In the City

We got up at about 7:30 with intentions of heading "uptown" around 9:00. You have probably heard the old saying about the best laid plans of mice and men, so in actual fact we caught the train north at 10:47

We had investigated the protocol the previous evening, and parked the car and got our tickets for the CalTrain. This train would drop us off right downtown and we could navigate around from there.

The station looks like a throwback to traditional train stations however it  is really only a ticket vending area. In fact, each of the stations has a different flavor in architectural style.

We looked down the track and in a couple minutes we could see the headlight of the train coming north. As it approached I noticed that of the people waiting on our platform, none seemed to be particularly interested in the approaching train. Then, with horrified fascination I looked across to the opposite platform and noticed the passengers their gathering their belongings and making ready.

You guessed it, we were on the wrong platform. I notified Scooterchick we had to get across, and we started heading for the end of the block to cross. As we walked, the train grew closer. We accelerated our perambulation, as the train approached. We broke into a jog, as we could hear the dinging of the bell, and Pat said we aren't going to make it. I said we can do it, as we broke into a wheezy run, we can make it. Scooterchick said we aren't going to make it. I replied come on baby, come in baby, come on baby!! We crossed over and approached the train and the conductor was holding the door for us. We got onto the train and collapsed in our seats.

I was winded and Pat was puffing and blowing and insisting, I'll just have my heart attack now and get it over with. Soon enough though we were able to recover our breath and wits and enjoy the scenery.

Pat asked me please to make sure we were on the right platform in future. I hastened to assure her I would double check next time, and every time after that.

Here is another station viewed through a dirty train window. The architecture on this one is much more colonial spanish. I like the way they put variety in each station, instead of adhering to a rigid formula like some other transit systems.

The track passes alongside Brisbane Lagoon on the way north. Hwy 101 passes on the other side of the lagoon. It looks very peaceful in the late morning light.

We come around a bend and see the city approaching. Technically we are approaching the city , but you know what I mean.

There is a lot of mosaic work in the area. This is the side of a building that has an arty feel to it.

when we got off the CalTrain at the city terminal, we set about arranging our urban transportation. The last time I was here the SF Muni. system offered a 3 day pass, but this has morphed into what is called a Clipper Card. We go two cards and loaded them with some transportation with the help of Jonnie, an employee at the Walgreen's which was our first stop.

I looked back briefly to take this picture of the train station, before we boarded a bus for downtown.

Here is a picture of one of the urban canyons we saw when we got off at Market St. So far we haven't seen too much, but bear with me, it gets more interesting from here.

This is the Chase bank building. It was built in 1907. Almost all the buildings in Downtown San Francisco date from 1907-8 or newer since 90% of the city was destroyed in the earthquake of 1906 and the fires which raged unchecked after it. The city had to be rebuilt from then onwards, and still maintains a young city feel.

We stopped in Starbucks briefly for coffee and cake, before proceeding. This outlet was full of people, and over 80% of them were, like us using some sort of wireless device. I did see one woman reading a book, but she occasionally glanced around nervously as though someone might disapprove.

Just next door to Starbucks is the Hearst building. When you think that it was a scant 100 years ago, that William Randolph Hearst built an empire based on his newspaper business and real estate holdings, and now we are in the digital age. Ask yourself this question. Do you even know someone who subscribes to a daily newspaper any more? I don't.

Lotta's fountain was donated to the city of San Francisco by Lotta Crabtree in 1875. it is  Cast Iron about 12 feet tall and served as a rally point for emergency workers during the earthquake of 1906.

Even the lampposts in the Historic Downtown district are adorned, which hearken back to a time when form followed artistic sensibility and not just function. This one has a native american on horseback and a dog and cat on the lower pediment. You can see Scooterchick doing something with her camera in the background.

This is Union Square. It's hard to believe that this area was once a tall sand dune, and was set aside by the city fathers for a park in 1850. The monument is a tribute to American Navy Sailors. Once a rallying point for troops assembling to fight the American Civil War, it is now a rallying point for San Franciscans, tourists and pigeons alike.

Here is my beloved, all smiles at the prospect of visiting on of the locations in her computer game "Big City Adventure - San Francisco". As you can see the sun is out, and it is almost overmatched by the radiance of her smile.

I had a few Shredded Wheat Squares in a bag in my pocket and the Scooterchick crushed them up o feed the birds. Needless to say, the birds were very much in favor of this exercise.

Here are your two intrepid travelers basking in the sun. We took a couple minutes to think about our next move, and to enjoy the warming rays. I already have my jacket off, hey it's over 60 F. sitting here.

We exited the square on the opposite side and saw our first cable car. we walked down the hill to the end of the line so Pat could see how they turn the cars around.

