So we left the blooming Almond trees and Truck-choked Highway 99 for some San Fransisco ocean air today.
Started off great. My co-worker had to pick something up at Best Buy. Guess what was in the middle of the store playing on a 4ft TV.... Guitar Hero II! So I rocked out and got my guitar hero fix as he shopped. Woohoo!
Got to see the windmill farm in the daytime this trip. There are a whole lot of them when the terrain gets hilly. See
here on the journey mapAfter the seemingly hour we spent waiting to pay the toll for the Bay Bridge we drove by the piers. We were planning to park and see what we could see. Almost in answer to us someone pulled out of a prime parking spot. It became ours for 25 cents for 7 minutes!
Our walk pathAlong this path we ran into someone I had read about on Google Earth. "The world famous 'bushman'". The placemark reads "Homeless man nicknamed 'Bushman' hides behind this trash can while holding bushes. As unsuspecting people walk by he scares them. Hilarious to watch." And indeed it was as my co-worker about jumped a foot off the ground!!
We continued down along the piers until we got to the Ship Museum where we looked at old ships, and people on tours learning the ways of the sailor. They were pulling up boats and throwing ropes with all the "Avasts", and "Yo Ho's" one could muster. Felt kind of corny to me as the observer, but I'm sure it was fun. Saw some other tourists take off in a row boat. They were getting somewhere, but (judging by the total lack of coordination with their oars) it definitely was not fast.
We walked back to our car (avoiding the bushman this time :D) and drove down to Ghirardelli square for some lunch. You can park at the Ghirardelli Square garage for $2 for 20 minutes, or you can totally luck out and find a parking spot in front of the Maritime Museum!! White curb (not red like the others), no parking meter, no signs on it (empty short post may used to house a sign). Car was still there when we got back.... and nothing on it; ticket or shoe!!
Ate at Lori's Diner up in Ghirardelli square and got the obligatory sundae from the Ghirardelli shop. Got a "Intense Dark Espresso Ice Cream Sundae" and am steal feeling it. Solid chocolate at the bottom of the cup. got'em to go and walked down to the beach to sit on the steps with a view of Alcatraz and crazy people in wet suits swimming out to buoys.
Ghiradelli square adventure zoneThen we cruised over to a knitting store. Broke out the GPS for some backup, but downtown it went haywire. Our car was suddenly flung into the bay and the program suggested we drive back onto Treasure Island military base and get back on the Bay Bridge and back into San Fran. Eventually it settled down and we found
Noe Knit. Out of the
four shops I was trying to choose from I liked their website the best (has
blog). After impressing the lady with my knitting and getting some surprises for a certain someone, we were off to cross the
Golden Gate Bridge.
Crossed Golden Gate bridge... no toll leaving the city. Parked for a view of the city and something caught my eye. Down the hill was an old looking something that I thought we ought to investigate. It ended up being a battery at
Fort Baker. There were two according to the sign. One,
Battery Yates, was what I had spotted. It (along with others) were built to protect the bay from being taken during the early 1900s. The other,
Battery Cavallo, was built before the Spanish-American war but never had guns placed on it due to budget cuts. Cavallo Battery is now fenced off and is kept people free for an endangered species of butterfly (
Mission Blue butterfly). Note: great place for postcard pictures of Golden Gate
Fort Baker GoogleEarth view After going through a one lane tunnel (Wait 5 minutes for a red light) we emerged on the west side. We headed for Bonita Point but stopped when we came across more bunkers and batteries. There was also an old Nike Missile site, but visiting hours were over. The places we stumbled upon were the remains of
Fort Barry.
We checked out Battery Alexander just as the sun started to get low in the sky. I was just thinking the sun setting over the ocean would make for a great picture and some other photographer intercepted my picture location vibes and thought it would make a great backdrop for his model who was sporting jeans and a conveniently placed scarf. We found that the short aloe-ish plants in the area were very squishy when you walk on them (we had to walk over them to get back to our car thanks to the photo shoot taking place in our path).
Another site, Battery Mendell, used to have some guns that could be hidden that would fire a 12 inch shell weighing 1,100lbs a distance of 8 miles! Apparently these guns were retired after airplanes and ships became equipped with longer range guns. They were sold for scrap metal in 1943. (yes I read some info plaques). Had to enter a series of rooms under the battery through an open window because the doors are welded shut, but needed to use cellphone as light. When walking to Battery Mendell there were also a couple of pillbox-like things that had been welded shut, but one of the hatches had rusted out enough that it had fallen in. Had to go take a look. Could see some giant springs that were used to open the shield in front to allow one to fire.
Up on a hill beyond Battery Mendell was a delapidated lookout sort of building that I also felt we needed to go see. After traversing a path with a ~250 ft (according to Google Earth) dropoff to oneside, we made it to the top. The two story building had its' second story fenced off (as it had started to collapse). Further on the path were some bunkers (?). They had (what remained of them) wood floors and the dugout areas around them were connected via a small concrete tunnel. Had to break out the cellphone so I could see the steps inside.
Fort Barry GoogleEarth viewAfter all that, we were beat and jumped in our car, and in the words of Phish: "The car is the thing on the road that takes you back to your abode".
Certainly more places to explore. Need many more days to do it. Maybe a family vacation sometime.
