Brace yourself for this piece is long though it condenses two months of our activity at a Home away from Home.
It began on 10th May. After two days in Manhattan in the company of Pooja,Bashir and Aryaan,going around Central Park which never fails to amaze me with its happenings and interesting walks to Times Square and Broadway we boarded our flight to see our son Aditya who works/lives in the city of San Francisco.
This was to be our first experience of living in the "City" as they call it now and not Frisco..
Mark Twain once asserted: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco".
It is a great quote,wonderfully crafted...but it's a shame that Twain never said it.
However,everyone who lives or those who visit there have been perplexed by the weather and the biting winds that blow from the Ocean and the Bay. SFO bears the brunt and yet delivers an excellent climate to spend your holiday in with a mean day temp hovering around 16 C.
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| Bay Bridge from Embarcadero |
The very pleasant weather was a great motivator to saunter along the Embarcadero. Embarcadero " place to embark" being the eastern waterfront and roadway. Beginning at A T and T ball park where the GIANTS rule supreme, the road travels north,passing under the SFO - Oakland Bay Bridge and continues past the Ferry Terminal, Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf before ending at Pier 45.
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| Ferry Building |
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| A Prop at the Marina |
Our Apartment being in the proximity of the water front we would walk along the Marina with its many Piers and eateries and where the Muni tram goes about its business of affording decent public transport.
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| Sea lions Cavorting |
We started exploring this small (49 Sq.mi) City's offering by travelling in the tram car or bus and spending time at the Japanese gardens in Golden Gate Park,watching the many sea-lions at Pier 39 and listening to the street performer at Fisherman's Wharf - who also extolled in the virtue of visiting many establishments of the area - eating fish n chips while the sea gulls looked on expectantly.We were lucky to visit the SFMOMA* and see many impressionist paintings there as also spend time looking up Rembrandt and other Dutch masters including the famous "Girl with the Pearl Ear-ring" by Vermeer at the deYoung fine arts museum.
One of our first outings was to visit Land's end and see the historic Sutro baths.Built by the self made millionaire Mayor Adolph Sutro in 1890's,it was once a lavish 25000 person swimming facility with private dressing rooms,restaurants and arcades.Though the grand structure was destroyed by fire the ruins are still visible and one can spend hours along the trails here,one of which allows a distant view of Golden Gate Br. and on the other side is the Ocean beach
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| Sutro Baths in Ruins |
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On the way to Alcatraz by Ferry
The Rock |
T
here is one attraction -- drawing more than a million visitors
per year -- Alcatraz,
the home away from home for some infamous characters (Al Capone and Robert
"the Bird man Stroud among them), has been a lot of things since its
inception in 1853, including a U.S. Army fort, a military prison and a
high-security penitentiary.
The audio tour is excellent VFM (plan ahead for tickets, as it often sells out) focuses on the cell
blocks, which were designed to be inescapable -- and they were. Of the 14
inmates who attempted top escape, none were successful. Today,it is visitors like us waiting to get in and spend time on the Rock.
Our Sojourn continued thus discovering something new every other day.
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| Painted Ladies of Alamo Square |
"Painted ladies" is a term in American
architecture used for Victorian and Edwardian houses and buildings painted in
three or more colors that enhance their
architectural details.One
of the best-known groups of "Painted Ladies" is the row of Victorian houses
close to Alamo Square park in San Francisco. This Park
is located at the top of a hill overlooking much of the City,with a number of large and
architecturally distinctive mansions along the perimeter.
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| Coit Tower |
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| View of the City from the Obs.Deck of Coit |
That very day we did the " Crooked St."( Part of Lombard St.) and went on to see the Coit Tower. A slender white concrete column rising
from the top of Telegraph Hill, an emblem of San Francisco’s skyline since its completion
in 1933. The interior of
the cylindrical tower is embellished with a large number of murals,depicting
life in California
during the Great Depression.Its observation deck, reached by elevator,
provides 360-degree views of the city and bay, including the Golden
Gate and Bay bridges.
One day we took the Ferry to visit my SIL at Benicia. We walked up to the Ferry building and got on the spacious and high speed Ferry and settled for the ride.The going was smooth on the bay and we were happy to spend the hour taking pics of the many bridges,boats and islands on the way.Its a very convenient form of transport for people living inland and commuting to the city.
We decided to drive over the Golden Gate bridge and visit the tall Redwood trees at Muir Woods.But first let me show a different picture of the GG Bridge when we had crossed and gone over to the observation point on the other side
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| Tall Redwoods |
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| Aditya drove us around on week-ends |
Muir Woods is a 5 star tourist attraction of the San
Francisco Bay Area. The star being the Coast Redwood trees.(Sequoia). These relatives of the Giant Sequoia are known for their
height.The tallest tree in the Muir Woods is 260 feet (80m). The trees come from
a seed no bigger than that of a tomato.Most of the redwoods here are
between 500 and 800 years old.
