"SAN FRANCISCO, You Stole My Heart Away"

HOME AGAIN!!

WOW!  What a great "spring" break!  A week ago Sunday we headed off to the airport; destined for San Francisco, ready to make the most of a needed break.  It seems like work and routine had really taken a toll this year - for me the Easter season seems to get more intense and involved every year; for Karina the hours at work never lessen, plus the addition of Saturdays in March and Sundays in May.  We were so looking forward to the get-away!  This was the first time we tried our "Vacation Inspirations" travel package, and we were impressed!  I know ... dealers can put any price they want on their websites, and we stayed at the World Mark - a 1920s hotel converted into condos.  Was a great place - old time flavor ... very quaint.  Their Website lists a "studio" (our accommodations for the week) listing at $7000.00!  (The rooms list at 775 per night) But our "deal" with VI was $799.00 for the week -  condition being we had to buy the whole week, even though we were there only six days.  Well, as my big brother would say: "no problem!"  We signed up and were most impressed with what we got - but I'd never pay 775 a night there!  It wasn't THAT great!

I know yer askin', "So what did we git?"  Well, hang on, I'll tell ya.

 The World Mark - our "digs"

 nifty artwork in the room

niftier artwork in the room!

the room - with artwork in the shadows!

So, ahead of time we had scheduled various and sundry excursions and "wannados."  We had a city bus tour set up for Monday, but before doing that we headed off (by foot) to the Chancellor Hotel to purchase a MUNI passport (which would cover buses, subway, trolley, and cable-cars for a mere $28 for seven days!  What a deal - the cable cars are $6 per ride (or $14 per day) alone!  So this was our ticket to the city - by the way we didn't rent a car - THERE'S NO PARKING in the city -  we were even told that there are more registered vehicles in the city than parking places.  It  would have cost us $49-79 per night to keep our Volvo handy!  Thus we opted out on that - and we are glad we did.  So Monday we walked to Lori's Diner for B-fast.  A neat little shop uphill (pant, pant) then downhill (whee) from our digs (590 Bush St.).  The diner even had an Edsel enclosed in the place.

I knew you wouldn't believe me outright!

The arranged tour came at 10:30 so we boarded this bus 

(a little overkill for 16 passengers) - but it worked.

We made our way to  Fort Point (under the Golden  Gate Bridge - a military garrison in the 1800s - 

the Golden Gate Bridge - an awesome sight!

and then off to Twin Peaks for a general overview of the city: 

from here the Golden Gate is to the left; the Oakland Bay Bridge to the right

the city from Twin Peaks

The tour then took us to Golden Gate Park and a general "city" drive - all without incident, until, Bill, our laid-back retired driver and tour leader managed to get our 45' Mercedes Septa Bus jammed in a right turn, and tore off one of the storage doors on the back right side of the bus!  No small amount of damage, I'm sure ...

By this time my camera battery (rechargeable, not replaceable) ran out of juice, so I moped for a couple minutes and went on with my day! We were totally satisfied and didn't know anything about the Boston Marathon incident until we got back to the WorldMark after 9:00 pm.  But what a horrible tragedy.

Tuesday we had tickets to see Alcatraz - many folks had encouraged us to go - and each said "order your tickets early!"  Well, we did and the tour was a highlight!

 leaving port - Coit Tower in center; TransAmerica Tower (no longer called that) to the left

 the Oakland-Bay Bridge

 heading toward the GGB - Fort Point at the left underside of Bridge

 the "Rock"

 good thing we had a pass!  the tour on the island is all portable audio - so you can stay as long as you want;

we were there about 4.5 hours ... and found out telephone reception  was sketchy - ("Mark, Mark, you still there?")

 Alcatraz was a military post for a hundred years before becoming a prison -

here's a lower level  pic of the garrison

 old prison guardhouse - next to the water tower;  BTW, no water or sewer on the island

still is shipped back and forth to/from the city

 prison morgue (think 8 prisoners died there)

 Michigan Avenue - many stories abound ...

 the recreational yard - with the GGB behind

 BTW the Birdman of Alcatraz, Robert Stroud, did his "birding" at Leavenworth - not here

 an isolation cell

an outside wall - outside of isolation

Wednesday we went to the waterfront - Fisherman's Wharf - and lazed a bit, but took in the Cable Car Museum

I think the pics are on Karina's camera ... so can't show all the info - but DID YOU KNOW

the cable cars are run by a cable constantly running under the street at 9.5 miles per hour?  There are 4 510HP General Electric motors that covert energy to DC power to run the cable; and all four lines are run from the Cable Car Museum in the middle of the runs - the four lines are separate - one cable is 21K feet long the others vary from 8K to 10K.  The car is operated by two people the Gripman - who drops a mechanism beneath the street to "grip" the moving cable below; and a brakeman (who applied the brakes - four pieces of pine that fit on a brake shoe and must be replaced every 2-4 days!

 the Gripman's control

 the Gripman's lever

 the rails - center slot for the cable attachment

just a great ride! - we rode it every day to get to where we needed; (if your resolution is good, you can see the pine "Brake" under the dude with the white jacket)

Did some great walks - got off the Cable Car at Lombard Street ("crookedest street in the world"); walked downhill (whew) to Union Street (about a mile and then walked uphill (pant, pant) to get to Coit Tower.

 Lombard St.  8 swicthbacks in one block

 people drive it constantly

 from Coit Tower - Treasure Island (on the Oakland Bay Bridge)

 Coit Tower - the Golden Gate Bridge

 Coit Tower - financial district and beyond (our digs were about 4 blocks behind the Pyramid)

Coit Tower - Lombard Street

Friday Night we got to the Giants ballgame - sold out - 40,000+ fans;  
they won 2-1 in he bottom of the ninth;  great ballpark for families!

AT&T Park - Willie Mays Plaza

 the "Water-Boys" - out to catch the "splashes" over the right field fence (none hit our night)

 left field - the Coke Bottle is a kids slide

 the game - we were behind 3rd base

the win and right field wall

Karina and the Glove -  sounds like a novel, huh?

That's about it for today ... I'm sure I forgot many pieces, and  stories, and pictures - but these were the highlights.

Hope you enjoyed them!

From the left coast - and getting back to work - 

we love ya'

Karina and Dan