Walking Tour - California Street

The local news was going crazy over the evacuation of San Francisco's City Hall. There were three suspicious bags identified. Translation, traffic snarls, helicopters and potential delays on MUNI. It has been awhile since I've had just a day to meander at a slower pace and Frank wanted to do lunch at the Hi Dive, a little restaurant that is quite deceiving from outside appearances, so I decided to walk.

California Street is one of those streets that cuts the city almost coast to coast and being located in the middle, I opted to walk and chronicle my walk street by street. We recently downloaded the new Dixie Chicks album, the V for Vendetta soundtrack and Erasure's acoustical album, Union Street. Grabbing my iPod and checking the recently downloaded option, I took the chicks and erasure out for a walk. Over the course of my day, I walked passed major San Francisco landmarks, rode the underground tram and took a bus to finish off my adventure.

Pacific Heights - Webster to Van Ness

Turning away from Fillmore, I headed east on foot toward the ferry building with the camera in hand. Because the area is situated west of Van Ness, many of the buildings are original from the time of the 1906 earthquake. The scars on the street were obviously put there by choice and not destroyed by God, but since the buildings are not worth millions and millions of dollars, I like to think of them as California Street's results of bad plastic surgery. My favorite house is the half house, rumored to be one of the Hearst daughter's home, where the gothic arches curve into a 70's architecture nightmare; classic tackiness at its best.

There are gorgeous homes, though I had to laugh when I passed a dead futon, a couple a side chairs and a broken desk sitting on the sidewalk. Now in the Castro, we would call putting such things on the street as San Francisco Recycling, because within five minutes, the stuff would be gone. Unfortunately, it takes a little longer for items to find new homes and clutter in Pacific Heights is always a little more noticeable. Doing the walk on foot, it is easier to notice all of the construction taking place and see the improvements taking shape. It was time for a little coffee, so I dropped into Peet's coffee, got in line behind a bald female Buddhist monk and got a small coffee.

Heading up Nob Hill - Polk Street to Powell

Probably one of the most distinguishing features of San Francisco is the cable car. Tourists love to hang off the cars and pretend they are in the middle of a swooping ride down one of our infamous hills ... the workers are not as excited. I walked past the stop and headed down to Polk Street. The helicopters were still circling City Hall to my right.

Polk Street is one of those transition areas that starts around Van Ness and continues a couple of blocks up to Hyde Street. The homeless, the crazy, the elderly and the ethnic mix with the slightly confused tourists who thought they were heading to Fisherman's Wharf but dead ended at Van Ness. I caught site of the anti-Chris Daly campaign. Elections in San Francisco are always interesting but our friend Chris Daly is a unique individual with only the best interests (his own) in mind as he serves the city.

Nearing the top of the hill, The Masonic Memorial Temple is on my right and Grace Cathedral is on my left. I wander over to take a picture of the door to Grace Cathedral and to watch a man meditating with a gong through the labrynth. Hmm. Time to head down California street, past the hotels and catch a glimpse of the bay bridge and the transamerica building.

The Financial District

Descending past China Town, the feel and the pace quicken. People are in a hurry and while I dressed like a sweaty tourist (i.e. cargo shorts and shirt), styles range from the full suit to the sloppy. I shouldn't be judgemental but how do these people get jobs? Channel good thoughts ... channel good thoughts. Montgomery street is hectic and then everything slows down. It is 11:30 and the people have not been released for lunch!

I give Frank and call, walk past the future home of the MUNI museum and situate myself beneath the Bow and Arrow installation in front of the GAP headquarters. It is quiet. People are starting to emerge from their offices. Some folks are jogging, obviously not tied to a job at the time of day and a few tourists have wandered past the ferry building. We are an odd collection of early birds, awaiting the rush of the lunch hour crowds. Frank picks me up and we head over to the Hi Dive, which from appearances should be more "Dive" than anything else. Suprisingly chic inside, we enjoyed burgers and caught site of a seal swimming in the bay, his head bopping up periodically. Frank had to go back to work and I needed to pick up a birthday card for my father and the best place for original cards is in the Castro.

