San Francisco

[Lowell Goudge]

Originally Posted by daacon

Have Fun Lowell - I just got back from San Fran, unfortunately it was a work thing, still I had Saturday and Sunday. I hooked up with Frank on Saturday. I would recommend as others have said Fort Point - some really good shots of the City and Golden Gate Bridge - bring a telezoom - city is quite a ways away - bridge on other hand is right there.

The Aquarium at Fisherman's Wharf is kinda cool. There is a surprisingly large variety of sea life in the Bay. A Harbor tour or a tour of Alcatraz is cool as well. Try and pre-book the Alcatraz trip if interested they sell out quick and there is no standby anymore.

I liked North Beach as well. Might be a reasonable sport for the family. You can get some more landscape pictures (Bridge included) and the family can go swimming.

On previous Trips I also went to Muir Woods. This is a nice nature walk. However having also been to Stanley Park in Vancouver I prefer the later. However there are no Red Woods in Stanley Park.

A game at AT&T Park is a must if you can. The park is beautiful - I am happy to say I have seen 4 Giant games over the years at this park. And I think it had 4 different names.

There is a Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum just down the street from Fisherman's wharf. If is $15.00 to get inside and the 14 yeah old might like it. The wife may be able to shop as there are hundreds of small shops along The Embarcadero

I would have loved to get a shot of Lombard Street I have seen it before but had no camera with me; I don’t think it is an easy place to get to but a wicked street.

Cable car ride (Hyde and Powell) is very cool. Think that goes right downtown ends up at Union Square (it was 2003 when we took it can't remember)- the other end is walking distance from Fisherman’s Wharf.

Santa Cruz is a neat place as well - drivable - amusement park on the beach it is where the movie Lost Boys was filmed. All of these are very mainstream tourist spots , but I enjoyed them all.

I hear ya on accomadating - heck if I drive to the coast it takes me almost twice as long cause I want to stop every 10 miles Hope you have fun.

Dave

Having seen you were in SF, I was wondering how long it would take for you to post here.

I plan to do most of what has been suggested, and have also planned a couple ofd days to point reyes. (Have to do a little birding also)

I am a little suprised you didn't get a fish eye view of lombard street. While it won't be fisheye, it will get the attention of my 10-20

Fort Point is on the list, and I am wondering also about longer shots from the park just west of Peir 45 (martime ship museum)

Also have, as noted Alkartaz, and a giants game if in town.

[daacon]

Hey Lowell

I almost missed this post ! Well my time was limited unfortunatley - I was suppose to be in San Fran at 10:00 am Saturday and hook up with Frank. Thanks to a Pilot phoning in sick , haze and fog at SFO and Hertz taking the reservation but having some issues with holding the reservation it was almost 03:00 pm before I hooked up with Frank. He was kind enough to take me to Fort Point, Conservatory of FLowers , De Young Musem , and a couple of beaches , that chewed up what little time we had.

Then on Sunday I had to pick up some Freinds who came in. They had a 2 hour delay as well doooh. They wanted to do Pier 39 (whcih I did as well) - time they got in and we got there and parked it was about 02:00 pm. We killed that day at Pier 39. Monday - Thursday was all work in San Jose actually. You really need more than a what amounted to about 10 hours :-)

I would have loved to get to lombard street , Union Square some shots from the Hyde Powell cable car , looking forward to your pics. Make sure you pre book Alcatraz on-line - taking your chances trying to buy a ticket while you are there. Giant game should be no issue (as long as it is not the Dodgers in town - big rivalry) - I have bought tickets from scalpers game day before , usually for under face value. I have also used Craig's List for a couple. Like I said it is an impressive park , hope you can make it to one.

Never made it to Peir 45. Might get a good view of the Bay bridge from there. While the Golden Gate is the landmark the Bay Bridge is an engineering marvel and much larger.

Have a great time looking forward to your pics !

[Damn Brit]

Originally Posted by daacon

Hey Lowell

Never made it to Peir 45. Might get a good view of the Bay bridge from there. While the Golden Gate is the landmark the Bay Bridge is an engineering marvel and much larger.

Hi Dave, sorry I was out of town when you were here. You could have come and shot the Bay Bridge and the GG Bridge from our deck. We're blessed, we can see a lot of the Bay (when there's no fog, which is quite nice, smoke or pollution).

Here's a shot I took last year when I had no clue what I was doing (and was only just getting to grips with what I wanted to do) and before I had joined this forum).
At least it gives you an idea of the view. You can also see down towards the south bay to the left and Marin headland and toward the north bay to the right. Just to the right of this shot is a big tree so until it dies, there's no chance of a panorama from our house.

[daacon]

Nice shot Gary and quite a view ! With any luck I will be back in the Bay area next year.

[Damn Brit]

Originally Posted by daacon

Nice shot Gary and quite a view ! With any luck I will be back in the Bay area next year.

Well you'll be most welcome if you want to come over for a beer.

[hwblanks]

One piece of advice if you go to see a Giants game--if you go to a night game, make sure you dress warmly as the breeze off the bay can get really CHILLY!

They're not in any particular order, but here are the pics from my SF trip in 2006. I took all of these with a Fuji s602z.
http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/k...ncisco%202006/

Heather

[daacon]

Originally Posted by Damn Brit

Well you'll be most welcome if you want to come over for a beer.

