December days in the Bay Area

“The Accidental Tourist in San Francisco”

Usually in early December I visit Belize, my adopted second home. But during the fall, we started tracking a website called “Escape Houston.” It’s an aggregate site showing all of the travel deals out of the Houston area. On this excursion, we found a deal to San Francisco for $138.00 round trip! So, instead of Belize we traveled to the west coast. We visited in late August, driving south from the Bay Area to Los Angeles along the Pacific Coast Highway. The trip is the subject of another tale.

Friday Evening

We flew out on Friday evening, with a planned arrival shortly after 11pm in San Francisco. We decided early on, not rent a car and negotiate the city like the locals. Which means, subway, trolley, bus, and of course Uber. With each flight deal comes a “catch.” This catch was a connecting flight through Salt Lake City and to a different airline, Virgin America (which turned out to be a cool experience). Anyway, we landed in San Francisco International early and had to wait on the tarmac until our gate opened up. It eventually did and we taxied to our home base. Upon arrival, we were looking for the BART train to the city. We knew we needed to get to the station before 11:45pm, the last train left for the city. Luckily, we arrived at the BART station at 11:33, even after a few wrong turns. When we boarded, we were the only people on the train. In the next 30 minutes the experience changed. As we progressed towards the city, we were reminded that this was Friday night and experiencing huge metropolitan area! Slowly people boarded. The riders were young, fun, hip, holding bottles of tequila and smoking weed. The train became more packed with riders we became the “adults.”. Finally, it was our stop to depart. We gathered our things and headed toward the exit. From our exit to the hotel was about 10 minutes. We stayed just off Union Square near Market Street. The city was electric. It was Christmas season and the area was buzzing with life. Our hotel was also home to a nightclub. As we tiredly wandered past people dressed to kill for the club, we checked in, didn’t like the smell of the room and happily moved to another room on a different floor. While the general checked in and relaxed I grabbed my camera and headed out to take photos. The first night for me is usually the best for photography. My energy is up and I’m more driven to capture images. On this night, I focused on the homeless. They often open up to me after a bit of hesitation and the stories are often eye opening. On this night I met a man who was once a stockbroker. Clearly, his life had taken a turn (several turns) over a few years. Back at the hotel, I was “asked” to go out and get a few breakfast items from of all places, Walgreens. This Walgreens store would be the Galleria of all Walgreens, seriously. This place had two floors, a grocery section and hot foods. Only in San Francisco, right?

Saturday Morning

Saturday morning, I woke up early and took the BART down to the Embarcadero. The goal was the capture the sunrise. When I arrived on the waterfront, I saw several photographers all looking for the best locations to capture the sun rising beyond the Bay Bridge. On this morning, there were no clouds in the sky, which in photography terms means a less than interesting photo shoot of the sun. After several location moves and a few hundred shots, I changed my focus to the local farmer’s market which is huge deal on the waterfront. For the next hour, I captured the best of what growers/farmers had to share. The grapes, by the way were incredible. There were so many varieties to select from, and watching the locals was equally memorable. Later that morning, we revisited this area, enjoying breakfast and beginning our trek. On this day we walked along the waterfront, turned and took the thousand-step march up to Coit Tower, which looks over the city. It seemed the walk would never end, but we finally reached the top. The view was magnificent. We surveyed the terrain all of around us. Amazing. The Bay Area, while expensive is so very impressive. We then wandered back down the mountain, through several communities including a very congested Chinatown and back to the area near our hotel. We watched TV while waiting for our dinner reservation at a Union Square restaurant and then dined. From there, we headed back to the room to relax and reflect. I headed back out to capture some night vibes in photography. There I found live jazz on a street corner, rats running in front of me, great holiday lights and of course the “feel” of San Francisco.

Sunday

Sunday was a quiet day. We walked up a massive hill, where I found several familiar landmarks including my favorite “Grace Cathedral.” We walked inside this massive and beautiful sanctuary. I visited this place in the summer of 2012 and never forgot the feeling I had here. The return visit was worth the wait. A spiritual experience surely. From there, an Uber ride to the base of the Golden Gate Bridge, and what became the “walk” of a lifetime. The Uber driver was from El Salvador by resided in nearby Sacramento and spoke a few words of Russian, which came to delight of my companion! He talked about his family, his hopes and dreams. We could have talked much longer but arrived near the entrance of the Golden Gate Bridge as time had quickly passed! Tatiana began a live blog and wandered off. At the same time, I headed to Fort Point, which is just under the bridge. The Fort has history dating back over 100 years, as it served to protect the harbor. Nearby is the famous military facility known as the Presidio. I captured several photos as I walked down and worn old path, approaching the old fort, which is now a living museum. The views were amazing and simply breathtaking. Upon arrival, I thought about the men who once served here, their lives, hope and dreams. But I moved back to the now, taking photos by the dozen, smelling the salt air and basking in the history. After a while, I reconnected with my travel companion and we made the slow 7-mile walk back to hour hotel, not that we planned this when we began this stroll. We walked past Crissy Field and St. Francis Yacht Club and then making a brief stop at Palace of the Fine Arts. “She” wandered off to make a video for her YouTube channel, while I captured images from this historic place. We pushed onward, stopping at a local Safeway grocery store to replenish our energy moving on. We walked along Marina Blvd, past Fort Mason. I stopped and talked to a resident in area for a few minutes. I’ve heard that I talk to just about everyone. No surprise. Next stop was Ghiradelli Square, Fisherman’s Wharf (where someone wanted seafood), and Pier 39. We were now in familiar territory and pushed on. We stopped for a brief cocktail and conversation. At Pier 9, I wanted to capture the sunset. There, I stumbled across a group Cannon photographers on a “field trip.” As a Nikon guy, I had to represent and we all watched a fiery sunset on a cloudy Sunday evening. The sunset was amazing and we walked back to a restaurant, holding a name that held a unique meaning to my companion and we dined. This trip was ending too quickly and we were exhausted. I went out for a few additional photos (of course) and another day in the Bay Area was in the books.

Monday

The next morning was an Uber ride to the airport instead of the subway. The Friday night arrival experience wasn’t exactly what Tatiana wanted to endure again. Did you know it was cheaper to ride an Uber to the airport from any business near your hotel, than from your exact hotel address? Yes, it’s indeed true. We flew home without incident and back to reality. “The Accidental Tourist” was on location in the Bay Area. Of course, it was precious, and priceless.