It was end of May and we had completed three pleasant weeks and were looking forward to our next month of stay. As I said the weather supported our travel and Gym work-outs and we enjoyed our evenings at home with a variety of Red wines for company.
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| Family gathering at the Birthday party of SIL Shoba (3rd from right) |
The month of June started on a warm note the temp going up to 25 C during the day.Being a W-E and with the car at our disposal we headed to the beach at Presidio a location in the proximity of GG bridge.We walked along the beach looking at the sail boats on the bay,the kites being flown and the dogs that were being walked by their owners
We were enjoying the cool of the late afternoon and taking pics all the way to the Pier from where we could get wonderful shots of GGB ,
the city skyline on the other extreme and Alcatraz in the middle.Having walked close to a Mile we sat and waited for the Sun to go down further to shoot more pics while Aditya walked back to get the car.
Let me share with you my experience that evening in a Ethiopian restaurant. Sheba Piano Lounge is
the name. It is located on Fillmore
street. They have a live piano band playing all
days of the week and the lead saxophonist cracked jokes between numbers while
trying to sell CD’s compiled by the band.The music was good and a perfect mood setter for the evening along with some good Malbec Red wine. The fact that we had to crowd around a small circular
table did not matter.
Ethiopian food resembles Indian food in some ways.Their authentic bread
“injera” is a lot like “dosa” but rolled, They also have a dry black dal preparation.
For entrée we ordered Catfish and some
veggie salad mix as shown.It came with green and brown chutneys.We enjoyed the experience and came back sated.
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| Ruthri is happy |
Next on our agenda was Ruthri's (niece) high school graduation ceremony for which we drove inland,dressed formally and imagine our surprise when we saw a huge crowd dressed very informally and thronging the football ground.The graduating students were seated there in their regalia,in alphabetical order. Row by row, their names were called- Ruthri being a Subramaniam took ages to arrive.She posed to the official photographer and then received her diploma.There was plenty of hooting and shouting and hugging even among guests as their wards' names were called out.Finally when the Principal said something,amidst a loud cheer every student hurled his/her cap in the air and
hugged each other.Wow,I said to myself,what a way...and this is only the School graduation !!
Point Reyes is the windiest place on the Pacific coast and the second foggiest place on the North American continent.We set out to explore this area being an hour's drive from home.We took 101 after Bay Bridge and drove through Drake's Blvd. with farms and lakes on our way and arrived at the Park's visitor center.Contrary to expectations it was sunny and bright here.
The cultural history of Point Reyes reaches back some 5000 years to the coast Miwok Indians,the first human inhabitants here.We took a short walk along with a Ranger to a recreated Indian village "Kule Loklo" meaning Bear valley.
The infamous San Andreas Fault also runs through the park
After the Indian village experience we headed to the Lighthouse area,at the very tip of the land.As we steadily climbed, we drove past many Cattle ranches and Dairy farms set up first by the Mexicans in the early 1800's and still in business today.Now we could see the fog blowing from the Ocean and the weather changed appreciably from sunny to cold and wet.Also the wind speeds picked up.Weeks of fog ,especially during the summer months,I was told,reduced visibility to just hundreds of feet.Wind speeds could be as high as 100 mph.There was dense fog as we walked and judging by the shape of the trees we could understand the fury of winds in these parts.
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| How long will these trees resist the fierce winds of the Pacific just over the edge |
An interesting trivia: In 1579,Captain Drake,during his circumnavigation of earth, made contact with local people - possibly the Miwok Indians - repaired his ship, nailed a plate of brass to a tree claiming the land for the Queen and sailed home, around the world.
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| The lighthouse that could not be seen |
I did not go down the 300 steps to the lighthouse nor did I take the accompanying photo on this foggy day.Only Aditya went down walking and came up taking two steps at a time to report Fog everywhere.We returned to the parking lot and drove to a beach nearby where the sea-lions were playing noisily and molting
At this point in time,my daughter Pooja,accompanied by her hubby Bashir and grandson Aryaan arrived in the City and we were now a complete family on a holiday.On the very first day we walked up to the restaurant on Embarcadero and had our dinner there watching the lights of the bay bridge.
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| Bay Bridge lighted up |
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| Aryaan,our grandson |
Next morning after breakfast we loaded up the hired Dodge Van and started on our trip out of SFO to BIG SUR, a region 150 miles south,a vast wilderness with breathtaking views, as it stretches 90 miles along the rugged Pacific Ocean.
We entered the scenic Route 1 and drove through Pacifica,a small beach town,enjoying the views of water and cliffs.Then came Half Moon Bay followed by a crawl to Santacruz,a surfer town with a board walk and Arcades and a decent Roller Coaster.There were beaches and scenic look outs all along and we stopped at some to view and take pics and also to take care of the baby's needs.Lunched on fresh Sandwiches and eventually reached Monterey,known for Steinbeck,its coastline and world-class aquarium.
