San Francisco (Spanish for Saint Francis) was founded on June 29, 1776, when colonists from Spain established Presidio of San Francisco at the Golden Gate and Mission San Francisco de Asís named for St. Francis of Assisi a few miles away.
This city is way over populated, the house are not only on top of each other but cover every hill, nook and cranny the can find, there is only 1 1/2 inches between each house.
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate strait, the one-mile-wide (1.6 km), three-mile-long (4.8 km) channel between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.
This is known as one of the most photographed bridges in the world, on a daily basis there are sailboats, cargo, container ships and cruise ships going under or past it.
The city view from the ferry, a city where space comes at a high price.
The houses are not only built one top of each other but are only 1 1/2 inches apart, they devour every hilltop and bay front.
Alcatraz Island is located in the San Francisco Bay, 1.25 miles (2.01 km) offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The small island was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison (1868), and a federal prison from 1933 until 1963. Beginning in November 1969, the island was occupied for more than 19 months by a group of aboriginal people from San Francisco who were part of a wave of Native activism across the nation with public protests through the 1970s. In 1972, Alcatraz became a national recreation area and received designation as a National Historic Landmark in 1986.
San Francisco Port, with its clock tower. to the left of this was the Hills Brothers Coffee Company.
This is Pier 39, a famous hot spot for sea lions, they hangout here pretty much all year, they gave them their own docks because they taking over the boat docks.
The Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco, California, is a popular feature of Golden Gate Park, originally built as part of a sprawling World's Fair, the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894.After the conclusion of the 1894 World's Fair, Makoto Hagiwara, a Japanese immigrant and gardener, approached John McLaren with the idea to convert the temporary exhibit into a permanent park. Hagiwara personally oversaw the building of the Japanese Tea Garden and was official caretaker of the garden from 1895 to 1925.
Following Makoto Hagiwara’s death in 1925 his daughter, Takano Hagiwara, and her children became the proprietors and maintainers of the garden. With the onset of World War II in America and rising anti Japanese sentiment, Takano Hagiwara was evicted from the family’s home and sentenced to an internment camp. Despite John McLaren’s agreement with Hagiwara, the displacement of his family disrupted their stay at a promised century long home and the family was not allowed back or reimbursed after the war ended. In the period of their absence, the garden was renamed "The Oriental Tea Garden," and any structure expressing Japanese sentiment was demolished, including the Hagiwara home. The original Shinto Shrine was removed and a majority of the rare plants were left to wither without thorough care. Japanese tea servers were replaced with Chinese women in their traditional dress.
In postwar 1952 the title "Japanese Tea Garden" was reinstated and the
Hagiwara family offered minimal assistance in the beautification of the
garden. The period that followed was one of reconciliation. In 1949, a
bronze Buddha was offered to replace the previous Shinto Shrine,
interweaving two Japanese religions within the park. Because the 1951 Japanese Peace Treaty
was signed in San Francisco, on January 8, 1953, Yasasuke Katsuno, the
Japanese Counsel General, presented a 9,000 pound Lantern of Peace. The
lantern was commissioned in small donations by the children of Japan as a
symbol of friendship toward future generations in the United States.
Under transitioning ownership, the tea house and gift shop have been
completely redesigned by Nagao Sakurai, also the designer of the 1953 Zen Garden installment. In 1974, a plaque contrived by artist, Ruth Asawa
was gifted to the garden in honor of Makoto Hagiwara and his family for
their dedication to the garden’s beginnings and expansion.
The San Francisco Botanical Garden was laid out in the 1890s, but funding was insufficient until Helene Strybing willed funds in 1926. Planting began in 1937 with WPA funds supplemented by local donations. This 55 acres (22 ha) arboretum contains more than 7,500 plant species. The arboretum also houses the Helen Crocker Russell Library, northern California's largest horticultural library.
To say the least it was breathtaking, with trees that have dreadlocks to plants like monkey puzzle trees and succulents of all kinds, this place had everything.
The Chinatown centered on Grant Avenue and Stockton Street in San Francisco, California, is the oldest Chinatown in North America and the largest Chinese community outside Asia. It is the oldest of the four notable Chinatowns in the city.
Chinatown has been traditionally defined by the neighborhoods of North Beach, and Telegraph Hill areas as bound by Bush Street, Taylor Street, Bay Street, and the water. Officially, Chinatown is located in downtown San Francisco, covers 24 square blocks, and overlaps five postal ZIP codes.
Lombard Street is an east–west street in San Francisco, California that is famous for a steep, one-block section with eight hairpin turns. It's a one way street going down twists and turns then colliding with a straight 90 degree downward dive, the cars cannot parallel park on this street because they would roll away, as you can see in the picture they have to park at an angle.
The Winchester Mystery House is a mansion in San Jose, California, which was once the personal residence of Sarah Winchester, the widow of gun magnate William Wirt Winchester.
Ever since construction commenced in 1884, the property and mansion were claimed by many, including Winchester herself, to be haunted by the ghosts of those killed with Winchester rifles. Under Winchester's day-to-day guidance, its "from-the-ground-up" construction proceeded around the clock, by some accounts, without interruption, until her death on September 5, 1922, at which time work immediately ceased.
Unfortunately Mrs. Winchester was very gullible, a medium made her believe that her home was haunted by angry spirits and told her that the only way to help the problem was to confuse them by constantly building onto her house without cease, Mrs. Winchester believed her and built onto the house until her death, even going a little mad in the process, building doors that lead to nowhere and staircases that lead into the ceiling.
What started out as a two bedroom farmhouse turned into the over 160 bedroom estate below.
The Sutro Baths were a large, privately owned public saltwater swimming pool complex in the Lands End area of the Outer Richmond District in western San Francisco, California.
Built in 1896, it was located near the Cliff House, Seal Rock, and Sutro Heights Park.
The facility burned down in 1967, and is now in ruins.
Overlooking the cliffs off of Highway 1.
This part was turned into a walking park, called devils slide, named that because the falling rocks that kept taking out the highway, they blasted through the mountain and now the highway goes through a tunnel.
Napa Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Napa County, California, United States. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier wine regions in the world.
This was the bus I rode in for my wine tasting tour, a vintage 1960's bus with wood flooring, it was groovy.
The rolling hills and vineyards made for some really beautiful countryside.
Got to have a picnic lunch here and it was pretty amazing.
Most people that know me know that I really enjoy a good red wine and this place did not disappoint.
We had a really good time here, visiting friends, attending meeting and seeing the sights, this will go down as a fun place to visit.
