Streets of San Francisco- Tuesday, July 11, 2006

We packed a full day of touring in, bit by bit, today. We didn't know exactly how the day was going to unfold, but looking back at it, we can't believe how much happened.

We left the hotel rather late, after 10:00, because we slept in some and enjoyed a breakfast here. The famous San Francisco fog was hanging thick and heavy over the city, and we weren't sure what we wanted to do because of it. We went to Pier 39 to get tickets to Alcatraz and Julie waited in a long line. She had read on the internet that they often sell out of boat ride tickets there in the summer months. We were ready to be taking a late boat out or a boat tomorrow, Wednesday. As it turned out, they didn't have any tickets available until Thursday, when we planned to be on the road out of town. We talked about it a while and waited in line again to finally get Thursday tickets, but then we weren't sure what to do.

Since we went to Chinatown last night, we hoped to do something Russian today. Fort Ross, which is up the coast north of here, was built by Russians in the early 1800s, but it turns out that it will probably be a two or three hour drive, and we weren't ready for that again. We probably won't get there this trip. But what to do in it's place?

We started driving around San Francisco, amazed at the famous hills that the streets are built on. Julie drove us down Lombard Street, known as the "Crookedest Street in the World" and one of the steepest. From there we headed to the Golden Gate Bridge and drove across that. The fog had burned off and it was sunny by that point so we really got to enjoy it. We stopped to for the view of the bridge and the skyline on the northern end of it and had a quick lunch in Sausalito. Then, we crossed the bridge again into the Presidio of San Francisco.

The Presidio is a huge park. It used to be the fort protecting the bay, but it is now a National Park. Our first stop was Baker Beach where we got another great view of the bridge. Anna collected a bunch of interesting looking rocks to bring back. We even saw a flock or two of pelicans flying around. From that beach, we headed to some other places in the Presidio. We stopped at Fort Point, right at the base of the bridge (and famous from its appearance in the movie Vertigo. We stopped at the NPS visitor's center and look around.

We were on our way out the visitor's center parking lot when we were involved in a small fender bender. Actually, there wasn't much damage, if any. Julie hadn't even put the van in drive when someone else backed into her. We exchanged info and all that, but I don't really think any thing will come of it.

We then started our combination tour of our two favorite movies. Julie and I have always loved "So I Married an Axe Murderer." One of Anna's favorites is "The Princess Diaries." Both movies are set in San Francisco.

We found the entrance to Mia's school, which was actually a beautiful home with a semi-cirular shaped set of stairs in the front of it. We then went to the City Lights bookstore and the Vesuvio Cafe. Both are from "So I Married an Axe Murderer," but they also both have a real connection to the Beat Poets. I had to buy a copy of Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" at City Lights as a tribute to what was supposed to be the first scene of "Axe Murderer." Then I had to go into Vesuvio just to have a quick drink. After a few pictures, we continued on.

We drove past the "Meats of the World" storefront, from "Axe Murderer," but the store is actually empty now. It almost didn't look like the place at all, but when we saw the picture on that we took on the digital camera we recognized it. It needed the frame to make it look like it did in the movie, I guess. Then we went to the Fog City Diner, where Charlie and Tony had their double date. When we told the hostess that we were fans of the movie, we got to sit in the same booth that they had used in the movie (or at least it was the one that she thought they used.) We had dinner there. After dinner, we went to the church where the "Axe Murderer" wedding reception was held ("The piper is down!") Again, it was almost easier to recognize the pictures on the digital camera then it was to recognize it in real life, but the courtyard there was pretty.

I decided to take Anna to Mia's house from the Princess Diaries as a way to wrap up the day. In the movie, she lives in a converted firehouse, and I knew that it was close to our hotel in South San Francisco. When the girls were posing for a picture in front of it, a man yelled to us that if we had a moment he could show us the inside. He rented the place and was living in it with his two kids. In actuality, only the exterior of this place was used in the film. The interiors were filmed at the Disney Studios in Burbank-- a fact that I already knew. But it was interesting to see that there were some similarities inside the buiding with the one shown in the movie. The real fire pole was still there, and the spiral staircase that Mia goes up is in both. The front of the station was filled with old cars and tools, but we all thought that it was very nice of him to talk to us and show us around. It was certainly a great way to end a very full day, and we've still got lots of interesting things to see tomorrow too.