Road Trip! Part 3: San Francisco, Part 1 (if that makes sense)

sopas ej · #1 Posted **Feb 26, 2020, 4:48 AM**

After leaving Gilroy Saturday morning, 2.15.2020, it was not too long of a drive to San Francisco.

Heading north on the 101; I think this is in Morgan Hill, south of San Jose.

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Entering San Francisco; just got off the 280.

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Driving north on Dolores.

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We arrived too early to check into our hotel near the Castro, so we left the car there (which they were nice enough to let us do) and headed towards the MUNI Castro Station, where we loaded up our Clipper cards with 3-day passes, to take public transportation around the city.

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These girl scouts will stop at nothing to sell their goddamn shitty cookies, peddling outside the Castro MUNI station.

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Waiting for a MUNI train to get to the Civic Center...

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Here it comes...

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Art piece outside of the Asian Art Museum.

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We went to San Francisco specifically for this exhibit.

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A few art pieces...

Luxation, 2016. Tsherin Sherpa, Nepalese artist.

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The Buddha Triumphing Over Mara, 800-900 CE. India.

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Gautama Buddha, 800-900 CE. India.

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The bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, 1800-1900 CE. Tibet.

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The Three Protectors of Tibet, 2008. Tsherin Sherpa, Nepalese artist.

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Part of a work entitled The Buddhist adept Milarepa. 1800-1900 CE, Tibet. I love Tibetan script.

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Mandala of Vajrabhairava, 1700-1800 CE, Tibet.

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Ewer made from human skull, 1800-1911 CE, China.

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The deities Chakramsamvara and Vajravarahi, 1600-1700 CE, China.

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Gift shop items, maybe the kind you'd only see at an Asian art museum? Persian trail mix...

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Indonesian cashews...

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Anti-odor tea towel... (?)

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Since the end of January of this year, Market Street has been closed to private cars from about Van Ness all the way east to downtown SF. Only cyclists, transit, paratransit, emergency vehicles, delivery vehicles, and taxis (no Uber and Lyft) are allowed on the street. I think it's really great! Less chaotic, and transit vehicles are not slowed down.

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Errant driver didn't see the signs prohibiting private vehicles. Lucky for him a cop wasn't there, he would have gotten ticketed.

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Waiting for a streetcar...

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Riding on the streetcar...

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Museum of the African Diaspora.

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California Historical Society Museum.

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Lunch at a "Northern Indian" restaurant.

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DO NOT ENTER signs for private vehicles prohibiting that stretch of Market Street to private vehicles.

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Catching the streetcar to take us back to our hotel to check in.

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This Michael Jackson guy was pretty fun to watch.

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Our hotel. Well, motel.

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They have a retro mid-20th Century theme goin' on in the rooms.

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Luckily, our window didn't face the central parking area and was in a corner, the furthest away from Market Street.

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Catching the MUNI J-Church Line to get to the Mission District.

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To be continued...

Pedestrian · #2 Posted **Feb 26, 2020, 5:26 AM**

First thread I've seen that really covered the Mission.

One criticism: Wish you had taken a pic or two of the new addition on the Asian Art Museum while you were there. Don't think it's open yet but the shell should be complete.

For those who don't know, the Asian was constructed as San Francisco's Carnegie library (which is why it's a Beaux Arts structure) and converted to the Asian Museum (using a gift of Chong Moon Lee whose name is prominently displayed on the building) by the Italian architect, Gai Aulenti, when San Francisco built a new main library (which has tragically become maybe the city's largest homeless shelter).

So you stayed at Beck's? I was going to ask where you found to stash the car but that explains it. If those walls could talk . . . .

Go easy on the Girl Scouts. Thin mints are a weakness of mine.

Boisebro · #3 Posted **Feb 26, 2020, 3:24 PM**

nice set!

exactly how long is this road trip, anyway? by now you're probably about 2 exits away from Boise...

sopas ej · #4 Posted **Feb 26, 2020, 6:06 PM**

Thanks for the comments!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

First thread I've seen that really covered the Mission.

One criticism: Wish you had taken a pic or two of the new addition on the Asian Art Museum while you were there. Don't think it's open yet but the shell should be complete.

We've been to the Asian Art Museum quite a number of times already, so we didn't bother going to see the other exhibits; we've seen their permanent collection a number of times already, so we didn't go upstairs and see if the expansion was done yet. It's supposed to be finished this spring, no? I'm sure on our next trip to SF, we'll make a stop there again if there's an exhibit we wanna see, and check out the new addition.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

So you stayed at Beck's? I was going to ask where you found to stash the car but that explains it. If those walls could talk . . . .

