Make my Trip

Twelve Mile Circle traveled to San Francisco, California this week. I don’t have much time to enjoy many of the sites, thought. Unfortunately the sun sets early this time of year. That gives me maybe a half-hour each afternoon after a full day stuck in an office building.

My touring record isn’t very good on this trip even within those constraints. Work completely took over any opportunities to explore. Today it was already nearly dark when I trudged from the office, snapping cellphone photographs along the way. That explains the poor quality and lighting on the images below.


Cable Cars

San Francisco Cable Car. Photo by howderfamily.com; (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

What would San Francisco be without its famous cable cars? Well, lots of things actually. But surely these endearing throwbacks to a bygone era come to mind as iconic images of this city. These particular cars queue up at the base of Powell & Market. In this image they prepare to enter a turntable so they can head back uphill. The spot where this happens appears as the circular feature in the middle of the road in this satellite image.

Cable cars in San Francisco date back to the 1870’s. Here they form part of the last manually-operated system in existence anywhere. It’s quite fascinating. Cables running under the street pull the cars. This means that they operate almost silently so I’m being extra careful when I cross the streets.

The gripman moves a lever that grabs the underground cable when it’s time to move along the route. Then they unhook from the cable when it’s time to stop. I guess I should be grateful that a cable car line runs right by my hotel. Otherwise I might not get to see anything touristy on this trip. I know, quit whining.


Union Square

Union Square in San Francisco. Photo by howderfamily.com; (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Union Square is a couple of blocks further up Powell Street. Sunset rapidly approached by the time I arrived so I snapped this photo without delay. It’s not yet Thanksgiving which means it’s time to put up the Christmas tree. I guess I shouldn’t complain — most of the stores back home put up Christmas decorations even before Halloween this year.

Actually I rather enjoyed this. Nothing says Christmas quite like palm trees and a giant conifer. A temporary outdoor ice skating rink sat on the other side of the park, just outside of this photo. I kid you not. It got well up into the 50’s today. Yet they have ice skating like we’re in New England or something. Contradictions like these put a smile on my face.

This is how it would look in daylight on a normal day.


A Call to Action

I’m possibly going to have a couple of hours to wander around on Thursday. I need your help. I’m having a tough time finding appropriate geo-oddities and the search engines are failing me. Attempting to search of phrases like Weird Places in San Francisco provides decidedly different results than normally expected in other cities. San Francisco is noted for weird people (and I say that in an endearing, complimentary way). So that’s what I’m getting back in my results.

Please feel free to add a comment or send me an email if you know of odd geography in San Francisco. Otherwise you’ll get things like Fisherman’s Wharf in my next posting. Oh, you might also get that crazy squiggly section of Lombard Street too. I guess that counts as weird geography… and I kind of want to see it anyway.


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4 responses to “Make my Trip”

  1. Greg Avatar
    Greg

    I assume you’ve highpointed San Francisco County? Or is it out of reach, practically speaking?

  2. Mike Lowe Avatar
    Mike Lowe

    I recommend Lombard street. I’m a twisty-road sports car guy so it’s heaven to me. 🙂 The surrounding area is nice too. After riding the cable cars, my wife and I walked there and then down the street. I imagine it’s also good to do when other areas are fogged in.

    We ate at a sourdough restaurant at Fisherman’s Wharf. The place was really nice. I had a Pyramid beer and I’m a fan of it’s wheat beer now.

    You can’t go wrong with a cool view of the Golden Gate bridge if the weather is right. We went under it in our cruise to Vancouver.

    If I ever have a full day in the area, I will visit the Muir Woods. I’ve never seen redwoods.

    I researched the Coit Tower before our SF trip. We didn’t have time to visit it but I hope to sometime. I love high places. I live in flat-land League City, Texas.

    I have to say I’ve been reading your blog for a long time now. You helped me realize I’m a county counter (620 now). Thanks and keep up the great fun work!

  3. Matthew Avatar

    Filbert Street is one of the steepest street inclines in the western hemisphere. When I was in my teens I used drive south on (I think) Leavenworth St. then make a left turn (east) on Filbert and drive down that huge decline. Unbelievable. You must check it out if you have a rental car. That’s near Lombard which is fun too — I’ve driven that many times. The Golden Gate Park panhandle between Fell St. and Oak St. might pique your interest — check it out on Google maps. Sam Wo’s in Chinatown isn’t strange geography in the traditional sense, but the layout of the restaurant is strange in the sense that you have to walk through the restaurant’s kitchen, past the cooks, etc. in order to get to the seating area. Hope these ideas help!

  4. Randy Avatar
    Randy

    22nd Street Between Church and Vicksburg Streets in the Noe Valley neighborhood is, I believe, tied for steepest in the city.

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