Up and Down in San Francisco

Sunday morning and from the hotel room I could hear the fog horns on the Golden Gatde Bridge sounding but it seemed a sunny day in the city. Still, the first order of business was to drive down ‘the crookedest street in America, Lombard Street. It just before 9 A.M. but there were a few other cars making there way down. It was quite a drive but only short and very controlled. There must be an unofficial race to get down the street? It does have some pricey houses all down this part of the street so the police probably keep a close eye on it. Apparently, some years ago a limousine tried to drive down, got stuck and had to be air lifted out! Fortunately no problems this morning so I headed on to my next destination, Christmas Tree Point Road. This is at Twin Peaks which is about the highest point in San Francisco and give great views of the bay and city. The fog was covering part of the bridge but most of the view was spectacular. 

View from Twin Peaks

This view point is very popular and a steady stream of cars and coaches arrived. Once I had my photos I headed back down to Golden Gate Park and took a wander around. This is a big park and so I only saw a small part of it. It was now getting pretty hot so I headed for the fog and Fort Point (where Kim Novak jumped into the sea in Vertigo). The fog was still lingering and keeping the temperature down. Fort Point is open to the public although most of the cannon have been removed. It purpose was to defend San Francisco against attack during the 19th century. It is situated right beneath the superstructure for the bridge so gives a good opportunity for close up photos. I just hope they never hit the bridge with the cannons ;-)

Beneath the Bridge

It was quite a different day to yesterday as the sea, where the dolphins were swimming yesterday, was quite rough.

Then at about midday the fog cleared so I drove on and went down the coast to see the Pacific waves rolling in. To top and tail the holiday I went back to a Denny’s to eat, as I had done in Seattle. The Cranberry Apple Chicken salad looked good so I went for that. It was good too!

After lunch I drove back to the city and the traffic was pretty busy so dropped off the car at the hotel and walked up to the blues festival on Polk Street. This was going well with two bands playing and plenty of stalls selling food and crafts.

Polk Street Blues Festival

After about an hour back to the hotel the a walk the other way down to the bay to try and capture the sunset.

Sunset