Passing the corner of Victory Square, I saw a field of flowers, just waiting for their picture to be taken. OK I'll oblige you.

As we walked to the Powell Street terminus, I noticed this strange "bird" in a flowerbed. It was the only one in bloom, so I thought it picture worthy.

This is the procedure when the cable car reaches it's terminus. at the right side of the picture you will see a small handle. The car is rolled onto the turntable by hand and brought to a stop. The handle is pulled and then the conductor and brakeman push the car as it turns around 170 degrees. The turntable chock drops into place and the car is rolled off, again by hand so that people in line can board, while the conductor resets the rail for the next car to arrive.

Here we can see the car rotating. Old technology that still works flawlessly year round.

Here we see the conductor and brakeman getting ready to set the car for the next load of passengers.

The passengers are kept in line by stanchions and cable. This is a section of the actual cable used to propel the cars at a steady 12 mph uphills. It needs to be changed periodically to maintain safety regulations, even though the cable is capable of withstanding far more load than it ever sees.

This is a notable San Francisco establishment. I searched in vain for historical references. I do know it has a place in story and film and it recognizable as an SF landmark.

As we crest the hill and head down towards Aquatic Park, the end of the line for the Powell Street Line, you can see Alcatraz Island in the distance. Alcatraz is a National Park Service site, and they offer audio tours inclusive of ferry fares.

This is a common sight in San Francisco. Because space is at a premium, bay widows are used to increase floor space and light coming in to upper stories.

Same building as previous picture, and one can see the circular tower windows on the corner.
Each building seemed to be in competition with the next to provide the most late Victorian decorative touches.

These 3 cable cars are lined up to go on the turntable at aquatic park. Since they seem to run every 10 minutes or so, this backlog will be cleared up soon.

Here is a plaque that gives details of the exploration of San Francisco Bay. It is interesting to see details of the foundation of a metropolis in the earliest stages. 

Across the street is Ghirardelli Square. The chocolate company was started by Domingo Ghirardelli in 1852 and they have been making the chocolate ever since. The original factory site is now a trendy collection of shops, restaurants, services and tony condos.

A row of planters features flowers and flowering shrubs on the plaza at Ghirardelli Square.

This is the clock tower and part of the original manufactory. Keep in mind that in the 1850's many people did not carry a timepiece with them, and clocks throughout the city would chime to let area residents and passersby stay current with the hour. This would also signal lunch hours and quitting time. It was not below the occasional unscrupulous boss to keep the clocks set 3-4 minutes late to get an extra couple minutes work out of employees.

This is a picture looking towards the courtyard and shows what was the cocoa building which is now condos. There is a listing here currently, 3bd. 3 ba. for only $3,400,000. What a bargain.

Her is another view of the plaza.

There is a firepit inside the square, and we rested our weary tootsies, and discussed dinner possibilities. The rested and warmed we continued on our way . 

Someone suggested we check out North Beach for dinner, so we hopped a #30 bus and roda a few block and got off at Washington Square. There was a small pond by the bus stop.

There was even a bronze statue of Ben Franklin drinking water by temperance activist and artist Henry J Cogswell. It was first erected in Market Street in 1879 and moved here in 1907 after the fire.

Here is the pond the statue is adjacent to. The water flows from the statue into the pond, and it is a reminder of the streams which once ran through this area.

There is even a small statue of the state mascot, the California Golden Bear guarding the park.

By now the hour was drawing late,and we were looking for something to eat. Nothing here.

Aha, we thought. a restaurant called Sushi Fighter, which acclaimed itself San Francisco's top rated sushi restaurant. Being sushi fans we entered without trepidation.

Yeah, perhaps we should have held on to that trepidation a little bit longer. This was a dish called a Volcano Roll. It was recommended as one of their most popular dishes. While Scooterchick and I both agreed it had some spice to it, Spice is no substitute for taste.

The tempura was unimaginative and greasy, Hey, change the oil!!!

The California Roll and Smoked Salmon Roll were nothing if not run of the mill.
Seriously if this is the best San Francisco has to offer, let me introduce you to some sushi chefs in BC who can show you just how mediocre and unappetizing your offerings really are....no really!

Scooterchick seems more interested in her dining companion than the dismal sushi we received. Thank you baby for being so tolerant of substandard offerings.

Leaving the restaurant we saw a true San Francisco native. I'm not sure if this is a 61 or 62 but I recognized it immediately. You probably do too, but i'll give you a front 1/4 view to confirm your suspicions.

That's right it's an MGA. It has been stripped as though someone originally started a restoration. Missing (in order from front to rear) are bumper and bumperettes, turn signals, badging , rear view wing mirror, hood flashings, wipers, door trim, rear deck trim and rear bumper. This one is an original condition survivor and looks like a daily driver. All one can say to the owner of a car like this is "carry on then" and don't let any hater tell you otherwise.