Thanks Garry will take ya up on that next time in town. Question though , what's this singular 'a beer' mean? Do the sell them in signles ?

[Damn Brit]

Originally Posted by daacon

Thanks Garry will take ya up on that next time in town. Question though , what's this singular 'a beer' mean? Do the sell them in signles ?

Hahaha! It's just a figure of speech (but in your case I can make it literal).

[Clicker]

... but still working on my Hawaiian photos

I swear it was WINTER in SF, the last photo has a story of it's own ...LOL

I shot mostly @1600, a test of the low end lenses i had, next trip i'll be more "technically" proficient that is if i'm not in the P&S mood

Oh, i like my Pentax now to get some really nice lenses for next trip!

[Lowell Goudge]

Originally Posted by Clicker

... but still working on my Hawaiian photos

I swear it was WINTER in SF, the last photo has a story of it's own ...LOL

I shot mostly @1600, a test of the low end lenses i had, next trip i'll be more "technically" proficient that is if i'm not in the P&S mood

Oh, i like my Pentax now to get some really nice lenses for next trip!

I have to laugh at your observation,. I just got back, have many similar photo's to yours. Took the cruse around the harbour. Someone was quoted (I think Mark Twain) as saying the worst winter they ever spent was august in SF, Believe it. Never saw 60F in a week

[Damn Brit]

Originally Posted by Lowell Goudge

I have to laugh at your observation,. I just got back, have many similar photo's to yours. Took the cruse around the harbour. Someone was quoted (I think Mark Twain) as saying the worst winter they ever spent was august in SF, Believe it. Never saw 60F in a week

I read up on this the other day, it is Mark Twain who is quoted as saying it. But nobody has been able to find proof that he did say it.

[Lowell Goudge]

Originally Posted by Damn Brit

I read up on this the other day, it is Mark Twain who is quoted as saying it. But nobody has been able to find proof that he did say it.

Maybe no one can prove he said it, but if you were at the giants game last monday you had proof!

[Lowell Goudge]

I appreciate all the comments I had from people who posted.

Overall here is what we did, and what I thought of each attraction or what ever-

You should consider a city pass which includes the cable car and historical tramway as well as busses, plus several attractions.

For lodgings, although not on the water, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Golden gateway. The hotel is at California and Van Ness and has great access to the cable car and many bus routes. It is very high up, and if you can get a good floor, aboge say the 10th, the view is great. Much better than the low hotels close to the water or in the financial district for example

- fishermans warf (Pier 39)- somewhat tacky but good place to see the harbor The sea lions are fun to watch
- golden gate bridge -- a must see, with good views from Fort Point (also a place to see)
- lombard street, is fun to walk down (didn;t try up) but best lighting for photos is morning, with the sun on your back.
- washington Square there is a great cathedral here (called sometimes the italian church)
- Grace Cathedral is very interesting to see inside, unlike european cathedrals, with old artworks, this has a more modern historical set of murals depicting the last 2 centuries
- Fort Point - great place to view the bridge but also a great place in its own right
- auquarium at Pier 39 is overrated except for the touch the shark exhibit in the city pass)
- a giants game ATT Park - you should make it possible but dress warm and expect fog at night
- Telegraph hill, Coit tower. Is worth visiting, but forget waiting for the ride to the top (no stairs option) and the view through clowded windows.
- the ferry terminal building, especially market day or when they have craft sales
- Exploratorium - this is a must see with children, and interesting for all ages in the city pass)
- Musee Mechanique - This is interesting for kids, but really looks like someone's private collection of antique pinball machines etc. With just a few $ of interpretive historical information it would be first rate.
- maratime museum- unless you are interested not realll that good
- Alcatraz is worth trying to see, but ticket sales are a bit out of control. you can't get them without advance order if yoou want them in the city pass, but they are forsale in the small shops seems like legalized ticket scalpers in the city pass if you can get it otherwise taake the boat cruse)
- alcatraz / harbour tour. interesting and good views of many sights on the harbour, but it can be Very cold
- cable car museum, well worth the visit
- china town is worth visiting, and would be really good for the chineese new year, but I was disappointed in the gates, I was expecting more elaborate gates.
- Sonoma, & Napa. Sonoma is smaller and less expensive than Napa, I found Napa just a bit too industrialized. Cost of tasting in Napa was a little out of hand, but then again, I have travelled through france where it is generally free.
- Point Reyes National seashore, You can sometimes see the lighthouse, but there can be a lot of fog. This is reportedly best in autumn. For birding, the lowlands north of Stinson Beach before point Reyes are good
- Muir Woods go early, it fills up with tour busses by about 9:30 but can be totally empty at 8:00

I will add more if I think of anything

[edl]

Originally Posted by Clicker

I swear it was WINTER in SF, the last photo has a story of it's own ...LOL

I love this photo. Poor tourists!

I thought the quote went something like "there is no winter colder than a summer in San Francisco" but it's more or less the same.

I live in SF but work in the Peninsula (about 15 miles south), so it's usually low 60's in SF and 80's-90's where I work. The microclimates are insane in the Bay Area.

Lowell, good observations on everything. Pt. Reyes, Tomales Bay, & Sonoma are great weekend getaways (and not very over-touristed spots) for us city dwellers.