Oct 7, 2008

San Francisco: More, so much More of my Excellent Adventure

My first day waking in San Francisco I began to parallel David Blaine's 60 hours suspended upside down on the east coast with my 72 hours right-side up on the west coast. It was a study of opposites. East/West. Upside down/Upright. Starving/Gorging. He was all over the news/I was not. You get it. - Inexplicably, he was never far from my mind.
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Coffee to the People is on Haight, the birthplace of hippies and beatniks. I never got there, but thought I should include it in my memoirs.
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I began each day with breakfast at Pergamino's Cafe on Columbus. You need to go there just for the Pomegrante/Blueberry juice. Heavenly.
And what a surprise - the outside waiter was from Germany! Woo hoo, I got to speak German again. We talked a little and he told me all the hot spots to hit in Prague.
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To the left is a typical street in San Francisco. This was probably Powell, near Union Square. We were taking a cable car across town.
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Obviously, taking the cable car is a must-do. Take it both during the day and at night. (Be warned: The drivers aren't too friendly and they are not concerned with time or schedules.)
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This is Coit Tower, as seen from the bay. You can get on various ferries at Pier 41 and take audio tours and ferry rides to Sausalito , Tiburon, Angel Island and Alcatraz. An audio walking tour of Alcatraz is a must for first timers.
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I always take a few ferry rides because I like to be on the water. Tiburon is less developed than Sausalito. If you're looking for shopping, go to Sausalito. If you're looking for peace and a nice restaurant on the water, hit Tiburon.


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The best thing to do in San Francisco is to rent a bike near Fisherman's Wharf, ride over the Golden Gate Bridge,ride down into Sausalito, over into Tiburon, then take your bike and your butt on the ferry back to Fisherman's Wharf. It's not a unique idea. You will be among hundreds of tourists, pot-bellies pedaling away, but it's still worth it.
This is a small harbour in front of Ghirardeli's. There's a tiny beach (about 2 feet) of sand where locals come to swim when they can tolerate the cold water. You can usually see swimmers exercising here in wet suits and bathing caps.
See the Golden Gate in the fog? Happy Pappy.
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The Twins.
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These ladies are awesome. Hilarious. Spunky. They own a nice shop near Union Square and we spoke with one of them on a previous visit. They must practice walking around town, because every step was in-sync, as was their posture. You see Sir Francis Drake respectfully allowing them to pass.
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So, OK, the last picture for today.

The marina at night. Tom S. and I strolled around in the twilight, hand in hand, savoring the waterfront. (If you're on the waterfront at dinner time, you must eat at Scoma's.)

In a day or two, I will finish my San Francisco Memoirs. Sad, I know.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pictures of the west coast. Now if you can only get your hubby to take a business trip to the east coast of Maine around this time of year you could get some beautiful pictures of trees in full color and wonderful shots of the Maine coastline.

Poof said...

Welcome back, Driftwood, we missed you!

Anonymous said...

I'm glad somebody missed me.