiah O'Brien with Alcatraz Island in the background

More Info: 

http://www.maritime.org/pamphome.htm

http://www.nps.gov/alcatraz/

 

The nearby Ghiradelli (gear-a-delly) chocolate factory, now a chocolate sales outlet only, has been turned into more shops and touristy places.   But we were entranced by a little beach pretty much in the middle of everything. 

Ghiradelli

Lombard Street

We hiked back up the hills to skateboarders' heaven, the very crooked Lombard Street, and checked out Nob Hill's Grace Cathedral, a replica of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris with doors modeled on Lorenzo Ghiberti's masterpieces in Florence.

Grace Cathedral with morning shadow

replica doors of Grace Cathedral

More info:

http://www.gracecathedral.org/

 

Another day brought a visit to the Palace of the Legion of Honor, a museum commemorating the original Legion of Honor in Paris, to see the Mayan Exhibit mentioned in the November 16 entry in our Beading Diary.  The Legion of Honor has great views of San Francisco Bay as well as an impressive collection of bronze statues by Auguste Rodin, including original castings of The Thinker and the Burghers of Calais*.

another exterior photo of the Legion can be found on our main page for Children

More info:

http://www.thinker.org/legion/index.asp

 

Golden Gate Bridge, curiously painted iron red, is the symbol of San Francisco.  There are viewing spots on either end so we stopped on north side, where we found a memorial to all the seagoing service personnel who have sailed by this point.   

Our DF and the Golden Gate Bridge

Sailors' monument

Restaurants - San Francisco is packed with great restaurants.  We ate in too few of them.

Service at the Blue Mermaid was beyond abysmal, but the food was very good.

Cliff House is a restaurant operated by the National Park Service and a local monument in its own right.  Make sure you get a table by the window to watch the seal rocks, with or without seals.  The clam chowder was excellent.

beach south of Cliff House

 

Stay - We stayed at two airport hotels to use Cary's travel points:

• Embassy Suites - upgraded to special suite, nice breakfast included

• San Bruno Courtyard by Marriot - no weekend breakfast at all

 

It always pleases me to stumble upon the first book in a series before I jump into subsequent volumes.  Murder on Nob Hill pits a female lawyer against the male establishment of San Francisco in the 1880s.  I liked her spunk and look forward to reading more.  Nancy (series)  If a book you're looking for is out of print, click on any link to Amazon Books Home Page, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, or Alibris to find out if it is available as a used book. Mini Book Review List