At Monterey we got off Rte 1 and went into the 17 mile drive.It is a wonderful and scenic drive along the coast and among the many points of interest are the upscale homes of the rich and famous allowing you to drool,the outstanding Pebble beach golf links,home to many US Opens,Bird Rock...never seen so many birds perched on a single huge rock that it appears white with all the bird poop,and the Lone Cypress...a 250 year old Cypress tree that has been preserved and maintains its beauty.
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| The Lone Cypress |
We got off at Carmel, a quaint town....
Trivia time
To this day Carmel prohibits use of Neon signs and honking car horns are ticketed by traffic cops.In addition to the no horn-honking law, there's a maximum size for shops, and wearing high heels are not allowed without a permit. Many of the homes and shops look as if they are straight out of an old English storybook.There is no home mail delivery, so everyone still picks-up their mail at the Post Office.
After a quick snack in the sleepy Carmel,continued on Rte 1 driving over steep ledges and cliffs with great Ocean views on our right.Shortly we crossed the Bixby Creek bridge that gets so much attention in commercials probably because it is part of Hwy 1 surrounded by water,rocks and beautiful views.
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| Bixby Creek bridge |
After an hour of driving we arrived at River Inn at Big Sur our abode for the night.The Inn was rugged and created tastefully to blend with nature.We had our room over looking the shallow river. Big Sur is a spot where people have come for camping for many years. It's still popular and largely unspoiled.You won't find any chain motels or hotels here.
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No sooner we checked in we repaired to the river,down the wooden steps and across the well manicured grass verge and waded to the vintage wooden chairs placed there.We carried some wine with us to liven up, not withstanding the soft prattling of Aryaan, whose behavior was adorable, the gentle breeze and the cool water at our feet adding to the process.
As we sat there engaged in small talk the Sun was filtering its late afternoon light through the gaps in the canopy of trees casting eerie shadows on the surface of the river. Aryaan was challenged by the dancing ripple and he tried his utmost to get out of his Mum's stranglehold.We had more wine.
After a while we were heady and ready for dinner and went to the spacious Restaurant inside.I was so hungry that I could have ordered an Angus burger with a side of beer-battered onion rings, or a big platter of roadhouse ribs served with cowboy beans.Nope..I just had a veggie burger with a Guinness to drink.However,I had a good portion of the Apple Pie that is a trademark dessert of this Inn from the days of yore.Yummy.
We got up well rested and in great shape for exploring Big Sur. After spending some time at the river over our morning coffee we left the Inn and headed south for some breakfast which we found at Big Sur Bakery on Hwy 1 and then following the map taken from Park service we found our way to Pfeiffer beach advertised by a glamorous sign.
We trudged down the track towards the beach and suddenly a magnificent sight opened in front of us.
This was just the beginning.
Then this
And this
Someone obliged
No words can describe the exhilaration that we experienced at this beach which will certainly go down as one of my best.The beach is remote and small but the setting is awesome!
This they say is quintessentially Big Sur. There was no wind or fog to mar our pleasure.
We moved on from the beach with Aryaan in a playful mood
and drove further south and entered the State Park and walked up the short trail to view the McWay falls.The Fall does not take your breath away but it is one of those rarities.The water drops directly into the Ocean.We sat down at this Park for a small picnic and then set out for some coffee at a Cafe overlooking the Ocean.We were lucky that the weather was kind to us and there was no Fog or fierce winds that afternoon.
We spent a short while at the beach at Lime kiln Park nearby and then headed North towards Monterey for early supper and then all the way home by US 101.
It was a great day at Big Sur. Thank you Aryaan
The next days were also hectic as we accompanied Pooja,Bashir and Aryaan to locales that we had explored earlier.Then came the GRAND FINALE.
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| Ruthri |
Our nieces' ARANGETRAM was a smash hit in a Hall at Pleasant Hill,CA.The term Arangetram translates to "set foot on the stage" and Ruthri (18) and Anavi (16) set the stage on fire with their superb Bharatanatyam performance that evening.A crowd of 300+ thronged the Hall and watched the show and attended the dinner reception.Many of our family members had traveled to SFO to participate and encourage the youngsters.
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| Anavi |
We left SFO on 8th July and via Newark,NJ we reached a very monsoonish Mumbai on 10th with lots of memories of our wonderful vacation.
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| Aryaan enjoying the swing to his Mum's delight at Dolores Park, a last outing... |
I plan to write a separate piece on Las Vegas and Grand Canyon.Till then ...cheers!!
The “super-highway”, Rte 66 in 1926, represented
unprecedented freedom to travel across the American West.The original
paved highway was a narrow two-lane road that spanned over 2,300 miles from Chicago to California.
After lunch at Williams it was a 45 minute ride to GC NP. Tour of the GC commenced from this point on the right from where a short trail leads to the RIM and you marvel at the wonder of geology.
The layers stack together like a drunken staircase that leads to the river's edge.
A mixture of minerals gives each layer a distinctive hue of yellow,green,or
red.
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