Day 8: Coit Tower, Lombard Street, Cable Car Museum

Friday, June 11th, 2010


Exhausted after 2 arduous days and a nasty case of sunburn, I decided to take it easy today. Since I pass Coit Tower between my hotel and the Embarcadero where all the action is, I figured I should go investigate it myself. Those of you who are fans of The Amazing Race may recall that this past season (19?) two of the things they had to do took place at Coit Tower and at Battery Spencer, both places I've now visited.



Coit Tower was built in 1933. It is 210 feet tall. The elevator ride to the top was worth the $5 if only for the photos, which you will find on the Day 8 Photos Page.

Conveniently, Coit Tower is located at one end of Lombard Street, part of which is known as the Crookedest Street in the World. In fact, it is clearly visible from atop the tower.



People DO live on Lombard Street and it IS a public road. In fact it is among the most desirable real estate in the city.

As you can see from this photo, quite a few people drive down the street. It is one-way downhill.

I decided to walk down to Lombard Street. I didn't actually go to the bottom, though, because, well, simply put, it was much easier to photograph it from far away than right up close. And besides that, after all the walking these past 3 days no amount of coaxing or cajoling would make me walk up that hill!


To give you an idea just how steep the streets are, take a look at this. If your house is wide enough the right side would be ground level and the left side two stories high.


And NO space is wasted. As seen from this photo atop the tower, most houses have roof top decks, many quite elaborate. What is missing from this city that you see in most other major cities are swimming pools. In fact I did not see one swimming pool during my visit. My hotel has one on the roof, but I did not come here to swim.




From the bottom of Lombard St, the Mason Line of the cable cars will take you right to the Cable Car Museum at Washington and Mason. This is also the building where the cars live at night when they don't run and the building where the cables are powered from.

Day 7: Alcatraz

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

It must have been something like torture for the inmates on Alcatraz Island to sit in their cells or out in the recreation yard and be able to see San Francisco and all of its life just 1 mile away. Indeed, from the island it looks like just a short swim but of course, nature has her own plans. You see, there is an enormous amount of water in the Bay, and the bays and inlets surrounding the San Francisco area and twice a day, all of that water makes its way out and back to the ocean. It does this through the only natural opening it has: the Golden Gate. What I am getting at is that the currents running through this body of water almost defy the imagination. Watch, for example, the huge cargo ship trying to make its way into the bay on an outgoing tide. It's like pushing a car uphill with a rope. The mighty motors struggle and strain and yet the ship moves so slowly it appears to be standing still. That same ship bound for the ocean in an outgoing tide would hardly even need its motors and tugs the current is so strong. So, it's a pretty safe bet that the only 3 men ever known to have made it to and into the water were never seen or heard from again. No surprise at all.

I find it highly ironic that we now use this space a recreation. We actually PAY to go there, and good money too. I found the place to be interesting. The juxtaposition of the modern and the old, the current with the past. The fact that the staff's families lived on the island in houses and apartments that were just yards from some of the most hardened criminals ever to disgrace humanity is almost incomprehensible. The innocence of the children who were raised on Alcatraz is (likely) starkly opposed to the constant state of nerves their parents must have felt for that time. Were they (the children) COMPLETELY insulated from what was going on around them? Were they in fact also inmates of a sort? I mean, they lived freely but within a fenced compound. There was no place to ride bikes or skateboards. No field to fly a kite. No beach to take a swim. No movies for the rainy windy days. Yet, freedom was just a 12 minute ferry ride away. I wonder how life on Alcatraz affected those people.

Alcatraz means Pelican in Spanish. Odd. I didn't see a single pelican while I was on the island. I saw about two hundred and fifty million sea gulls, though. And if not the gulls themselves then surely the evidence of where they had once sat.


Overall, my impression of Alcatraz is that I am glad I did the tour. I have memories now that can only be gotten in one way: to go there and actually do it. You've heard it a million times: photos don't do it justice. It's true of course. A photo of an 8x8x7 cell show how it looked, but there is no way to know how it was. And hopefully, there never will be.

Day 6: The City by the Bay

Wednesday June whatever, who cares, I'm on vacation.

Today. Well, actually yesterday if you must know... I was just too tired to blog last night. Here's why:

Woke up this morning and had a bagel and a schmere and some good strong coffee at a little local place. Headed down the hill to the Embarcadero. Walked along the Embarcadero to Pier 39 then on to Fisherman's Wharf. There must be 100 restaurants all serving... you guessed it... fish. Crabs. All sorts of beasties. How is one to decide. Well, I didn't because I had just eaten a bagel, remember?

So after the Fisherman's wharf the waterfront trail goes through Fort Mason, an old brick and mortar battery for defending the harbor in WWI and WWII. Anyway, it was weird to see that right up against the Ghirardelli Chocolcate company. On through, or should I say over, Fort Mason and you come to the Marina. The homes along this road must be worth millions. Every one is more beautiful than the last. Oddly, they all have really large glass windows. I would have thought the storms and high winds would mean smaller windows but again, who am I?

The Marina itself is almost a mile long and at its end is Chrissy Field. It's a really big park with a preserved tidal marsh land in the middle. I ate lunch at the Warming Hut, at the gift shop for Chrissy field. I'm becoming a fan of Panini.

So the Warming Hut is almost literally in the shadow of the bridge but in fact its a switchback up to the level of the bridge so more climbing. This city is all about climbing. Up to the top and onto the bridge. Here's something I did not anticipate... the whole thing moves. Perceptibly. It was unbelievably windy as well. Had I had the forethought to wear a hat it would probably have ended up in the bay. More on that later.