MUNI Home

If you were to trace my route, it would look like a giant triangle. California to Market, Market to Castro, Castro to California. Not a bad day. The MUNI underground is always an adventure and surprisingly crowded at that time of day. I boarder, found a seat and a young clean cut man got on and sat across from me. Now, unlike the pierced goth financial district workers, this man had a clean hair cut, was freshly shaved, wore brown khaki pants and had a pressed white shirt. And then the MUNI car started to move. My boy lit up like a Republican getting a free blow job on a business trip from the hot chick in the office. He giggled. He chirped. He swayed back and forth, clapping his hands together. Again, I felt bad for being judgemental, but his joy was a bit much and it didn't stop. The train light from the next train got him to jump up and down. Needless to say, I was glad when my stop appeared and I was able to exit the free entertainment. Of course, I was entering the Castro, another area known for free entertainment!

I was on a mission and quickly secured the cards, then got on the 24 Divisadero home. Many babies are cute, some are not, but mothers who tease their children, who then elicit great cries of agony are REALLY NOT CUTE!!!!! Isn't it fun to put a cracker in front of the baby and then pull it away when he reaches for it? Isn't it cute? Isn't it? Who wants a cracker? Who? Ooh. You need to be faster? Who wants a cracker? Now why are you crying? Shut up? You're not going to get a cracker by making all that noise!

I realize elections are just a few months away, but if someone, anyone, would run on the platform that in order to raise a child, you must A) go to a parenting class (and pass) and B) have the child put up for adoption if the parent is unfit ... I would vote for them. There are more regulations on adopting a cat from the SPCA than there are to have a child. Crazy. But what do I know? It was a full afternoon and my Irish nose is all the shinier for the adventure.

6 Minute Review

Here are pictures and the Dixie Chicks.

The Tourist Update - May

Built before I was born ... the Golden Gate Bridge is one of those icons that symbolize San Francisco. And since this is the opening weekend of X-Men III and Magneto destroys the bridge and moves it to Alcatraz, we thought it might be a good day to take a drive across the bay. For those of you who are unable to distinguish between fantasy and fiction ... the bridge is still there!

My friend Jens Peter from Denmark is in town for a conference so we took a little day trip across the bridge, over to the light house at Point Bonita and then had lunch in Tiburon. It was sunny and bright and my nose is a rosy pink. My father would be proud. We did not go straight to the lighthouse, opting to stop at the bunker at the top of the hill. A word of warning, the outhouses are not maintained and I swear there are remnants from the time when the darn things were installed. NASTY.

On our way to the lighthouse, Frank spotted a "celebrity" - a celebrity from the first Real World New York series on MTV. Norm is featured at the end of the You Tube clip below. Considering the fact that the celebrity was also sighted the day before at breakfast, one can only assume that he was doing the tourist thing like us. Small city.

It was a gorgeous day and very little wind. After a quick tour, we headed to Tiburon to have lunch at Sam's out on the deck, but it seems that many other people had the same idea and we didn't feel like waiting 90 minutes to get a sandwich. It was off to Guaymas for some traditional Mexican food and some nasty people in line. I'm always amused at how bent out of shape people get. There we were waiting to put our names in and two bicyclists were steaming because two other people just walked in and sat down in the bar area at a free table. The injustice. The bitchy little woman was steaming and when told politely by the hostess that it would be 30 minutes ... informed the whipped man she was with that they should eat someplace else. Ooh, such punishment. We had lunch on the roof deck and thoroughly enjoyed our meal and I have to admit that I'm glad psycho woman wasn't there because I'm in a mood to get into other people's business!!!

The video has a few issues ... I've been playing with some new software and somehow cannot remove the country folk music I added ... things to learn.

Boys Bowling Night II

Have you ever wanted a little time to bowl with your friends? Maybe have a beer? Pizza? Karaoke? Then you may want to spend an evening at Sierra Bowl in Serramonte, Ca.

Friends of John organized a night of bowling and besides a pair of ripped pants and an aching back the following day, a good time was had by all. I'm looking forward to Boys Bowling Night III.