Across the street  and in the middle distance we could see the Coit Tower.

At the other end of Washington Park, the church of St. Peter and St. Paul was accenting the city skyline.

We made our way to the Embarcadero, and caught a streetcar. A little sleuthing on this one indicates that it is probably a Peter Witt car, so named after it's designer, and it first saw service in Milan Italy in the 1920's. Still in service today.

This however is the tram on which we rode. Some simple investigation, revealed by the name plate over the front door, showed that this car entered service in 1941. 

It first saw service on the municipal line of Philadelphia Pennsylvania. As you can see it is still doing yeoman duty on the other side of the continent.

Having caught our southbound train back to Redwood City, the last photo of the night is the Oakland Bay Bridge as we head for some much needed rest.

We got back to the hotel and I managed to download my pictures but very little else, which is why I am now finishing this post on the evening of the following day. We have another busy day tomorrow, and if I can keep my head off the pillow a little longer, I'll tell you about today later.........cheers

Headed to the Bay Area

We didn't have as far to drive today, so we slept in a little before having breakfast. We ate and checked out around 9 a.m. and headed for the highway.

On the building across the street I was intrigued to see the firm of Quad Knopf. I don't know what a Knopf is and why a Quad version is better than a Triple, Dual or even a Single Knopf. This is just one of those mysteries I can find more humor in than the inevitable mundane truth.

We drove for about 3/4 of an hour before stopping. We stopped at a Chevron Station, and this was the view across the street. Although we knew we were in the San Joaquin Valley, we felt as if we were back in Texas, it was that flat.

After another hour or so we stopped at the Romero Visitor center, on the San Luis Rey Reservoir.
This reservoir was built starting in 1962 and was finished in 1967. A combined project of the Federal and State Government it impounds 2,518,000,000 cubic meters of water. An entire valley has been dammed and water arrives in the O'Neill forebay via the California Aqueduct and the Delta- Mendota Canal a total of 667 miles. It is pumped up and into the reservoir in periods of low water usage and drawn down when usage is higher. This water is then sold to farmers and towns in the San Joaquin Valley.

This is a memorial to 2 commercial divers who died while working on the project in regular maintenance. It is fitting that they should be immortalized in this plaque of remembrance.

The reservoir is about 40 feet low at present. The snow melt on Mount Shasta might provide enough water to fill the reservoir, but there is an ongoing disagreement between farmers and ecologists and the farmers are getting less water allocation every year. Since California provides over 50% of all fruits, vegetables and nuts in the United States yearly, they need the water for their crops, and have implemented as many water saving measures as they can, and switched crops to less labor intensive ones. Still the water allocations are dropping as more domestic demand is required and less is coming down from the mountains every year.

Here is a photo of 2 wind blown wanderers. We were glad to soak up a little sun and take a break for a while. The Lake is very picturesque, and the Romero Visitor Center very informative about the history and current culture of the area.

One can see across the reservoir to the verdant and rolling hills on the far side. There are striped bass in the reservoir, and the current record stands at 90 lb., caught in the O'Neill forebay.

A quick visit to the facilities prior to our departure showed a poster affixed on the wall near the sink. One doesn't often think of where the water comes from.

We continued driving until about an hour later we started to see signs for "Casa de Fruta." The signs were sufficiently enticing to pique my interest.

Casa de Fruta was established as an orchard starting in 1908 and now includes Casa de all kinds of stuff, in a village they have built to accommodate it. It includes Casas de RV park, fuel, wine, sweets, fruits, restaurant, miniature train and carousel. It is a very large property with many farming antiques everywhere. Here is a picture from inside one of the buildings. It appeared everything was for sale at Casa de Todos.

This is a picture of an olive tree. we both decided to try one right off the tree.....big mistake....huge. The taste was very sour and the aftertaste mouth puckeringly bitter. I would heartily recommend against your trying it to determine just how truly awful raw olives are!!!

Oh I forgot to mention it was also Casa de huge flowering Mimosa Tree!

This was a display of  necklaces/ it caught my eye with the sun shining through.

This was a water feature outside Case de Restaurant. Shouldn't it be Casa de Mangare?

 Here is the adorable Scooterchick. We had a lovely chat with the restaurant manager. We

 eventually settled on Cheese steak sandwiches.

I thought a picture of the place mat might be apropos.

As usual, I no sooner snapped the pic in question, when Scooterchick copied me.

Here is the cheesesteak. It was a pretty decent sandwich. Too much bread, but there you go.

This is the passageway between Casa de Restaurant, and Casa de Frutas.

This old Dodge truck was inside the fruit stand. How cool is that?.............pretty cool!

