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Northern California, Part Three of Four

San Francisco


You are here
Our hotel in San Franciso was just a couple of blocks from Fisherman's Wharf. The weather was beautiful, so we were very comfortable walking along the waterfront. No one goes hungry here. There are dozens of restaurants and sidewalk stands offering just about every kind of seafood, especially clam chowder, shrimp and crab cocktails, seafood sandwiches and steamed crab. We had lunch at Alioto's, where we also had a great view facing the Golden Gate Bridge.

Breakfast of champions
Just another seafood combination at one of the local joints.

Pier 39
Pier 39 is a shopping and dining area not far from Fisherman's Wharf. You can see the financial district in the distance.

Afternoon nap
Sea lions love to lounge on these platforms in Pier 39's marina.

San Francisco - Chinatown


 "Abandon hope, all who enter -- " Oops! Wrong gate.
The gate to Chinatown.

Grant Street
A walk down colorful Grant Street, the main road for tourists in Chinatown.

Empress of China
We had dinner at the Empress of China. Although it's not really a roof garden, it's on the sixth floor and has a lovely view of the city. The presentation is classic, with jacketed waiters and food delivered on rolling carts.

And now for something completely different
Another Chinatown favorite.

There's more than one way to find Nirvana
This just doesn't seem right.


Window shopping in Chinatown.


Architectural details.


A typical street light on Grant Street.

San Francisco - Out and About


Alcatraz
Alcatraz Island

Lombard Street
We drove down Lombard Street, the curviest street in the world.

With good credit you can stretch your payments over 10-20 years
The place to shop for that hard-to-please convict in your life.

My favorite color!
Steve wonders which outfit his new roommate will like best.

Little Italy
Our hotel (not the San Remo) in San Francisco was near Columbus Avenue, which runs through the traditionally Italian section of town. Many lamp posts have bands painted on them in the colors of the Italian flag, and some street signs include a second sign with the name "Corso di Colombo."

Not really the original building
The Palace of Fine Arts was built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. It was rebuilt in 1965 and more recently received a seismic retrofit.

Centaurs fighting humans
Details atop the Palace of Fine Arts.

Livelier then the real thing
Sea lion sculpture near Pier 39.

San Francisco - Academy of Sciences


Butterfly
At the Academy of Sciences, the "Rainforests of the World" exhibit includes free-flying butterflies and birds.

Another butterfly

Look but don't touch
These cute Poison Dart Frogs are about an inch long. Native to the jungles of Central America, they have toxic skin.

So cute, but so deadly
They come in a variety of striking colors.


The white alligator at the Academy of Sciences.

Yet more fish!
Although we had already seen a lot of fish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, we enjoyed seeing still more at the Academy's aquarium.

Anemones and sea cucumbers
More interesting stuff in the aquarium.

Sausalito


Sausalito
Sausalito is pretty seaside town just a short drive from San Francisco. We stopped there for lunch on our way north.

Urbran sprawl

Not us
Some people rent bicycles in San Francisco, pedal across the bridge, and then take the ferry back. Some people.

Golden Gate Bridge
Looking back toward San Francisco after crossing the Golden Gate Bridge.

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