Copyright © 2013 Lee Foster. All rights reserved.
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, 2013
ISBN 978-0-9760843-9-6 Trade paper
ISBN 978-0-9760843-5-8 eBook
Book design by Joel Friedlander, http://www.TheBookDesigner.com
All cover and interior photography and writing by Lee Foster
Published by:
Foster Travel Publishing
P.O. Box 5715
Berkeley, CA 94705
510-549-2202
http://www.fostertravel.com/
This book is also available as an ebook. For more information and links to retailers, please go to: http://www.fostertravel.com
Table of Contents
Introduction
San Francisco Bay Area
1. San Francisco’s Main Tourist Attractions
2. San Francisco Through the Lens: Tips on Viewing/Photographing the City
3. San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge Beyond 75 Years
4. San Francisco’s Neighbor: The Oakland-Berkeley East Bay
5. Five Good Day Trips from San Francisco
6. Five Good Overnight Trips from San Francisco
7. California’s Best Beaches North of San Francisco
8. California’s Best Beaches South of San Francisco
9. California’s San Mateo Coast, South of San Francisco
10. Spring Wildflowers in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area
11. California’s Stanford University: A World-Class Legacy
South from San Francisco
12. California’s Santa Cruz, Epitome of Beach Culture
13. California’s Monterey-Carmel-Big Sur
14. California’s Big Sur Coast: A Scenic Drive
North from San Francisco
15. California’s Napa Wine Country
16. California’s Sonoma Wine Country
17. California’s Sonoma-Mendocino Coast
18. California’s Redwood Country
19. Redding and the Shasta Cascade Area of Northern California
20. California’s Lassen National Park
East from San Francisco
21. California’s State Capital, Sacramento, and the Delta
22. California’s Gold Rush Country
23. California’s Lake Tahoe
24. Skiing, Snow Sports, and Winter Adventures at Lake Tahoe, California
25. California’s Yosemite National Park
26. California’s Mammoth Lakes in Summer
27. A Drive Through Death Valley National Park
Only in California
28. Northern California Travel Itineraries
29. Northern California’s Top Museums
30. California’s Three Superlative Trees
Introduction
Lee Foster writes about and recommends the best nature/outdoors attractions and the best cultural travel experiences in Northern California.
He helps a local or a visitor make informed travel decisions for visiting places as diverse as Yosemite National Park, the intriguing Russian fort at Fort Ross along the Sonoma coast, or the wondrous Big Sur Coast.
What are the best travel options to explore when contemplating Northern California? Lee Foster has spent 40 years refining the answers.
Lee’s 30 chapters in this book guide consumers to use wisely their most precious commodity—their time.
Lee presents his vision of Northern California travel in the various modes that a consumer might find useful—as a printed book, as an ebook with color photos, and on his website as write-up/slideshow elements at http://www.fostertravel.com (Search Norcal to see all the book chapters). Eventually the content will also be organized as an app.
The goal is to provide an enjoyable and insightful read for the armchair traveler and an actionable plan ready to go for an actual trip.
Lee’s strategy is to divide Northern California into a finite number of major subjects, such as Lake Tahoe, and offer a write-up, plus If You Go suggestions. This basic write-up may be supplemented with a more specialized Further Options set of tips. This approach allows an elasticity for incremental and timely additions to the subjects.
A consumer has many sources of information about Northern California travel, but Lee Foster’s content is superior for several reasons:
Lee makes insightful judgments that help a traveler use precious travel time wisely. His only responsibility is to the consumer. He doesn’t write about everything, only the best things. He has no need to promote anything beyond what he considers the best possible consumer experience.
Visitor Bureau and Destination organization promotional travel content can be helpful and is sometimes energetically presented, but such offerings must often give equal time to all dues-paying members. Lee can select and promote only the best consumer experiences in a destination, which is what a consumer wants.
Crowd-sourced travel information, such as Yelp or TripAdvisor, can be lively and useful, but such reports are subject to planted bias, competitor sabotage, and the exuberance or idiosyncratic negativity of the amateur. Lee provides a perspective from a veteran travel journalist who has only his audience’s interest in mind.
