Blast from the Past: Bob Dobbs Day in Review - 8/17/10

This entire adventure took me to cities that I've never been to before, and hands down, San Francisco stood out among the rest. Early Tuesday morning, the Dobkins BARTed into the city from Fremont. Our intentions to walk over the Golden Gate Bridge took a hit when an accident on the bridge diverted the bus route that usually drops you off at the beginning of the span. As well-documented by Emily, we had to walk/climb/hike through the Presidio, an old military fort-turned national park. Below are some of the original barracks.


After at least an hour of walking, we finally saw our golden goal in sight.


When it opened, the Golden Gate was the longest suspension bridge ever built. Suspension bridges literally "hang" the deck from two cables on either side of the roadway. These cables, as you can see below, are actually made up of hundreds of thousands of individual wires banded together.

Just another view of the bridge.

From the dedication plaque, you get a sense of the Art Deco influence of the time period.

Of course, one of San Francisco's notable features is the fog. Lucky for us, the fog burned off as we crossed the bridge, leaving behind clear blue skies.

Having crossed over to the Marin County side of the bridge, we began a 2 mile descent into Sausalito, an old transit and industrial hub that is now a wealthy waterfront city across the bay from San Fran.
Many of the houses are not only spectacular, but provide spectacular views of the bay and city.

Walking through Sausalito, I felt like I was in a European coastal village, like Sorrento in Italy.






The main street was lined with many art gallerys, boutiques, and restaurants. My favorite stop, though, was Lappert's Ice Cream. The Banana Caramel Chocolate Chunk was the only ice cream I have ever found that rivalled Tulmeadow Farm's - the only difference is that Lappert's was much more gourmet and less creamy that T-meds. If you're ever in the bay area, make sure you get a scoop of ice cream there.


From there, we boarded the ferry back to San Francisco, and enjoyed a spectacular ride.

This is the view from the ferry looking from Sausalito to San Francisco

From the ferry, you could get a good sense of how hilly San Francisco is.

Within a few minutes, Alcatraz Island, the famous prison site where allegedly no prisoners ever escaped (and lived). From the ferry, you can tell by the currents and distance, how hard it would be to swim across the bay.





Having passed Alcatraz, the city quickly became bigger and bigger.

The Bay Bridge carries traffic from Oakland into San Francisco.

Our ferry took us to the Ferry Building, which now houses a public market seven days a week.

The market was an upscale version of the Reading Terminal Market, similar to Quincy Market in Boston, but did not have as many producer-only stands. That being said, there is a farmer's market a few time a week that fills up the entire parking lot.


The bayfront is known as the Embarcadero, a very nice promenade lined with destinations, such as the Ferry Building, Fisherman's Wharf, and many small parks and pieces of art.

In fact, the embarcadero used to be an elevated highway that was severely damaged during the 1989 earthquake. The city decided to tear down the highway, which cut the city off from the waterfront, and replace it with this gorgeous promenade. While controversial at the time (people imagine terrible congestion in the city), the strategy has become one of the most famous examples of re-adapting uses of urban freeways and waterfronts.

Have to take a picture of a seal whenever I see one.

At one end of the waterfront is AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. Unfortunately, they were playing the Phillies in Philadelphia of all places, but I wanted to walk around the stadium as it is constantly rated one of the best in baseball.

From the walkway outside, you can look in and see the manual scoreboard in the outfield.

And the field itself.

Of course, San Francisco isn't San Francisco without the cable cars. Having talked to some locals, though, they primarily serve as tourist rides these days.

This view of the city should look familiar to all of you (Hint: Bob Saget).

At night, I drove with the one and only Jon Zane to the A's-Blue Jays game in Oakland. The A's not only are a poor team, but they also play in an outdated stadium, the McAfee Colosseum. We were able to walk up and buy these seats for only $30.
They even put tarps over the entire upperdeck, except for 3 sections behind homeplate.

Perhaps one of the most exciting parts of the game was seeing a greenman behind homeplate.


As you can imagine, the A's want a new stadium, and are threatening to move to Fremont since they have been unable to seal the deal with the City of Oakland. A few banners around the stadium begged them to stay.


Our seats were right next to the Jay's bullpen along the right field line, and I wish I recognized this reliever as he warmed up.


After the game, we went to the mission for burritos at El Farolito. The house special, Super Shrimp Burrito, was hands down the best I've ever had. It made Chipotle look like a poor man's attempt at a burrito.
All in all, it was a busy busy day in a great city. No city I've been to has as much unique character as San Francisco. The weather is always mild, the people are extremely friendly, and the city is easy to navigate. I would chomp at the bit to move out there one day.