Days in San Francisco and Sacramento
The hostel in which I stayed in San Francisco was in Mason Street, block away from Union Square. It is not far from the Sir Francis Drake Hotel where I stayed when I was last in the city. That was in October 1986 when I was on one of my Department of Foreign Affairs trips.
I can recall a couple of things from that particular stay back in 1986. I have posted about some of that trip before. Check it out if you haven’t read about Malcolm Fraser’s trousers.
Remembering when Malcolm Fraser (MHR) lost his trousers in October 1986.
Recalling 1986
On one of the weekends on that visit I went to a San Francisco 49’s American Football game. I had assumed that it would be a simple matter of going to the ground, Candlesticks Park, and buying a ticket. The concierge at the hotel looked at me if I was mad when I suggested to him that that was my plan. He told me that the games were sold out months, if not years in advance. He did say, however, that if was possible to buy tickets from people that had unused tickets at the ground. He warned me that you had to be careful to ensure they were ‘real tickets’ and not ‘scams.
As I alighted from the bus at Candlesticks Park, a bloke approached me and asked if I want a ticket. He seemed really pushy. I ignored the bloke as walked towards the stadium. I noticed a policeman and asked him if he thought it was ok to buy a ticket from the bloke. He said, “ I can’t give advice on that, but go for it”.
As it turned out, the bloke who sold me the ticket was a longtime ticket holder and had 12 tickets in a prime position in the stadium. He used tickets for family and clients for his business. I was introduced to his family and business clients during the course of the game. It went for hours and seemed to be interminable. They passed me beers and food to eat. I think the 49’s won. I thought I understood the rules after the 6th beer, but that stage it didn’t really matter.
I do recall that the key player, the quarterback for the 49’s was Joe Montana. I will need to check if he has brain damaged as a result of repeated concussion. If the game went any longer that’s what I was going to suffer, given that hospitality been provided.
Haight Ashbury
Getting back to 2014, after a good night’s sleep I headed out into San Francisco. I walked around the downtown area around Union Square. It didn’t seem as affluent as I recall nearly 30 years ago.
I decided to take the bus to Haight Ashbury. This is the famous hippie area from the late 60’s and 70’s and is now a tourist spot. It is worth a visit, but like a lot of places that were authentic e.g Carnaby Street in Soho London, when they become touristy, they lose a bit of their charm.
I did however find a good Brewery Pub that had good craft beer and was well staffed.
Fisherman’s Wharf and Golden Gate Bridge
Next day I lined up for the cable car up Powell Street to Fisherman’s Wharf. This must be one of the most popular public transports systems on the planet.
I decided to walk from Fisherman’s Wharf to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a longer walk than I expected. Along the way, I came across lots of dog walkers. This seems to be a boom industry. That could be an option later in my retirement.
That night I spent probably too much time in a piano bar, Lefty O’Tooles, near the Hostel. Some of the singing was good. Some was not.
Science Museum and Planetarium
On my last full day, I decided to do some shopping. This included the purchase of a GoPro camera that I still haven’t mastered the use of as yet.
I also went to the Science Museum in Golden Gate Park. The walk through the park was interesting. There were heaps of ‘homeless people’ of all ages, both male and female. It is a bit disturbing to see. I suspect most of them have some sort of mental illness and should relay be in an institution. I suspect there are few, if any, of such institutions left here.
The Science Museum is really good. However, it is expensive. This is bit of a shock if you are used to going to such places for free. The planetarium is really good. They had a program on ‘dark matter’. It was well explained, but don’t ask me any questions about it.
Bus and Train to Sacramento
In the morning I rode down Market Street to the Pier, expecting to take the ferry across to Emeryville to catch the Capitol Corridor train to Sacramento. As it turned out you are expected to take a bus to the station. I did that.
The train to Sacramento was packed. I guess that is good to see.
Sacramento
I am staying in really good hostel in Sacramento. I was a mansion house. I am impressed.
The city is a bit like Canberra.
The ‘old town’ is very touristy, but there are some good restaurants and it has been a good place to take a pause before my big train trip east.
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