An Afternoon in the City
In the words of the late Herb Caen, “Items! Items! Who’s got items?”
Yesterday saw the Disney cruise line “Wonder” make it’s one and only port call in San Francisco for 2014. The ship was on it’s way from San Diego to Vancouver on a 5-day cruise. Plenty of happy faces out and about along the Embarcadero and Fisherman’s Wharf. I’m still trying to figure out the 2:00 am departure. Guess it was sailing on the tides…
It was a glorious day in the City, if you didn’t get caught in the breeze from the West. Sunny and 70 degrees reported. Noted a good number of the double-ended PCC streetcars in service on the F Line. That Market Street Railway paint scheme on the 1011 is growing on me. The ultimate “what if”.
Handy tool and neat as well, how about this live map showing the locations of all the streetcars in service on the line? Even those great throwback streetcars from Milan can be tracked using this.
Speaking of San Francisco Streetcars, a neat (and free) place to visit near the Ferry Building is the Market Street Railway groups museum and gift shop. Well worth a stop!
I guess I need to take in more of the tourist destinations now and then. Take Ghiradelli Square as an example. Who knew they had another location west of the usual one? Good to add more space to enjoy all of that good stuff.
A couple of other free stops along the way? The National Park Service has a great visitors center at the corner of Jefferson and Hyde. A great look at the Maritime history of not only the Bay but all of northern California. And the history continues outside at the paid Hyde Street Pier, with some fine ships to visit.
For something a bit more whimsical, hidden amongst all the usual tourist goodies at Fisherman’s Wharf, check out the Musee Mecanique on Pier 45. Marvels from all over the mechanical era await to entertain for only 25 cents each! Even that legendary arcade game of Pong! And outside, you will also find the World War II submarine USS Pampanito available for tours as well as the Liberty ship, Jeremiah O’Brien. The O’Brien is heading out this weekend on it’s annual Veterans Memorial Cruise – four hours along San Francisco Bay. Been aboard of those cruises myself and a good time it was!
Lastly, no visit along the Embarcadero is complete without a stop at the Ferry Building. Just too many great places to tempt the palate. Plenty of great dining choices or excuses to pick up something for later to take with you.
All with a good stretch of the legs along the way…