Drove over the MY bridge ... foggy but seeable. The sun did peek out once in awhile today.
My CHAUFFEUR for the day...or should I say the WEEK?
First Stop: St. Mary's Cathedral
Very modern, built in 1971
Sat in silence for awhile
Fillmore West
Six concerts a a week were staged here during 1967's "Summer of Love."
Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, the Jefferson Airplane, the Who, Cream, Led Zeppelin ...
We drove by Portsmouth Square (kid's playground on top, parking garage beneath), Washington Square (across from Saints Peter and Paul Church in the heart of North Beach), Alta Plaza Park (huge green park where Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal filmed What's Up Doc)
Alta Plaza Park:
Many famous building, but only got shots of a couple:
Bank of American Building
TransAmerica Building
I was interested in many of the Catholic churches because Dede and I talked about the different parishes. She went to school at St. Cecelia's. As we drove around, we got shots of some pretty churches:
St. Dominic's Church
Built in 1928 in the Gothic style
Western Addition section of San Francisco
Saints Peter and Paul Church
Original church build in 1884, burned to the ground in the 1906 fire and earthquake
Present church completed in 1924 (took 11 years)
Twin spires are 191 ft. high, an area landmark
Washington Square, North Beach section of San Francisco
St. Patrick's Church
Built in 1872 as parish church for Irish immigrants, nicknamed "the most Irish church in America."
Church is now mostly Filipino and Mass is conducted in Tagalog.
Mission Dolores Basilica
The basilica was dedicated in 1791 and is the church for the mission.
The mission, founded in 1776, is beside the basilica. The mission is the oldest building in San Francisco.
First street in San Francisco
Grant Avenue between Clay and Washington in Chinatown
It's had three names: Calle de Fundacion, then Dupont Street, then Grant Avenue after President Grant,
South Park
Located beside the Bay Bridge in South Beach
Very cool oval park with play area, originally surrounded by mansions and fashioned after a London Park where only the residents had keys to enter. Then the area fell to hard times (factories, warehouses, skid row) when the Bay Bridge was built. Now revived as restaurant, cafe, and shopping area. The abandoned warehouses have been recreated into lofts and offices.
We had lunch in South Park.
Liberty Street, Noe Valley
Nice neighborhoods
One of the two steepest roads in San Francisco
22nd Street between Church and Vicksburg in Noe Valley
Grade 31.5%
We drove DOWN it to Dede's dismay.
It's so steep, you can't walk up or down on a sidewalk, so steps were built on each side in place of one.
Posh Neighborhoods
All of a sudden, we were in posh neighborhoods... West Portal, Forest Hill, and Saint Francis Woods. Such a difference from the rest of the city!
This house even has an elevator!
One other thing of note that I was clueless about. Apparently, large cities like New York and San Francisco have built "shanties" for outdoor dining in the parallel parking spaces in front of restaurants! Some are decorated, some are painted, some are more open than others....wish I'd taken more photos. They're everywhere!
Golden Gate Park
We were able to drive through some of this very large park, and it was green and groomed and gorgeous. However, our destination was the Dutch Windmill and tulip garden at the western end of the park, and the roads are closed to cars. We did get to see the windmill from the road.
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