This is the first time we've stayed at Beck's in a long time. It's vastly improved; the rooms all have been redone, and somehow, the clientele seems to be more "well-behaved." We've stayed there years ago when there was a lot of cruising going on, people leaving their curtains open at night so that you can look in, people even trying to look into our window, being propositioned, etc. I like that Beck's has free parking. For the past few years, we've been staying at the Kimpton Buchanan in Japantown, which we really like. They charge you for parking, though, like 35 or 45 dollars a day. We didn't stay there this weekend because I couldn't get a room for a decent price (they really jacked up the price for that long weekend, plus I'm sure Valentine's Day had something to do with it too), so I ended up booking at Beck's.

Decades ago when we first started going to SF, we used to stay on Union Street, which at the time we liked, but even that street has evolved and has become somewhat hoity-toity. We haven't been to Union Street in quite a number of years now. When we stayed in that area, it was nice going down Van Ness, and then taking the California Street Cable Car all the way to the Financial District to get to the Ferry Building. That particular Cable Car always seemed to be the least touristy, and the most useful for us to actually use to get somewhere we wanted to get to (we've visited SF so many times, we've long stopped doing the touristy stuff).

And I see that the construction on Van Ness is still going on! They need to get that DONE already!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boisebro

nice set!

exactly how long is this road trip, anyway? by now you're probably about 2 exits away from Boise...

Hehehe sorry! Only one more thread of pictures, I promise!

Pedestrian · #5 Posted **Feb 26, 2020, 9:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by sopas ej

taking the California Street Cable Car all the way to the Financial District to get to the Ferry Building. That particular Cable Car always seemed to be the least touristy

That's what I tell everybody from out of town: Forget lining up at Powell & Market to ride the Cable Car. Take the California St line from either end. If you insist, you can transfer to the Powell St. line at Powell and California.

The Asian addition is on the back side of the building--the Hyde St side. (McAllister & Hyde):

Images: https://socketsite.com/archives/2017...edesigned.html

The North One · #6 Posted **Feb 26, 2020, 10:24 PM**

Most people are wearing heavy jackets. Does it really get that cold there?

sopas ej · #7 Posted **Feb 26, 2020, 10:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

The Asian addition is on the back side of the building--the Hyde St side. (McAllister & Hyde):

I remember seeing renderings of the addition some time ago, and I remember the upper-level terrace. I figured had we gone all the way upstairs and walked around, had the addition been done, we would have seen the terrace.

I can't wait for it to be finished; hopefully it'll mean an expanded collection.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The North One

Most people are wearing heavy jackets. Does it really get that cold there?

I actually don't see the heavy jackets; mostly hooded sweatshirts and whatnot, maybe some of those puffy quilted jackets worn by older people (who tend to feel cold) and women (who tend to feel cold also)... mixed in with shorts, some t-shirts and long sleeves.

When we were there, I believe the highs reached the mid to upper 50s Fahrenheit.

Pedestrian · #8 Posted **Feb 26, 2020, 11:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by The North One

Most people are wearing heavy jackets. Does it really get that cold there?

It gets that cold there in August. I wear a down parka then sometimes: recall the famous Mark Twain bit about “The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco”. It’s mostly about the wind and the fog (and the microclimate—a lot of these photos are in the Mission District, the warmest, sunniest part of town).

xzmattzx · #9 Posted **Feb 27, 2020, 5:15 AM**

Nice pictures!

geomorph · #10 Posted **Mar 13, 2020, 5:11 AM**

I see some photos of the new transit center rooftop park, was it worth a visit?

JMKeynes · #11 Posted **Mar 13, 2020, 12:25 PM**

Beautiful!

sopas ej · #12 Posted **Mar 13, 2020, 5:26 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by geomorph

I see some photos of the new transit center rooftop park, was it worth a visit?

Yes, I would say so. They did a really good job; I really love the landscaping (as you can tell); in fact, I wanted to take more pictures of the park but the battery on my camera started to die at that point, so I kept having to shut it off, which somehow seemed to give it more juice, and then I was able to take like one or 2 pictures every 5 minutes or something before the camera would shut off by itself.

The only thing I don't like about Salesforce Park is the way the building it's on meets the ground. I'll admit I'm also not a huge fan of the architecture of Salesforce Tower. But it's a great addition to that part of town, and as a transit center, I think it's great, though I'll admit I didn't explore where the bus bays are.