Visit to San Francisco

Yesterday we rode the BART train for the 1-hour ride through Oakland then under the Bay and surfaced at a station on Market Street. Our initial reaction was culture shock from finding ourselves in the middle of a large city not having a clue of what was where or how to get there. However, I had done one smart thing before leaving the BART station. I purchased two "Muni" tickets good for rides in the metropolitan buses and street cars for one month. The price to us over 65 geriatrics was $15 per ticket. Using transport was then simplified by flashing our cards rather than fumbling around for the exact change.

We first ducked into a pretty elaborate "bakery" for a nerve-settling coffee and a Reuben sandwich before venturing forth. We took a street car along Market street to the end of the line at Castro. We then took a street car back down Market and emerged at Fisherman's Wharf. We took Arnold's advice and had lunch at the iconic Alioto's restaurant on the 3rd floor, overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. (Great setting, great service, great food, and we highly recommend it.)

After lunch Brenda and I split up for an hour. I did a tour of one of only two remaining operational WWII Liberty ships. Brenda visited a "mechanical museum" which had all sorts of playable games and entertainment gizmo's, some possibly dating from the late 19th century.

The Liberty ship was the SS Jeremiah O'Brien, built in 1943 in 56 days. I was more moved by my visit to this ship that I had been by my visit to the mighty Missouri at Pearl Harbor. These ugly duckling (Pres. Roosevelt's description) ships kept Britain alive in the early years of the war and supplied the invasion of Normandy. 2751 Liberty ships were built. They used a clever 3-stage reciprocating steam engine for propulsion. Clever but obsolete. The design was a hurry-up one based on a British design. They were built to last only 5 years. At just over $1m each the US government reckoned that just one successful delivery of 9000 tons to Britain would justify the cost. They were armed with eight 20mm AA guns and one 3-inch gun at the stern. But they lumbered along at 11 kt and were sitting ducks for U-boats. The philosophy was simple: build Liberty ships faster than the Germans can sink them. That doesn't say much for the crews, some of whom joined the US Army after only one trip because it was safer. The ships were obsolete when built, e.g. a steam turbine would have driven them at 18 kt. But they were relatively cheap and easy to build and were easy to maintain. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_ship)

Afterward Brenda took me on a quick tour of the mechanical museum arcade. There were a lot of interesting contraptions evocative of the side show alleys of the various eras. Of great interest to me was the only steam-driven motorcycle known to have been built - and it still works!

At about 4 PM we began our return. We arrived at the Richmond BART station at 5.30 PM, and it was very dark. Winter is definitely at hand.

We liked San Francisco. The city is filled with public transport on the move and the car traffic is amazingly light. We encountered no pan handlers. And BART must be considered the jewel in the crown of the Bay area.

The top photo is of Alcatraz island. The next two are of Alioto's and our view from the table. The next one is of the end of the line at Castro. The bottom photo is of the ride to Castro.