San Francisco--Nancy & Me--Day 3

TEAM NANCY/MARK VS. TEAM SARA/MATT

It was Saturday in the City. The plan was for Sara and Matt to spend the day together. Sara, our designated driver, had her car, so Nancy and I anticipated using the MUNI system to zip around town as we desired. The Sara/Matt team were going to MOMA where there was a big exhibit of modern POP art which included some things by Andy Warhal as well as some of the other icons of the genre. They then were to hook up with a friend of Matt's who was going to school at Cal State SF and have a wild time with the college crowd.

The Nancy/Mark team plan was to have a nice lunch somewhere, and play it as it came! As usual I started our day at Farley's with two big cups of caffiene and a scone loaded with butter and jam. Nancy had her customary double cappachino and a muffin and wrote some more secrets in her journal. By the time I got through the Chronicle and the crossword, the last of the caffiene had been downed and was kicking in, and we were both raring to get our big day together in gear!

It was now closing in on 10 am and back at the apartment the Matt/Sara team was up and almost ready to blast off in the Volvo towards City Centre and MOMA (and the pile of people sure to be in attendance or at least in line in the area waiting to get on the Cable Cars).

ZAPPING!

We tidied up after them, (just like at home), and when things were neatly stowed, walked up a block to the bus stop to wait for the #22 electric powered bus. We sat on the bench and I wondered how often the bus came by on Saturday compared to during the week, visualizing our day being spent sitting on benches waiting for some form of transportation going in the right direction. Since I had time to ponder on things, I wondered what would happen if one of the overhead electric lines, which powered the buses and trolleys throughout the city, would fall on me for some reason. I had read a warning on a panel in one of the electric trolleys that there was 600 volts of electricity running through the trolley panel, and assumed that the buses had the same zapping power if one were to get zapped! I had not heard of anyone getting zapped, but there were overhead lines on just about every street of any size in the whole city, and I could not imagine that some zapping had not occurred on a regular basis. Perhaps there was an understanding among all the residents of the City that such things as zapped and sizzled persons were not to be discussed because it would be very bad for the tourist business and would cause the pile of people to dwindle to a small mound! About that time in my pondering, #22, which was firmly attached to the electric line, came humming up to the stop. We flashed our 3 day passes and hopped on just like we knew what we were doing and where we were going.

WALKIES!

Our plan was to do some walking tours of the Mission and Castro Districts, which, as it happened, were both right on the #22 line to the east of us. Nancy had an old picture of her great-great-etc standing in front of his store/house which was located in the Mission district. She didn't have the address specifically, but had been by it once with her mother years ago and thought she could find it if she got into the right area. The Mission district actually was the site of an old Spanish mission which no longer existed. But a nice newer one was there with a big spire/tower and a mission school. Both the Castro and Mission areas were originally part of an original Spanish land grant in olden days. A bigwig Spanish guy called Jose de Jesus Noe', was the last Mexican Acalde (Mayor) of "Yerba Buena". That was the name of the settlement prior to Jan 30, 1847 when it was changed to San Francisco ( after St Francis of Assisi). There is still a Noe' St. and a Noe' Valley named after him in the area. Yerba Buena Island still sits in the bay between the City and Oakland!

Nancy said we would go to the Castro district first and have lunch, then come back to the Mission and walk around there. Of course we made the error of getting off the bus at Mission St instead of Market and ended up in the Mission district. We were going to wait for the next bus, but in looking at the map, saw it was only 6-7 blocks to Market, so we decided that we could probably walk there in the time we would have to wait for another bus. And we did beat the next bus!

GAY WAY!

The Castro district is the center of the gay community in the city. Harvey Milk was the first elected gay city supervisor. He had opened a camera store when he came to this area, and the store front is still a much visited location. While in office he was shot and killed at the city hall by a nutcase , former city supervisor Danny White. He also killed Mayor George Moscone in his rampage. The nutcase pleaded insanity due to uncontrolled rage caused by a sugar overdose, and was found guilty of only voluntary manslaughter. It was a very famous trial and the defense became known as the "Twinkie" defense. ( It was the White Milk and Cookie trial--that's the truth!) The Plaza at the south end of Market St is named Harvey Milk Plaza in his honor.

Market St. is a straight line northward to the heart of downtown on the MUNI "F" line. There is an underground connection to BART, and above, buses, and trolleys all ply this route which ends at Fisherman's Wharf. It seems to be the city's busiest corridor. Castro is a vibrant and busy neighborhood filed with cafes, bars, health clubs, gay oriented boutiques, and all the other businesses necessary to support a fairly sizeable community. The old Castro Theater is the last of the 1920's single screen movie palaces left in the city. These days it tends to play classic movies, and I suspect whatever mainstream movie that appeals to the local gay community. It still has the old classic Pipe Organ used during the silent film era.

