Welcome to my San Francisco Diary!

Intro

My girlfriend and I visited San Francisco, California, from June 16 through June 24, 2002, due to her business conference there. This document showcases the daily highlights of this trip.

Departed O'Hare at 6:30pm.
Movie on the plane was High Crimes, which my girlfriend watched, and i didn't, since I already had the displeasure of viewing it.
We took the $12 shuttle to the Union Square Hilton and Towers, on O'Farrell and Mason streets. Hotel was very standard, with no surprises of uniqueness.

Walked from hotel for 1.5 miles to Fisherman's Wharf. My first taste of the hills impressed me by their steepness/degrees, and we enjoyed traipsing over them.
Lunched at Wild Side Grill on Pier 39, had cream of chicken soup in sourdough bread bowl.
Checked out the Exploratorium, the new interactive science museum. With over 600 mostly interactive exhibits, it is one of the better new museums in the country. We stayed for 4 hours.
Visited Ghirardelli Square, home of the legendary chocolates, and now of other shops/restaurants. Dinnered at a crepe restaurant there.
Walked down Lombard Street, location of the block that is known as the Crookedest Street in the world, due to its angle (31 degrees), it zig-zags back and forth.
The next block, at 953 Lombard, featured the Real World house. This was the home to the cast of the MTV show during its 3rd season, featuring such characters as Pedro, Puck, etc. Unfortunately, there was recently a fire and the house did not look good. But there was a number to call, and one could apparently rent the house for novelty.
After checking my email at a local cafe, we took our first trip on the Cable Cars back to the hotel. That was a special experience to ride on those historic vehicles. We rode from start to finish of the Mason Line, and I both sat in a seat, and hung off of the edge.

First visited the Cannery building. This was the place where cans were made a long time ago. Had lunch there, at a French place, an Italian-filled crepe, and freshly squeezed orange juice.
Took ferry to Alcatraz! Highlights included:
walking tour of the island and its history
audio headphone tour of the cellhouse
videos about the history
a talk on previous escape attempts
the island store
freedom to explore the island; average total time is 2 1/2 hours, we stayed almost 4.
dinner at Hawthorne Lane, including steak and salsify fries.

First stop today was the Cable Car museum.
Learned about the history of the cable cars
One of the more memorable facts: The system was in full use from the 1870s until 1982, going from 20 down to 4 lines. The system was almost going to be shut down, but then SF realized that both locals and tourists enjoyed riding the cable cars, and a monumental restoration project was undertaken. The lines were restored and modernized, and reopened in 1984.
Saw cable cars from all eras.
Visited the Yerba Buena Museum and Gardens
Visited the California Historical Society, much smaller than expected.
Checked out the Cartoon Art Museum
They featured old cartoons, comics, ads, etc. This week a special exhibit on Spiderman was presented.
Ate a fajita platter at Baha Rubio.
Attempted to purchase tkts to Mamma Mia, Beach Blanket Babylon, and Robin Williams Live, but all were already sold out.

Took #71 bus to Haight and Stanyan Streets.
Rented a green Trek hybrid bike! Headed to the Golden Gate Bridge. Had to get off and walk 3 times due to the hills. Even walked once downhill, it was that steep! Biked thru roads, sand, glass, trees, and more, but finally arrived at the Golden Gate Bridge. Marvelled at its majesty several times. Biked across, and continued to Sausalito. Ate, browsed, etc. Biked back, but, as a full day's rental would be only $5 more at this point went to hotel, and stored bike there.
Goldy's vendor, Genentech, generously entertained us at Teatro Zinzanni, a dinner theater that featured performers of a circus nature, delicious food, and Joan Baez as the Diva!

Breakfasted gourmet with an onion/bacon scone.
Biked to Castro, the legendary gay area of SF, looked around.
Continued biking back to the store, and returned the bike.
Walked around area, which contained the famous Haight/Ashbury corner, the headquarters of the counterculture of the 1960s. Ate falafel burrito for lunch.
Walked thru Golden Gate Park to the Steinhart Aquarium.
Saw the Fish Roundabout, where one is surrounded by fish swimming in a circle.
Continued to the Natural History Museum.
Notable exhibits there included the Skulls, where a collection of several hundred skulls were featured, and
Dinosaurs, which included a Tyrannosaurus Rex, and
the Far Side Gallery, featuring classic comics from one of my favorite cartoonists, Gary Larson.
Took the subway back to the hotel, at dinner at the gourmet food court, a chicken platter that we split. This was in the Metroneon, and we also browsed the Sony and Playstation stores.

At a local cafe, I breakfasted on a chorizo, spinach, and Monterey Jack cheese omelette. I drank the Campbell's Bloody Mary Mix that I was issued (scammed) from the plane.
Met my honey at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Among their highlights:
An exhibit on the works of Matisse.
An exhibit on the works of Yoko Ono, an original, provocative display, among her highlights:
Cut Piece, featuring Yoko in front of an audience, who is invited to come up and slowly cut pieces of clothing off of her;
Smile in a box, where you look inside a box, and there is a smile;
a phone, where you can pick up the phone when it rings and talk to Yoko (she promises to call occassionally);
footage of and exhibits from the legendary Bed-In, when she and John stayed in bed all week in Amsterdam for peace;
and, since today was the opening day of the exhibit, she was there to perform! It sold out way far in advance, but I got (scammed) into the adjoining auditorium to watch the live video feed.
A special exhibit on daguerreotypes, displaying the special photos from the second half of the 19th century.
Lunched at Buckhorn for the 2nd time!
Shopped at Macy's, bought nada
Checked out Chinatown, ate at a restaurant there, was less than excellent
and saw the midnight showing of Minority Report, which was more enjoyable than we anticipated because it was in an IMAX theater.

Ate at a famous SF joint, Mel's Drive In (had french toast).
Took bus to California Palace of the Legion of Honor. Among the highlights:
a special exhibit featuring the art of Michael Sweerts.
We took a tour led by a docent of the museum's collection of Impressionist artwork.
The 2nd largest collection in the world of sculpture by Rodin, including his most famous, Thinker.
A beautiful and vast organ from 1924, that we were fortunate enough to watch being played by the museum's resident organ expert!
An exquisite Spanish Ceiling
Next we bussed to Pier 39, so we could go on our Bay Cruise. After dinner of gourmet chicken pizza, we embarked on the cruise, an hour-long affair from the pier, to the GG Bridge, around Alcatraz, and back. While the cruise was very windy, it also offered plenty of photo-ops.
In the evening, we did a final email check, relaxed, packed, etc.

Today we just relaxed, walked around a few more times, bought souveniers, then flew back. Movie on plane was Monsters, Inc., which we had already seen.

I was impressed with the City of San Francisco. It is friendly, challenging, and progressive.

As usual, you are welcome to make comments or ask further questions by emailing me.