Other travel guides are heavy with data, but Lee wonders if that is useful in the Internet era when a Google Search can resolve quickly all the pedestrian facts, such as address, hours open, and prices. Instead, Lee concentrates on inspiration and judgment to help the potential traveler make wise decisions.
Lee Foster has personally visited the places and lived out the experiences that he recommends. He compares the places/experiences against his lifetime record of numerous other parallel options in Northern California and elsewhere.
Lee becomes your “personal travel concierge” with a distillation of the essence of the destination.
Lee’s coverages do not adhere to a rigid formula. The question is: what is the essence of this destination? Often, a good option for lodging and dining is offered to make the trip memorable. His expertise also points out the not-so-obvious and hidden delights that a traveler might otherwise miss.
Lee Foster is a veteran and award-winning travel writer/photographer, whose work has won eight Lowell Thomas Awards, the highest accolades in travel journalism, including Lee being named Travel Journalist of the Year (Silver Winner). Lee publishes more than 200 worldwide travel writing/photography coverages to consumers and to travel content buyers at http://www.fostertravel.com. His specialized travel photo selling site at http://stockphotos.fostertravel.com presents 7,000 of his photos to editors developing magazines, books, and travel promotions. Over the years, Lee’s work has been published in most of the major U.S. travel publications, from National Geographic Traveler to the New York Times. His travel books and book contributions have been published by Globe Pequot, Countryman Press, Dorling Kindersley, and Lonely Planet. Lee has had photos in more than 225 Lonely Planet books. In the new “app” era, Lee was an early adapter, with the Sutro Media apps San Francisco Travel and Photo Guide, Washington DC Travel and Photo Guide, and Berkeley Essential Guide
San Francisco
Bay Area
1. San Francisco’s Main Tourist Attractions
San Francisco, perhaps more than any other American city, evokes images of romance, including sweeping hills studded with pastel Victorians, the clanking of cable cars, the wail of the foghorns, the glow of sunset on the Golden Gate Bridge, the way-stop to the Gold Rush, and the meeting of sea, fog, and hills.
The City, which the locals like to capitalize in their fond descriptions, sits on the edge of a peninsula separating the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco Bay. San Francisco is a city of neighborhoods where diverse cultures and lifestyles cooperatively exist side-by-side. You can immerse yourself in worlds as different as Chinatown, Italian North Beach, and the Mexican-American Mission District.
Two major airports serve San Francisco, both an easy half-hour drive to downtown. San Francisco International Airport lies 13 miles south of San Francisco off Highway 101. Across the bay, the Oakland International Airport offers equally easy access. From both airports you can catch the BART train into San Francisco.
One mode of transportation, the cable cars, is a major part of the San Francisco experience for many travelers. The famous cable cars have been beautifully restored and maintained. Some cars on the three branches of the line are painted in the original 1870s colors, maroon with cream and blue trim. The cars can be boarded at any place along the routes: Powell Street to Fisherman’s Wharf, Powell to Hyde, and California Street from Market to Van Ness. The waiting line for a chance to ride the cable cars is sometimes long, unfortunately. Remember that you can board the cable cars anywhere along the line, where the wait may be less. Leave some time in your schedule for a visit to the Cable Car Museum, Washington and Mason streets, where you can see historic paraphernalia about the system and glimpse the innards at work.
San Francisco History
San Francisco began with the tranquility of the Spanish-Mexican era from 1776 to the 1840s. Then came the exhilarating shock of the Gold Rush, in 1848, followed by the reflective gentility of the late 19th century. All this was shattered by the Quake and Fire of 1906. (The earthquake of 1989, fortunately, did not possess the destructive force of the 1906 Quake.)
In 1776, Juan Bautista de Anza established a Spanish fort, the Presidio, and its surrounding settlement. Soon after, Junipero Serra founded Mission San Francisco de Asis, his sixth in California. Popularly known as Mission Dolores, the restored structure at 16th and Dolores streets still stands, one of the oldest buildings in San Francisco.
The Gold Rush of 1848 transformed the face of San Francisco. Within a few years, the pastoral scattering of Spanish-Mexican dwellings with a population of 100 became a restless prospecting region of 250,000. Statehood came in 1850. By 1852 an estimated $200 million in gold had been mined.
