Thursday 31st July 2003 - San Francisco CA
After yet another long, cool, shower, a hearty breakfast and a big pot of tea at Fitzgerald's all-you-can-eat-for-a-few bucks restaurant, we left the sweltering, dry, desert heat of Reno and headed back through the Sierra Nevadas, to the more temperate climactic conditions of The City by The Bay.
Driving into San Francisco along the I-80 is a weird experience as you seem to be entering the city for ages. Obviously, you aren't, but it just seems to take forever, first traversing Oakland, then the Bay Bridge, past Alcatraz and into the city, the greater part of which, visibility permitting, is to the right. I couldn't get Journey's 'Lights' out of my head...
Driving into San Francisco along the I-80 is a weird experience as you seem to be entering the city for ages. Obviously, you aren't, but it just seems to take forever, first traversing Oakland, then the Bay Bridge, past Alcatraz and into the city, the greater part of which, visibility permitting, is to the right. I couldn't get Journey's 'Lights' out of my head...
Weather
San Francisco is unusual in that it has a freakish weather system which can change within minutes. One minute the Golden Gate Bridge is there, the next it is shrouded in fog; thick fog. Would I get to see it today?
I couldn't believe it. It was late by the time we hit 'the city' and the light was fading. Taking pictures from inside a moving vehicle is difficult enough at the best of times, but when it's going dark, it's even worse. Now, it was bloody raining and the fog was coming in. Mind you, it did give me a very moody picture of Alcatraz.
I couldn't believe it. It was late by the time we hit 'the city' and the light was fading. Taking pictures from inside a moving vehicle is difficult enough at the best of times, but when it's going dark, it's even worse. Now, it was bloody raining and the fog was coming in. Mind you, it did give me a very moody picture of Alcatraz.
San Francisco: A Dream, Realised
How long had I waited to visit San Francisco? Well, I'm forty now and I cannot remember a time when The City did not fascinate me. There is just so much about it that appeals. The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the top industrial construction projects of the modern world and the Oakland Bay Bridge isn't too shabby, either. I have followed the Oakland Raiders for the last twenty-odd years and I watched the team of the 80s, the 49ers win four Superbowls. One of my favourite novels is McTeague, much of which is set on Polk St; two of the best movies ever are Bullitt and The Towering Inferno; I love the music of the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Journey, Quicksilver Messenger Service, one of my all-time favourite songs is San Francisco Bay Blues by Jesse Fuller... Oh, I could go on and on about this (and I usually do) but one thing is for sure, San Francisco and the Bay Area entrances me. There was no way I was going to come all this way and not see something of it!
Ideally, of course, I wanted to visit Haight-Ashbury, 2400 Fulton St, the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, The Presidio, the 1000 block of Lombard St, Polk St, the Embarcadero, Coit Tower, Alcatraz, the list was endless, but I had a little more than four hours, something had to give. I had consulted my trusty 'Lonely Planet'guide on the drive down from Reno and had figured out that I wasn't going to be able to do everything but, I would be able to manage some of it, if I made judicious use of the local public transportation system.
Click here for the next bit
Ideally, of course, I wanted to visit Haight-Ashbury, 2400 Fulton St, the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, The Presidio, the 1000 block of Lombard St, Polk St, the Embarcadero, Coit Tower, Alcatraz, the list was endless, but I had a little more than four hours, something had to give. I had consulted my trusty 'Lonely Planet'guide on the drive down from Reno and had figured out that I wasn't going to be able to do everything but, I would be able to manage some of it, if I made judicious use of the local public transportation system.
Click here for the next bit