Saturday, June 15, 2013

Visiting San Francisco

So I got to Emeryville and went to my hotel which was across the tracks from the station.  I relaxed for a little bit before heading over to San Francisco.  I decided to stay at the hotel in Emeryville because I liked it the last I stayed there but I should have just stayed in San Francisco since that was supposed to be the focus of my trip.

San Francisco was founded on June 29, 1776 when a group of Spanish colonists established a Fort at the Golden Gate and a mission named for Saint Francis of Assissi a few miles away.  The settlement sputtered along until the gold rush of 1849 brought rapid growth to the city.  It would become the largest city on the west coast at the time.  In 1856, this rapid growth caused San Francisco to become a consolidated city-county (the only such entity in California).  Because of its situation, it is the mostly densely populated city in California.  In 1906 there was an earthquake that pretty much flattened the city but it quickly recovered.  During World War II, it was a major embarkation point for the Pacific War.  There is not nearly the military presence there once was though.
 Because I was staying in Emeryville, I spent a fair amount of time on the BART.  BART stands for Bay Area Rapid Transit and it does a pretty good job of getting people around the area.  Sadly, it was pretty crowded on the way back and that kind of hampered my desire to stick around San Francisco on the next day.
 The San Francisco Ferry Terminal is a pretty nice building and it now serves and shops and restaurants.  It was opened in 1898 and served as a transportation hub for the bay area.  It was one of the busiest in the world until the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges opened.
 Looking up at the tower.
 The terminal now serves as shops and restaurants.  It is still pretty neat looking though.
 A shot of part of San Francisco.
 The Bay Bridge is in two parts and it connects San Francisco to Oakland.  The two spans connect at Yerba Buena Island.  This particular span opened in 1936 and was built by the American Bridge Company.  It is 10,000 feet long.
 Another angle of the Bridge.
 A seagull decided to hang around the area.  I was surprised that he let me get as close as I did.  Maybe he thought I had food.
 Looking down the long way at the Ferry terminal.
 Looking down one of the streets of San Francisco.  Hmmm, that sounds like a good title for a movie or TV show.
 Looking down another street.
 This is a flower that was sitting in front of my hotel.
 So I decided to head back to San Francisco on the next day.  It wasn't too bad getting around.  In Emeryville, they have a shuttle bus called the Emery-Go-Round.  It took me to the BART terminal in Oakland.  At the time I headed over to San Francisco, the train wasn't too bad.
 I thought that I would take a ride on the Cable Car in order to get to Fisherman's Wharf so I could get pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge.  Sadly, I looked at the lines for both the cars and tickets and decided against that.  I didn't want to linger too long in San Francisco because I didn't want to deal with crowds on the BART.
 San Francisco is another city of contrasts.  There are several cool looking old buildings.
 Part of the line for the Cable Car.
 Looking down one of the streets.
 Looking down another street.
 I think this is a statue dedicated to either the settlers of San Francisco or the gold miners.
 Looking at a building.
 Somewhere around Mongomery Street.  I did decide to head over to the Transamerica Pyramid.
 Looking up at the Transamerica Pyramid.  At 850 feet tall, it is the tallest building in San Francisco and one of the tallest on the west coast.  It is probably one of the more iconic buildings.
 Construction began in 1969 and was completed in 1972.  At its completion it was one of the five tallest buildings in the world.  I'm not sure where it stands now.
 There is a little park nearby and it makes for a pretty cool picture.
 And a nice little fountain.
 Another view of the building.
 The little park is home to some redwood trees.
 It's kind of nice to have an island of peace in a bustling city.
 And then we return to that bustling city.
 Like I said, a city of contrasts.  You have some lovely old buildings scattered amongst the new skyscrapers.
 Looking down another street.
 The mechanics statue.
 Looking down another set of streets.
 And it was back to the BART and Emeryville.
 A view from inside the BART.  I left early enough that I beat the rush.
 This is the hotel I was staying at.  It was a pretty nice hotel but if I return, I think I'm going to stay in San Francisco proper again.
Across the street from the hotel was a nice little food court.  You could get anything here.

No comments: