San Francisco

Hyde Street Pier

In my last blog, we had arrived in San Francisco after a lazy day motoring down the Napa River. San Francisco is one of the most exciting places that I have ever been to in my life. We spent 10 days at this Pier and as you can see it is right in the heart of the Fisherman's wharf Tourist area.  

From our berth we walked straight into this amazing area which included the famous Chinatown and all the other attractions that Pier 39 had to offer. 

One venue that we frequented quite often was the Buena Vista. In Spanish this translates to Good View and as you can see from the pics below, it certainly had outstanding views. 

Buena Vista San Francisco on ground floor with
 tenaments above.

Buena Vista by Nite

Buena Vistas view over to Alcatraz. this is pic is further back from
Where the Buena Vista but  it will give you the idea .

The Buena Vista is renown as the 1st place in the US to  introduce Irish Coffee.This establishment was established in 1886 and prior to SF having the Golden gate Bridge, Alcatraz Is, Cable Cars etc, when   traditional schooners and merchant ships sailed the bay area, the Buena Vista was selling whiskey and hearty meals to the sailors,  fishermen, lumber workers, cannery workers and locals who just came up the hill to enjoy  the view over the Bay.  

Plaque at Entrance to Buena Vista re
the introduction of Original Irish
Coffee to the United States

Located in Hyde Street, directly opposite the famous Cannery and the Cable Car terminal, The Buena Vista is  one of SF's longest continually operating businesses. It  operated thru the  Prohibition era as an ice cream palour to survive this period by I am told it still sold alcohol to the  locals as did most Speak Easy's.

We spent many an hour sitting in this wonderful bar enjoying  great food and watching the tourists  struggling up the hill to  the terminal so as to get into SF's CBD. One thing that was astonishing was the  Fog that came into the Bay, over the Golden gate Bridge nearly every day at around the same time.  later in this blog, or the next,  I will show you  how thick the Fog is.

San Francisco  was  a great surprise to me as I had never ever wanted to go there in my previous trips to the US. 

In one of my earlier Blogs, I showed pictures of seals/sea lions on cardinal marks and  nearly every structure  that was adjoining the Bay. Well even Fisherman's Wharf was also  affected with many of the wharf areas inundated with colonies of seal taking over  expensive commercial areas of the tourist strip. Unfortunately, the pics I took of this have gone astray.

We were  there in October 2009, and the following year, I heard that just as the seals had appeared some 2-3 years prior to us arriving , they vanished overnight. Whether they came back or not I don't know.

THE CANNERY at Del Monte Square is one of San Francisco's most treasured places. Located at the foot of Columbus Street overlooking San Francisco Bay, and originally built in 1907,

 THE CANNERY was once the largest peach cannery in the world. Today THE CANNERY at Del Monte Square is a more vibrant waterfront marketplace featuring one-of-a-kind shops and restaurants, offices, live entertainment, and a world-class jazz club. The brick warehouse was converted into three levels of winding walkways, balconies and bridges surrounding an inviting courtyard with 130-year-old olive trees and several outdoor cafes. THE CANNERY'S European charm, unique shops and restaurants, and award-winning architecture make it one of the finest shopping and dining experiences in the world. ---www.delmontesquare.com

(Extract directly from the cannery's own website - visit the site as it is a MUST see place if you go there).

Night time Fisherman's Wharf - just up from where we
were moored

San Francisco is great fun and we spent many days walking around the shops and restaurants . In fact I had to get my RFD  (6 man life raft) services and here, right in the middle of Fisherman's Wharf was the only guy in  the area that could do so. His name was Tarrantino, which made me think of  some of the old Tarrantino movies.  In fact there were many other establishments that carried the same name. Later we found out that the family was one of the original founders of the area and ran the wharf's and surrounding businesses from the days of early settlement of SF. Whether this is true or not, I'm not sure.

SF was an hour and a half south of Napa and we spent many days driving down    to get  bits an pieces from suppliers like West Marine. West  Marine had a very large facility in Sausalito. Sausalito is on the northern side of the Bay and a mile and a third over the Golden gate. I simply fell in love with this little area with its quaint eateries, restaurants, bars and shopping facilities and as you can see I have posted a couple of pics of the area. 

Well that's about all to tell from SF but I will spend a lot more time there and Sausalito in the future. As stated before, we spent approximately 10 days having fun here and now the time has come to head off to Hawaii. So my next blog will be of the journey from SF to Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii. let me know what you think to date.  

Cable Car Terminal opposite the Buena Vista

 
 A leisurely stroll thru the Cannery site is a MUST!

 

The Cannery - Street facade as it was when it was a
working cannery 
Pier 39 San Francisco

USS Pampanito, Pier 45
Fisherman's Wharf district

Views, above, to SF on our way back from Berkeley
from getting clearance to leave the US

View looking back to SF near where we were moored



Current view of Lombard Street San Francisco
made famous by Steve McQueen in Bullit and
that famed street Chase. Today as you can see,
the local authorities have restricted
the area to a garden street with many
obstacles as everyone was trying to emulate
McQueen's down hill racing!!! 


Sausalito

 
Sausalito from ferry from SF