The Many Faces of San Francisco

Mural in Chinatown

Why do you travel?  For most people, it's for the newness, to simultaneously feel the discomfort and the thrill of the quirks and peculiarities of a place.  On our second day with #1 Daughter (#1D) in San Francisco, her tour showed us new faces of the city, diversity on vibrant display. (see previous post of Day 1)

Down a random, semi-concealed cobblestone alley?  The Irish Bank Bar and Restaurant.  You might think you are in Dublin!

  

Chinatown is a bit more conspicuous with its ornamental gate, lanterns and lampposts.

It's the tourist district, and we comply, stopping at the bakery that advertises its moon cakes in the front window ("The Only Moon Cake Made in America; Best Moon Cake in the Whole USA) - who can resist?  We buy three different cakes and munch as we admire the murals that are on every spare wall and some delivery vehicles as well.

Mural on left says "In Progress"

A few blocks more, and in the peace of Portsmouth Square, old men are playing vigorous card games, and others are focused on Tai Chi.  Not many tourists here - locals always find a place to hide from tourists!

A small alley hides the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, with its tiny storefront that opened in 1962.  Women sit at a conveyor belt folding messages into 20,000 fortune cookies a day.  This is the only bakery in the city where cookies are made by hand the old-fashioned way.

Up one block and suddenly we are swimming against the tide of Chinese shoppers, who are navigating a myriad of open-air stalls - dried seafood of every type, fruits and vegetables, fresh fish, and many curiosities that we could not identify.


By now, all this food has whet our appetite, and soon enough we are sampling the wares of one of the countless restaurants in Chinatown.

I wonder if these fortunes were made down the street?

Re-energized, we ascend Nob Hill, poles apart from ChinaTown.  Posh hotels, classic architecture, people walking dogs in the park, the hushed serenity of Grace Cathedral.  

Brass Christmas ornament

Of course, no visit to Nob Hill would be complete without a stop at the free Cable Car Museum, which houses a collection of historic cable cars, photographs, and mechanical displays.  And, most stunning to me, it is located in the Washington-Mason powerhouse; it is the site that generates the power for ALL of the cable cars in the city.  From the museum deck, you can see the huge engines and winding wheels that pull the cables plus the person perched above the cables monitoring their smooth operation. Downstairs is a viewing area of the large sheaves and cable line entering the building through the channel under the street.  Mind-boggling!!!

Like Spousal Unit and me, #1D is a coffee fiend, and she has a nose for unique coffee shops.  This day, her choice is a short cross-walk from the Museum.  And how fun it was!  Board games, quirky and eclectic decorations, wine and beer, and just the right amount of attitude to be amusing without being annoying - for example, they put their bad reviews in the bathroom for everyone to read!

Maybe I liked it because I won the game of Sorry!

Afternoon was moving toward evening, and #1D took off for work after ensuring we made it safely to our BART station.  A short time later, we navigated our own way through the BART to arrive at the enchanting California Shakespeare Theater in Orinda, where #1D has invested her summer honing her skills as a stage management intern.

All the theatergoers were making the most of a glorious evening - sunny with a bit of nip in the air - partaking of picnic dinners in the grove near the outdoor venue.  We are here to see #1D and black odyssey, written by Oakland native playwright Marcus Gardley.

We move to our seats, and are struck by the simplicity and beauty of the set.  And so begins a classic tale (and classics always evoke the full range of human emotion) that jogs our memory about the importance and power of stories. 

We clap, we shout, we sing, we cry.  It's that kind of performance, that kind of tale.  How fitting that #1D is here for the summer: to be reminded that our history is both chain and freedom, depending on how it is used.

#1D on set at intermission, deploying props

And so the second day ended, once again, to a standing ovation.

Linking to Our World Tuesday

Linking to Mosaic Monday

If you are going to San Francisco ...

If you have children, you know the trials and joys of the family vacation - the constant search for affordable activities to keep them entertained and the lasting memories when you do.  Recently, it was 100% role reversal when we visited #1 Daughter (#1D) in San Francisco - she took complete control of the 4-day itinerary - and it was a treat in every sense.  Here are the highlights from Day 1.

