The loveliness of Paris seems somehow sadly gay
The glory that was Rome is of another day
I’ve been terribly alone and forgotten in Manhattan
I’m going home to my city by the Bay
I left my heart in San Francisco
High on a hill, it calls to me
To be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars
The morning fog may chill the air, I don’t care
My love waits there in San Francisco
Above the blue and windy sea
When I come home to you, San Francisco
Your golden sun will shine for me
When I come home to you, San Francisco
Your golden sun will shine for me
– Tony Bennett
Wednesday 14 June 2023
Another bleak day in the City by the Bay: cloudy, windy and a maximum temperature of about seventeen degrees Celsius. Allegedly there’ll be some sun later in the day, but I’ve heard them say that a few times before this week, and it hasn’t really happened so I won’t hold my breath.
Went down to Fisherman’s Wharf and walked all the way along to the Ferry Building and back, a tick over 8.5km. If nothing else, the weather is good for exercising. No one is doing any sweating! Hard to believe this is a standard summer here. Really, it isn’t all that different from Sydney in winter. The last time I was here – October 2017 – it was during a heatwave, and whilst I don’t necessarily want those temps, a little warmer wouldn’t go astray.
After breakfast, we walked to the Avis rental car depot, picked up our ride for the day – a silver Honda Accord – and drove through the city. Kat wanted to see the house from the sitcom Full House, and after that we visited Alamo Square Park which, I am reliably informed (having not seen even a single episode of the show) featured heavily in the show.
Then it was on to another iconic San Francisco location that featured in The Rock, starring the late, great Sean Connery: the Palace of Fine Arts down near Crissy Field. It’s where Connery’s John Mason meets his estranged daughter after he escapes FBI custody downtown. Turns out, the impressive structure, originally constructed for the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition of 1915, is also very popular for wedding photos. Even on a Wednesday, we saw two couples getting their snaps. The sun came out fleetingly whilst we were here.
Just before midday, we drove across the cloud-shrouded Golden Gate Bridge and down to the Muir Woods National Monument in nearby Mill Valley. The Monument, named for John Muir who is most famous for his conservancy work in relation to Yosemite, is home to a grove of towering old-growth redwood trees, similar to what we saw at the Tuolumne Grove in Yosemite yesterday. It’s a spectacular spot where you can wander amongst the trees, alongside the burbling Redwood Creek, passing through the Cathedral Grove and the Bohemian Grove. There are more challenging hikes if that’s your thing.
Our final stop on the day was Stinson Beach and the Muir Beach overlook. Unfortunately the gloomy weather made it a little less spectacular than it might otherwise have been.
Detroit-style pizza for dinner, though I stuck to the honey chicken wings. It was so cold, we got hot chocolates from Ghirardelli Chocolate Company to fortify us for the walk back to our hotel.
Over 30,000 steps today. I’m tired!
kitchtrips 