Pacific Heights

Today, Keith and I walked through the Pacific Heights section of San Francisco. I had read that this area has many of the 19th–century houses that San Francisco is famous for. To get there, we took either the Powell–Mason or the Powell–Hyde line cable car (I don’t remember which one) to California Street and hopped on the California line cable car. Then we walked over one block and caught a bus to take us up the steep hill to Lafayette Park and then down the hill to Alta Plaza, which was to be the beginning of our walk. We each bought a one–day pass for $9 that gave us unlimited rides on the cable cars and buses.

Pacific Heights

Pacific Heights

More houses.

Pacific Heights

Pacific Heights

More of the houses.

Pacific Heights

Pacific Heights

We made it up to Lafayette Park and to Daniele Steele’s (the writer) mansion. It was built in 1921 for the Spreckels family who had made a fortune in sugar.

Pacific Heights

Pacific Heights

Next, we walked down the side of Danielle Steele’s home along Otavia Street toward Union Street, the upscale shopping and restaurant district at the bottom of Pacific Heights. Photo is of some more old houses along the street.

Pacific Heights

Pacific Heights

Another 19th–century home.

Pacific Heights

Pacific Heights

Some more houses.

Pacific Heights

Pacific Heights

The Octagon House.

Pacific Heights

Min’s Breakfast

Similar to my breakfast but a little different.

Min’s Breakfast

Union Street

We stopped at this shopping/restaurant street for coffee.

Union Street

Pacific Heights

The Eyewitness Guide map of this section shows everything to be flat, so I was somewhat surprised to realize that the first part of our walk, on Washingston Street, was all uphill. This photo shows some of the houses that we saw on our walk. This area has many such houses.

Pacific Heights

Pacific Heights

Here, at the Vedanta Temple, we were almost at the bottom of the hill. It is one of the most unusual structures in San Francisco: It has a red onion–shaped dome similar to those on Russian Orthodox churches; it has an European castle–like tower; an octagonal Hindu temple cupola; Moorish arches; medieval parapets; and some Queen Anne and Colonial style. It was built in 1905. Vendenta is the highest school of Hinduism and the building symbolizes the Vendanta concept that every religion is just another way to reach god. The temple is now a monastery.

Pacific Heights

Marina District

We walked the rest of the way down the hill to the Marina District. The houses here look brand new, probably because many of them had to rebuilt after the 1989 Loma Preita Earthquake. This section was heavily damaged by the quake.

Marina District

Marina District

A view of the Marina District along the Marina Green, a strip of lawn bordering the houses looking out on the bay.

Marina District

Marina District

San Francisco Bay. You can just make out the Golden Gate Bridge, covered in fog, on the left of the photo. Well, I got Keith and I where we now were, but I didn’t have a clue of how to get us back to our hotel. We did see a bus and waited at the bus stop for it even though we didn’t know where it would take us, but after about 15 minutes we decided to just hoof it up another hill through Fort Mason, a path which from a previous trip to San Francisco I knew would take us to Fisherman’s Wharf and I knew how to get back to the hotel from there.

Marina District

Fisherman’s Wharf

A view of the bay and Alcatraz Island along our walk.

Fisherman’s Wharf

Fisherman’s Wharf

We ate lunch at Nick’s, outside on the street. Very good and much less expensive on the street than eating inside. I had shrimp and garlic fries. We then caught the F–car (this time the car was from Boston) and took it to Market Street, where we caught the California–line cable car and then transferred over to one of the Powell lines. Next, we walked to our hotel to pick up our luggage and car and drove to Oakland Airport to return home. I had a great trip.

Fisherman’s Wharf