San Fran is famous the world over for its vintage rail transit vehicles - cable cars and street cars.  We were just darn proud that #1D had mastered the public transit system back in April when she arrived at the San Fran airport on her lonesome to start her summer internship with California Shakespeare Theater.  During our visit, she navigated nimbly between the subway, bus system and street cars.  

On our way to Pier 33 to catch the ferry for Alcatraz, our streetcar driver provided free entertainment in the form of running commentary.  People were a little slow to get on and he said: "You all might be on vacation, but I have a schedule to keep!"  When his car was full, someone asked when the next car would come along, and he said: "When it gets here, you let me know! " 

Alcatraz evoked a plethora of reactions - some unexpected.   By its very nature, the audio tour in the cell house puts you in the sounds of a jail - doors clanging closed, jeering voices from other prisoners, barking commands from the keepers.  So well done.  You can easily imagine the solitude and depression.

The unexpected?  The flowers and especially the birds.  The Island is a bird sanctuary, and there is no attempt to keep the park clean.  In some areas, the odor was so ripe I found myself covering my nose just to keep walking.  I don't often complain about these sorts of things, but I am confident there is a way that the Park Service can maintain the sanctuary while still making it palatable to paying customers.

Next!  Pier 39 is a glorious tourist mecca with something for everyone.  Crepes made to order - even if you're not buying, you can watch (for free!) the jaw-dropping expertise of the crepe-maker - just enough batter spread perfectly evenly using a special swivel tool.  And the toppings!  Chocolate, strawberries, bananas, you name it!  Not sure how I got out of there without one!  Two-tiered carousel.  Gift shops.  Restaurants. Ice cream.  And did I mention the seals?  Laugh out loud free entertainment -  we must have braved the cool breezes for at least 30 minutes, while the seals flopped on and off the platforms.  Clearly, landing on your fellow seal is not an issue since we saw seal after seal gracefully leave the water only to plop onto another seal and then wriggle to an open spot, with nothing more than a lift of the head for a reaction.

No port is complete without ships, and San Fran is no exception.  Pier 45 is home to the USS Pampanito, a Balao-class submarine.  She completed six war patrols from 1944 to 1945 and served as a Naval Reserve Training ship from 1960 to 1971. She is now a National Historic Landmark, preserved as a memorial and museum ship.  Right next door is the SS Jeremiah O'Brien, a Liberty ship built during World War II.  She is a rare survivor of the 6,939-ship armada that stormed Normandy on D-Day, 1944.  On the wall near the ships is this mural, which is a tribute to the women who supported the war effort.  You go, ladies! 

On a slightly smaller scale, Fisherman's Wharf still bustles with fishing vessels that support the local, family-owned restaurants and an active deep-sea fishing tour trade (but you have to be willing to be at the wharf at 5.30 a.m!).  I will stick with just taking pictures!

So, as you have probably figured out by now, #1D had mostly focused on free entertainment, and I continued to be amazed at what is available if you look.  Our next stop was nothing short of amazing (and amusing).  The Musée Mécanique is one of the world's largest privately owned collections of coin-operated mechanical musical instruments and antique arcade machines (over 200) in their original working condition. (You can play them!)  My favorite was the Wurlitzer Style B Orchestration, circa 1912.  Only 50 to 75 of these were made in 1912!  The 13 songs on the playlist included Stars and Stripes Forever, which of course I chose to play.

A day in San Fran is not complete without sampling the restaurants - #1D had chosen Coqueta on Pier 5 for its menu and proximity to the Bay Bridge.  

As the sun left the sky, the Bay Bridge glittered.  (The Bay Lights , an iconic light sculpture on the west span of the bridge, was designed by world-renowned artist Leo Villareal with 25,000 LED white lights that stretch 500 feet high for 1.8 miles. Inspired by the Bay Bridge’s 75th Anniversary, the artist created a never repeating, dazzling display for the original period March 5, 2013 through March 2015.  Beloved by city residents, the installation came back permanently on January 30, 2016.)                

And the curtain came down on day one, with a standing ovation.

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Linking to Our World Tuesday