I sent out an appeal for sights I could cram into a single afternoon in San Francisco. Of course, the readership of Twelve Mile Circle came through with flying colors. I wrapped up the business that had occupied me for most of the week and set out on my journey to absorb as much of the city as I could in just a few hours.
I should have noted in my previous article that I didn’t have a rental car. So my apologies for that. However, that still gives me lots of suggestions for the next time I’m here. I factored in several suggestions along with my own research and here is the 5+ mile loop I took. Much of this I did this on foot along with one big chunk riding a cable car.
Strike!
After lunch, I made my way down from Union Square to Powell & Market. That brought me to the starting point for a couple of the cable car routes. Little did I know that I was going to have to snake my way through a group of striking hotel workers. It wasn’t my hotel, fortunately enough, because it was rather loud and raucous. I started my journey with some excitement but this would be my only unexpected delay during the entire time.
So I was trying to be a little surreptitious when I snapped the picture. I didn’t know if the subjects might be a little sensitive to those kinds of things. Imagine a scenario where I had to explain that I was doing this for some obscure geo-oddity blog. That might not go over so well.
Iconic Cable Cars
I boarded the Powell & Mason line to Fisherman’s Wharf. This was actually the first time I’d ever ridden a cable car on the several trips I’ve made to San Francisco over the years. I’m glad I did.
I sat at the very front of the car with my face practically pressed to the glass. The gripman stood directly behind me. I could perceive the complexity of these vehicles from the mechanical levers he grabbed in carefully orchestrated patterns. I couldn’t figure out all of his maneuvers on my brief ride. It seemed to involve aspects of grabbing, breaking and coasting in various combinations. His dexterity was truly a work of art especially with the pedestrians and drivers who seemed unaware of the limitations of an approaching cable car.
I found Fisherman’s Wharf somewhat disappointing. This area was extremely touristy with aggressive barkers trying to corral crowds to various shops and attractions. Sorry, but I didn’t stick around long enough to take any decent photos.
Lombard Street
I hiked up Hyde Street towards Lombard Street to see the so-called “World’s Most Crooked Road.”
It looked so simple on the map. Then I soon discovered Hyde Street climbs uphill at a crazy angle as it summits Russian Hill. I proved to myself that I’m both aging and out-of-shape as I pulled myself uphill slowly. I only had to stop to rest once and I felt pretty good about it. So I took some minor consolation as I caught my breath.
Well, I don’t know whether Lombard Street is actually the most crooked anywhere or whether that’s all hype. Nonetheless, I can say with confidence that it’s really, really kooky corkscrew twisted. I helped some Japanese tourists with a group photo and I walked downhill. That was considerably more pleasant than the climb up.
Coit Tower
However after Lombard street bottoms-out it begins to climb upward again as it continues towards Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower high atop it. I was really getting a workout. Hopefully I lost a few pounds that I gained earlier in the week from eating my way through San Francisco.
Coit Tower is a 210 foot art deco cylinder built in 1933. I’m going to guess that the elevator is original too. It had a human elevator operator who made sure the retractable mesh metal door swung into placed properly. Otherwise visitors might be tempted to touch the wall moving past as the elevator rose.
It was one of the noisiest most rickety mechanical devices I’ve ever experienced. Those things have safety breaks, right? I kept telling myself that and I figured it must have to pass regular inspections too. That’s how I rationalize my ascent. It was all worth it once I got to the top.
Darrell Place
I came back down but I didn’t want to backtrack. Then I found a neat little alleyway that descended nearly 300 feet from Telegraph Hill almost down to sea level. Alley is the wrong word. It was a series of terraced wooden plank steps and platforms with banisters. Street is the wrong word too but it actually had a street sign and a name, Darrell Place.
The neighbors obviously put a great deal of effort into beautifying the pathway with abundant landscaping. I’m really glad I got to experience it while traveling downhill.
I’ve included a satellite image because I thoroughly enjoyed it, and felt pretty good about stumbling across it by chance. I don’t think any roads go through there. The greenery pathway I followed cuts across the entire bottom of this image (the big stripe of shrubbery). Honestly I don’t know where these residents park their cars.
The Embarcadaro
I cut down to The Embarcadaro briefly. I include this image because it’s about the only pure geography you’re going to get on this posting. This flat area of San Francisco is primarily filled-in soft soils composed of bay mud. In the next major earthquake it will liquefy and cause great structural damage.
I left that depressing thought behind and started paying attention to my thirst. I had to sneak in at least one brewpub on this adventure. So I stopped by San Francisco Brewing on Columbus Avenue and relaxed for a little while.
Chinatown
From there I walked through Chinatown. I was a minority here and I immersed myself briefly in a foreign culture. Most of the shops catered to the Chinese community exclusively. I recall walking past one store and seeing a number of large turtles for sale. Undoubtedly they will be cooked up and consumed somewhere this evening.
And from there I returned to my starting point.
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