Across the bridge is a monument area and a place where you can walk under the bridge. On the other side is Marin County Park, that spot where all the awesome pictures you've ever seen of the bridge are taken. There is also a military outpost up there called Battery Spencer. It is where the past season of Amazing Race ended.

Back to the bridge, all the way back and I am proud to say I walked the whole way both ways. By my count, close to 20 miles. On the way back I stopped at Fisherman's Wharf, which has a South Street thing going at night and had fresh Clam Chowder in a bread bowl. Amazing. Eat the soup then eat the bowl.
When I finally made it back to my room I was too tired to blog. I took amazing pictures, which I will post here when I've had the time to sort them.

Here's one:This is me at Battery Spencer in Marin County Park on the South end of the Golden Gate Bridge, approximately 3:00 pm Wednesday June 9, 2010

Day 5 - last day on the train for now.

Woke this morning in Pacific time. My cell phone did not, however. It was still in Mountain time. So, when I went to the dining car for breakfast at what I thought was 6:30 they were not even anywhere near ready to serve. Then I realized my error and went back and had coffee in the sleeper instead. I always keep food with me in the train in case this happens.

Sunrise took place in the east. Imagine that. It was amazing over the Sierra Nevada, which we had begun to climb at that time. We went through the towns of Sparks and Reno and I saw the famous Mustang Ranch. The climb over the Sierra Nevada took us through the Donner Pass and I got some excellent shots of Donner Lake which is quite beautiful. As we descended into the San Joachin valley for the almost dead-straight shot to Sacramento we went from snow cover to 90 degrees in about 1/2 hour.

I had the pleasure to meet to elderly ladies on the train during meal service last night. Rose, who is a young 84 and Josephine (Jo) who is 80. What wonderful senses of humor they had as they told us stories of the trouble they used to start when they were younger. Jo asked for AND WAS GIVEN by her sons a gift of a white water raft ride through the Grand Canyon for her 80th birthday! These were a couple of really neat ladies and I am happy to have met them.

The train was almost an hour ahead of schedule arriving into Emeryville. The bus to the Pier and then a taxi to the hotel took up another hour and I arrived at the Hilton in the Financial District at 4:00pm. I am on the 7th floor. My view is of the tall surrounding buildings. The Transamerica Pyramid building is behind the one I'm in right now.

I took a pot shot and had dinner at the first Chinese Restaurant that had their door open and it wasn't bad. No shock there. The hotel is smack in the middle of China town on all sides. If you want anything Chinese it is here. I will be exploring that area in greater depth on Friday.

After dinner I decided a short walk down to the Embarcadero would be a nice way to familiarize myself with the area and boy did that work out. My little 5 block walk turned into a 3 mile walk that took me all the way to Pier 39, the main pier and where all the attractions are.

Then it was back to my room and a quick Skype to home but I'm exhausted and can hardly keep my eyes open. I'm even too tired to make links to everything in the post. I'll catch up tomorrow after spending the day walking across, around, over, under and otherwise in the general vicinity of the Golden Gate Bridge. That is, if I still have an ounce of strength left after that day.

Following the Colorado River

For the first time in recorded history I am without words. There ARE no words that can describe the amazing scenery along this trip. Presently we are at a station stop in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. As I type this, the Colorado River flows mere feet from my train. The mountains contain every color of the rainbow and a beauty that must be seen to be appreciated.

I had the fortune to find an open window in the lower part of my sleeper car. Since my car is the first car in the train, there is no reason for anyone to come up here unless they are in this car. So, for about an hour I had the open window all to myself and recorded video as we went through a couple of really scenic canyons. That video is far too large to post here. When I have edited it, I will post it and place a link here.

We are rolling again. Next stop is Grand Junction, Colorado. That will be after dinner. I better run before I lose my signal!

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to my first ever attempt at blogging. I will post pictures, videos, and general thoughts about my coast-to-coast vacation for 2010.

ALL LINKS ON THIS BLOG WILL OPEN IN A NEW BROWSER WINDOW. CLOSE THE NEW WINDOW WHEN FINISHED TO RETURN TO THIS EXACT SPOT.

My trip begins Friday, June 4, 2010 with a 746 mile drive from Boyertown, PA to Lockport, IL to visit my friend of 34 years, Neil. From there, I am boarding Amtrak's California Zephyr in Naperville, IL and riding all the way to San Francisco! 52 hours in case you were wondering. Along the way we will pass through Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, Reno, Lake Tahoe, Sacramento and the Mojave Desert. The train follows the path of the original Transcontinental Railroad pretty closely and even uses much of the same right-of-way the original did, including the stretch that takes us through the Donner Pass. We will have to restrain ourselves not to eat one another.

View the complete rail guide here.

This is the official Amtrak Timetable. Outbound is the left column, inbound the right.
Summary of the Route

Once in San Francisco I will spend 4 days exploring the city. One day will be spent walking across the Golden Gate Bridge. One day will be spent at Alcatraz. The last two days are open to whatever sounds interesting while I am there. Muir Woods maybe? China Town... Fisherman's Wharf... Lombard Street... so much to do, so little time. And I MUST ride a cable car. San Francisco is the only city on Earth that still has cable cars.

The return trip is also on Amtrak... I hope I get a room on the same side of the train so I can see what I missed on the outbound trip. Once back in Lockport, I'll visit for a few days before making the trek home.