This is a  shot of the instrument panel of the truck. It shows 43,251 miles on the odometer, but it doesn't say how many times around the clock it traveled before it ended up as decor rather than utility.

Outside the fruit stand there was a waterwheel, and the concept was that one would purchase bags of sand inside, then screen the sand to see what treasures they produced. Naturally the sand was "salted" with small polished rocks of various types, as there was a chart for the young "miners" to identify their "treasures".

Now this here is the "Real McCoy". It is a retired rear tine tiller. It harks back at least to the 40's or 50's because that's about when they first started to put rubber tires on them. How many miles were patiently walked behind this marvel, coaxing good produce from the earth for the tables of America?

There was a duck pond being constantly refilled by the artesian spring that watered the property. The extent of this Casa de Empire is not readily discernible but includes the original farm and  orchards as well as much more farmland and other property near Hollister and Gilroy. apparently the Casa de Todos philosophy worked well for them. Hard working success is always good to see and enjoy.

Somehow it seems cleaner than the making of millions shuffling paper back and forth and inflating values or displacing workers variety. Just a personal observation.

We must have spoken at length with 6 or more employees, and all seemed thrilled to work there, It was really a big family atmosphere, inviting and friendly.

I suppose this could be called Casa de Carousel under renovation.

The property is large enough that they have their own train. It wasn't in operation while we were there, but it takes 15 minutes to make the loop.

Here is another water feature outside the train station. It seems there are many of these scattered liberally throughout the property. Considering the summer temperatures in the Pacheco Pass, it probably helps to establish a micro climate.

Another fountain with a happy visitor in attendance. we really enjoyed our time there, wandering around looking at all the things they had on display. The food was pretty good too!!

We continued on our way through Gilroy and west on CA152 until we turned north to join 101. Things started to get interesting as we passed more built up areas on our way into San Jose (do you know the way?) and I saw another sweeping sculpture in concrete. Oh save me,.......... what a beauteous swoop of engineering and solidity.

We turned off 101 and pulled into our city of destination for the night. After we checked in I walked back out to the street to snap a picture of El Camino Real. This picture also shows the intersection where what has come to be known as "the ramming incident" took place.

While we were stopped at a light we were rammed from behind by an urban hipster in an aged Cadillac. Since he made contact with the rails of the trailer, I wouldn't be surprised if he had 2 channel iron shaped holes in his plastic bumper fascia. We were amused more than anything else, as he beat a hasty retreat.

Here is another view of El Camino Real. It is 4 lanes of busyness all day long. 

Here are our digs for the next few days. The plan is to go to the city today, visit with Pat's brother tomorrow, go to the San Jose Flea Market on Sunday, and then return to our room to watch the big show. We are rooting for the Niners of course.

Apparently the folks at Comfort Inn are rooting for the Niners as well. What, wait a minute. It appears that they are only rooting for one of the Forty-Niners, and they are't telling us which one.

Although we requested a ground floor room, there are none.  Everything is on the 2nd. or 3rd. floor, with parking on the ground. Here is a happy girl, now that we have found our home for the next couple days. The room is average, but the location is great.

Inside the corridors, there are plantings and skylites. A nice touch, gives a feeling of spaciousness.

There is a row of redwoods along the parking lot. These juveniles if left to their own devices will end up being 250 feet tall and 12-18 feet through. It will only take several hundred years for this to occur.

The hour grew late and our stomachs grew empty....what to eat? We wet looking for one restaurant, but ended up somewhere else when we couldn't find the first one.

The menu was of necessity Cajun. What to order? Let's see.

While I am making my selection, the indomitable Scooterchick seems to have found something to her liking. They had a Buttermilk Brined Fried Chicken, and so help me, the chef knew what he was doing. He got a good scald on it, it was juicy and crispy at the same time, and not drowned in salt as s many fried chickens are.

I settled for a Shrimp Fennel Bisque. You can pretty well guarantee that if there is any type of seafood bisque on the menu, I'm going to want to get myself around some.

I followed that up with Bacon Wrapped Oysters, fried crispy and served up with some baby mesculun greens and a lemon remoulade. Oh yeah!!

I did leave room for beignets. These were served up hot with banana, strawberry and whipped cream. They were light, not over sweet and just delicious. Mes compliments a le chef! Quelqu'un artiste!

This little Mardi Gras goer was at the entrance to the restaurant, inviting us to return. Perhaps we will.

After leaving Creo-La we drove around and sightsaw. Here are some sights....see?

 This street was lined with lights and many more interesting looking shops and eateries.

We even drove up the hill and I managed to get a night shot over the city, which after a little judicial massaging is worthy of posting for your viewing pleasure

And so our day ends. We came back to the hotel, and blogged until our weary eyes would not stay open any longer. We head into the city today. Until next time.......adios.