Golden Gate Bridge

I met son Keith at the Oakland Airport and from there we journeyed, across the Bay Bridge, to the great city of San Francisco. We hadn’t yet seen the Golden Gate Bridge, but there is nothing else that represents San Francisco than this bridge, so I chose it as my opening photo.

Golden Gate Bridge

Gay Pride Parade

On the way to our hotel, we noticed that many streets were blocked off. Something big must have been happening––it was: San Francisco’s annual Gay Pride Parade. We walked down a block from our hotel and joined the other spectators. However, the parade had already started and we didn’t have a very good viewing or photo–taking spot as there was a very large crowd to view the parade––the TV news that evening reported a million people along the parade route. But we both very much enjoyed the parade, mainly because of its enthusiasm and spirit. Here is a photo of it for the gals: the Altoids float.

Gay Pride Parade

Gay Pride Parade

And here is one for the guys.

Gay Pride Parade

Gay Pride Parade

Interesting costumes.

Gay Pride Parade

Gay Pride Parade

San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus Float.

Gay Pride Parade

Marin Headlands Viewpoint

We left the parade and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. Son Brett, who had spent three years in law school in San Francisco, had given us directions for an overlook on the Marin Headlands side of the bay. To find it: Cross the bridge, take the second exit (I think it is Alexandria), make a sharp left turn that will take you under the bridge, and then drive up the hill. I took this photo from the overlook. It looks down at the overlook below it, which you reach by taking the first exit. You will get great views of both the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco from either overlook, but I think the overlook that we went to is better.

Marin Headlands Viewpoint

Marin Headlands Viewpoint

View of San Francisco Bay, the Bay Bridge, and Alcatraz Island.

Marin Headlands Viewpoint

Marin Headlands Viewpoint

The Golden Gate Bridge. We were in San Francisco for four days and this is the only day that the bridge was not encased in fog.

Marin Headlands Viewpoint

Marin Headlands Viewpoint

The Marina District of San Francisco through the Golden Gate Bridge.

Marin Headlands Viewpoint

Marin Headlands Viewpoint

A view of downtown San Francisco through the Golden Gate Bridge.

Marin Headlands Viewpoint

Sausalito

Since we were on this side of the bay, we continued on to the town of Sausalito. Here there are many stores selling art works, clothes, souvenirs, etc. You can also take a ferry from San Francisco here. The shoreline offers many good views of the bay.

Sausalito

Sausalito

A “rock artist” had created these rock formations. He was here selling postcards of his works.

Sausalito

Sausalito

More of the rock art.

Sausalito

Sausalito

More of the rock art.

Sausalito

Sausalito

A street in Sausalito.

Sausalito

Sausalito

A view of the bay and of San Francisco.

Sausalito

Tiburon

From Sausalito, we drove to Tiburon, a village also with good views of the bay. You can take a ferry here from San Francisco. The shops and restaurants here are housed in “arks,” which are old, turn–of–the–century houseboats.

Tiburon

Tiburon

A real pirate ship off the coast of Tiburon––it startled us when it let off a very loud cannon.

Tiburon

Tiburon

Close–up of the pirate ship.

Tiburon

Tiburon

View of the bay and San Francisco.

Tiburon

The Stinking Rose

We drove back to San Francisco and later went out to dinner––to the North Beach section of San Francisco at The Stinking Rose restaurant, a tourist must. Keith found an unheard–of–getting parking space in Chinatown. We just had to walk around the corner to be in the Italian section of San Francisco––North Beach. I had been at this restaurant before, so I was familar with their heavily garlic–laden dishes. I had Dungeness crab smothered in a garlic sauce––it was delicious.

The Stinking Rose

Sunset on the Bay

To complete our day, we drove from North Beach to Fisherman’s Wharf and Ghirardelli Square. At the front of the square, we found the man who I was looking for––a real San Francisco icon. He will ask you where you are from: If you are American, he will sing you an American song; if you are German, he will sing for you in German; if you are Italian, then in Italian, etc. I asked him to sing for me in Italian, but first I had to convince him that I could speak some Italian. I put movie clips of the songs that he sang for me on this site (My Movies, page 11, Ghirardelli Singer 1 and 2). Next, we went to the famous Ghirardelli Ice Cream Parlor. I had a delicious hot fudge sundae made with the Ghirardelli famous chocolate––it did settle well with the garlic–crab. I caught this photo of sunset on San Francisco Bay when we left, a beautiful sight at the end of a very good day.

Sunset on the Bay