Resident Tourist

This is a rather wordy blog so if you want to skip to the photos, click here. Slide show works with Internet Explorer browser but doesn't seem to work with Mozilla Firefox.

I live in the Bay Area but my relationship with it is ordinarily a working relationship. I don't often go anywhere near home just for fun. I happened to be between jobs and came up with an idea for a future photography project in San Francisco, and decided to spend the day there to scout some locations.

I took the ferry to the city. That really is the way to arrive in SF. Not only do you miss the traffic, but you get to see the city from its best side. The Ferry Building is lovely since it was remodeled a few years ago. Behind it is the skyline of skyscrapers. The view of the Bay Bridge is excellent and Treasure Island is opposite the Ferry Building.

I took a walk around the Ferry Building. What I'd really like to do is take some photos of the Bay Bridge looking out of the south-east window. It appears to be a office so when I get serious about starting this photography project, I'll have to find out who's office it is and whether or not they're willing to allow me to take photos from there.

I walked up Market Street and remembered some of the jobs I worked on in SF. I have very mixed feelings about the place. On the one hand, it's a very interesting city. On the other hand, I associate it with the work I do which I do not enjoy. Being in the city for me, is a combination of stress and intrigue.

I walked all the way to Powell Street where one of the cable car lines ends and the cable car is turned around. Right next to the cable car is the Flood Building, built in 1904. I worked there on a temporary job a couple of years ago. The building is gorgeous on the inside with lots of gilded and marble surfaces. I went upstairs to the 7th floor and took a tour around the circular hallway. The building is at an angle like a flatiron building due to the shape of the lot so the hallways are not a perfect circle. More like a lopsided square with the opaque glass office doors on either side. The hallways have marble on the walls and floors. Downstairs in the lobby are several glass cases with photos and a history of the building.

Next I caught the bus to the Civic Center and visited City Hall. I've been in the rotunda before. It's strikingly beautiful. I spent an hour or so walking around and taking photos. There are 3 levels above the ground floor of the rotunda. A great place for photography provided you have a tripod. Because of all the reflective marble, it seems lighter in the rotunda than it actually is.

From City Hall, I caught a bus up Van Ness Avenue then switched to another that got me to Washington Square at Columbus.

I walked a block over to the Green Street Mortuary, hoping that there might be some information about the the Green Street Mortuary Band. A few years ago, I happened to be nearby one Saturday when I heard a marching band. I followed the sound to Green Street and that's when I learned about the band. I was quite surprised to learn that a mortuary would have it's own marching band. There was a funeral procession with a convertible in the lead with a very large portrait of the deceased on the back seat. The convertible was followed by the band and escorted by a number of SF motorcyle police. It was wonderful. It reminded me of the New Orleans funeral processions with muscians that I've seen on tv. If you gotta go, that's certainly the way to go. Directly across the street is O'Reilly's Irish Pub where a number of people were sitting at tables on the sidewalk, having a beer, and toasting the deceased. Unfortunately, there weren't any funeral processions happening today so I continued on to Telegraph Hill.

I looked for a bus stop to catch the 39 bus that goes to Coit Tower. What I thought was a bus stop turned out to be a phone booth when I got closer. I was already halfway up the hill so decided to walk the rest of the way and discovered a nice vantage point to take photos looking west from Telegraph Hill.

When I got to Coit Tower, I walked around the hallway looking at the Depression Era Murals (after clicking the link, scroll halfway down the page to see photos of the murals). My favorite is one showing a lunch counter menu with 1930's prices. But I like them all because they are a celebration of working people. I took the elevator up to the top of the tower, something I haven't done since I was a kid. There is a fabulous 360 degree view from there. I believe that for many years it was the tallest point in San Francisco but it's now dwarfed by the sky scrapers downtown. Another great place for photography, but only if it isn't raining because the viewing platform does not have a roof.

The entire time I was Coit, there was a constant squawking by the local flock of wild parrots that live on and around Telegraph Hill. I was fortunate to get close enough to take a couple of photos.

I caught the 39 bus to Pier 39 at Fishermans' Wharf. The place is just too touristy for me, but I enjoyed watching the sea lions that took over the boat docks. I also discovered the Musee Mecanique. The collection is owned by Edward Galland Zelinsky who kindly allows the public to view it for free - except of course if you happen to spend a quarter here and there to see what a machine will do.

The machines that fascinate me are not in the collection. They are the machines that for 50 cents plus a penny, will flatten and elongate the penny and stamp a design into it, thereby destroying its purchasing power and probably breaking several federal laws against defacing US currency. There's something satisfying about watching the penny slide down the chute to the device that mashes, elongates, and stamps it, then drops it into another chute where it slides into a tray for you. I did a little research on the internet and discovered that there is a whole group of "elongated coin" collectors and they have a convention and everything.

When I was in Las Vegas in early September, my mother, aunt and I went up to the Stratosphere Tower where, guess what? They had an elongated coin machine. I put in my 2 quarters plus a penny, cranked a lever and got my 61 cent penny souvenir with the Stratosphere Tower stamped into it. My aunt scoffed at the notion that the machine had actually created the souvenir. She said there was no doubt that when you put your money in, the machine simply gives you one from what is undoubtedly a whole stack of elongated copper-colored souvenirs stored somewhere way down in its works. And furthermore, it probably wasn't even real penny. I was quite alarmed at this idea and, of course, disagreed but in fairness, in this particular machine you couldn't really see what it was doing although it did take a little elbow grease to crank the handle so it felt like it was doing something.

I took a series of photos of two of the machines at Fisherman's wharf to prove that these machines aren't fakes and do, in fact, destroy currency. For you EC aficionados, the two machines I photographed make Rosie the Riveter and Golden Gate Bridge ECs.

After the excitement of the EC machines, I wandered down the street to Boudin's Bakery where you can watch the bakers making interesting-looking sourdough bread. One of the bakers kindly posed for me while I photographed him through the window.

Looking at the bread made me hungry so on my way back to the Ferry Building, I stopped in Chinatown for some pork buns. I bought pork buns at two different places and I'm sorry to report that the quality of both was sadly deficient. There is nothing like a really great pork bun and nothing so disappointing as one that is less than great.

I walked from Chinatown to the Ferry Building and on the way I discovered a garden with Redwood Trees and a fountain just behind the Pyramid building. I've passed it many times and never knew it was there. Perhaps it wasn't open to the public in the past or maybe the other times I passed by I was so busy thinking about work, I didn't notice it. In the park was a wonderful bronze sculpture of 5 children playing. I took a which you can see when you click on the link below.

All that walking and fresh air made me tired and I fell asleep on the ferry on the way home after a very satisfying day as a tourist in SF.

Click here to see my photos of SF Slide show works with Internet Explorer browser but doesn't seem to work with Mozilla Firefox.