The Streets of San Francisco!!!

We couldn't resist posting a picture of Candlestick Park and imagining people in the bay waiting for a fly ball.

While I did see some architecture,
I did miss most of the fabulous homes on the hill this time

First stop, the Cable Car Museum

 

They had an array of neat artifacts from all eras.



Ding, ding, ding, went the cable car!
Clang, clang, clang went the bell!

These GIANT wheels turn the cable which in turn moves those cars.

A little hard to see but the sideways wheels are in tunnels under the streets.  You could look down them and see the cables and wheel working to keep up with the bustling crowds outside.

Stunt plane leaving interesting trails.



One reason for the huge crowds was the fact we managed to hit the end of fleet week.  There were many planes doing tricks and maneuvers as we walked the streets.  The Blue Angels were especially impressive.  We had to stop a group in uniform and get a photo with them.  I hadn't meant to hit Fleet Week.  It isn't that it wasn't interesting but the crowds from it made everything much more difficult to navigate.  Most disappointing because of it, we never got the opportunity to ride the cable car.





This too is a bit hard to make out but we walked
through the most tantalizing section of town:  Little Italy.
Quite welcoming after the smells of dried shrimp and seafood
so prevalent in Chinatown.  The smell of garlic, pizza, baking
pizzelles were almost too much too walk by so we soaked
in all of the smell we could.







Where else but Little Italy would it be garlic time all the time?

  

Next stop the wharf and Pier 39.



We did get to see at least one of our impressive ships in the harbor.

  

Alcatraz (visible from the wharf) was on our list of things to go to but we really started running out of time.  Next time for sure!

 

The view and bay breeze is spectacular!


Pier 39 Museum houses the most comprehensive and interesting group of old arcade games anywhere.  It was a blast! 




There were so many very old ones with moving scenes that were just charming.



The Execution



No, they are not politically correct either!

Normally, I would not want anyone to go near a game
that looks like this.




However, knowing a couple of my children were willing to voluntarily ELECTROCUTE themselves for 25 cents made the choice easy!!!!
Money well spent!

See what are poor children are missing out on!

Nope, they don't make'em like they used to!




Off to a tasty bakery



"The straights of San Francisco" choose to eat the turtle.
Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun.



There it is. 
The long awaited cable car sitting idle because of the traffic.
Sniff!  Sniff!



It is impossible to show the true nature of the streets of San Francisco.  When you see all of the car chases in the movies and then get to drive those same streets, it adds a whole new dimension to the movie experience.  Some of the streets are almost vertical and felt like we surely were going to literally flip backward.  Those stuntmen have my complete admiration for all of those scenes. 

Everyone knows that a trip to San Francisco would not be complete without driving the windiest street.
LOMBARD STREET!  Wheeeeeee!



Here we GO!




Going DOOOOWWWN!





Looking UUUUUPPPP!



San Francisco's famous landmark:  The Golden Gate Bridge



View hiking to Land's End.




We hiked out to Land's End where the bay and the Pacific Ocean meet and watched the sun set.




We only really ran into one questionable fellow while visiting and luckily he was on the other side of the street.
I think he should have been a bit more aware of his surroundings.
He was obviously looking to make a statement and that he did.
A bit trashy, don't you think?



I do hope our trip to San Francisco didn't affect the children too adversely.

Ooops!  Maybe that coffee decision was not the best.