It is one of the best preserved communities in the city with streets lined with trees and rows of old refurbished and colorfully painted Victorian row houses. While the homes have small garages on the ground floor, it seems that everyone parks on both sides of the street. All the streets are lined with parked cars. (I noticed this all over the city).

We had a very nice lunch at a sidewalk cafe called the Cafe Flore'. I had a hamburger with fries, and Nancy had a veggie burger with a salad. Nancy said it was the best veggie burger she had ever had in her entire life! And that is saying something! A perfect place for lunch! We need to go back.

We drank a bottle of Pelligrino sparkling water and enjoyed the activity and swirl of people, trolleys, cars, and buses around the Plaza.

MUSEO DE CABLE CAR

It was after 1 pm, and the afternoon was still before us. I looked at the map and instead of a walk around the Mission district, I thought that a trip to the cable car museum near Nob Hill might be interesting. I was ever the tourist! Nancy was game so we walked out to the trolley stop and hopped on the "F" line trolley headed downtown. My thought was that we could hop on a cable car downtown to take us to the museum. Wouldn't that be cool. Well, we got down to the Market St cable car stop, and as usual there was a line of tourists a mile long waiting to get on. Nancy said it was only 5-6 blocks up the hill, and if we started walking maybe we could hop on the cable car at one of the other stops. So we started up the hill and at each stop along the way there was a group waiting to get on a car that was all ready full when it got there. We ended up climbing all the way up to the museum. I think we got there almost as fast as the car that left at the same time, and I know that walking was alot faster that waiting in that line. I think if we lived in the City we would be in very good physical condition!

The museum also was the maintenance and mechanical building that housed all the machinery that powered the cables that pulled the cars up all those hills. It was all open for viewing, and it was fascinating to see how the system worked with the two big electric motors turning the huge pulleys with the cables running through them. The exhibits showed the history of the system and there were many pictures of the city before and after the earthquake and fire of 1902. All the cable car and the buildings were destroyed or burned in the 1902 earthquake. While some of it was rebuilt after, most of the new system was converted to electric trolleys, which were much more efficient and easier to build. Only a couple of cable lines survived, and the original steam driven system was converted to electric power. The whole system was refurbished in the 1980's( at the cost of a zillion $ or so) and should now last another century as the only existing working cable car system in the world. The Cable Car Mechanical and Maintenace building was refurbished as well and the museum was much improved. The only existing original cable car is on exhibit in the museum. That car happened to be on exhibit in Baltimore at the time of the earthquake and escaped the destruction. Finding out how the cable system worked was very interesting, and educational too!

NANCY KNOWS EVERYBODY!!

As we exited the building and were standing on the corner consulting our map, we heard a voice yell, "Hey Nancy!" One of Nancy's friends from San Diego wheeled by in a VW with her husband at the wheel and another couple in the back seat and yelled out the window, "We just went to Alcatraz!", then whipped around the corner without even stopping. What are the odds of that! It is well known among all her friends that Nancy cannot go anywhere without bumping into someone she knows. The stories I could tell!

LA BACCA DE VINO

We walked up Nob Hill and were standing in front of the Fairmont Hotel when Nancy's cell phone rang. It was Sara (on Matt's cell), wondering where we were. They were done with the art exhibit at MOMA and since we were just a few blocks away they came and picked us up. They had not heard from Matt's college friend. So we decided to head back to the apartment, clean up a bit, and all go out for a nice dinner together. We looked in Nancy's dining guide and picked a nice place called Bacca over in the Castro district. I called for a reservation at 8 pm, and we all took a breather for an hour or so before going out for one last meal!

The designated driver was back in charge of our transportation, so we drove around looking for the restaurant and ended up in a neat little neighborhood in upscale Noe' Valley, just east of The Castro.. As usual, the designated driver drove around the side streets looking for the one open parking place and finally found success on a side street a couple of blocks from the restaurant. While we were walking around a bit, Matt's friend finally called him on his cell! Matt told him he was on his way to a big family dinner and would get back to him later! We got there right on time, were seated at a very good table, had two bottles of wine and some very good food, and some good conversation. Most of the time it was me against the rest of the table. I usually held my own by making sure everyone had a full wine glass at all times.! Even Matt had wine! It was our most expensive meal of the week--I put it on the credit card! So the bill will be out of sight for about a month!

Matt never did get back to his friend.