To witness this early American era in San Francisco’s history you can visit the brick fortification called Fort Point, located immediately below the south anchor of the Golden Gate Bridge. This was where Juan Bautista de Anza first planted a cross in 1776 and the Spaniards erected a crude stockade by 1794. Today the Civil War era fort remains a prime example of 19th-century military architecture.
The Great Earthquake shook San Francisco on April 18, 1906, but the Great Fire that followed caused the most damage. Fed by broken natural gas lines and unchecked because the city’s water mains were destroyed, the fire raged for three days, destroying 28,000 buildings. Thereafter, San Francisco developed a certain fondness for firemen, most noticeably expressed in Lillie Hitchcock Coit’s fire-nozzle-shaped Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill.
San Francisco’s circa 1860 to 1900 Victorian houses that survived the 1906 earthquake have become a symbol of the city as much as the cable cars or the Golden Gate Bridge. You can tour one of the most striking and best preserved of these dwellings, the Haas-Lilienthal House, located at 2007 Franklin Street, which was built in 1886. The classic Queen Anne building with its gables, bay windows, and turret tower, still houses much of the original decor, with mahogany walls, marble hearths, and fine tapestries. Another prominent Victorian is the Spreckels mansion, at 2080 Washington. Streets adjacent to Lafayette Square offer many examples of Victorians.
At 1000 California Street stands the James Flood Mansion, built in 1886 by the Comstock silver lode millionaire. Today the Flood Mansion is the last of the great mansions from the baronial days of the mining and railroad kings. Other mansions in the neighborhood were swept away in the fires that followed the Quake.
San Francisco’s Main Attractions
Even a selective list of the most popular San Francisco attractions could not omit Golden Gate Park, Telegraph, Russian, and Nob hills, Chinatown, North Beach, Fisherman’s Wharf, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and the scenic 49-Mile Drive (which takes you through all of the above).
In 1887, Golden Gate Park was comprised of 730 acres of dunes and 270 acres of arable land scattered with oak trees. Today, Golden Gate Park stretches across lush meadows, lakes, dense stands of Australian eucalyptus, and encompasses more than 6,000 varieties of shrubs, flowers, and trees. The park is both a cultural and recreational center of the city. Within its boundaries is the Japanese Tea Garden, the California Academy of Sciences, including the Steinhart Aquarium and the Morrison Planetarium, the 60-acre Strybing Arboretum, the deYoung Museum, and the Conservatory of Flowers. For recreation in Golden Gate Park you can rent a bicycle or put on your running shoes and join the multitude of joggers and walkers.
Climb the famous hills of San Francisco and you will be rewarded with spectacular views of the city and the surrounding bay. Atop Telegraph Hill sits Coit Tower, the memorial built in 1934 to honor the city’s volunteer firemen. Russian Hill lies to the west. Here you’ll find Lombard Street, the city’s crookedest street. The third famous hill is Nob Hill, once the site of mansions, today the home of famous hotels, including the Mark Hopkins and the Fairmont. Both offer panoramic views of the city from cocktail lounges on the top floor.
San Francisco’s Chinatown is one of the largest Chinese communities outside of the Orient. The community is best experienced on foot, enabling you to browse through shops and explore side streets. Grant Avenue is the main street for general shopping. Stockton, between Washington and Broadway, is where you’ll find the largest concentration of markets, exhibiting an amazing array of vegetables and meats. For a spicy Chinese meal, try the Hunan Restaurant (924 Sansome Street). The Chinese New Year occurs in late January or early February, complete with parade and firecrackers.
North Beach is the Italian district of the city, located between Chinatown and Fisherman’s Wharf. Here you’ll find many Italian restaurants, bakeries, cafes, and Italian groceries, all within a few blocks of Washington Square, the heart of North Beach.
An excellent bakery to consider is the Italian-French Bakery at 1501 Grant Street. For a cappuccino or glass of wine, stop in at Mario’s, on the corner of Columbus and Union. Some dining options are long established, such as seafood at Caffe Sport at 574 Green Street. Others are newer, such as movie director Francis Ford Coppola’s Cafe Zoetrope, 916 Kearney, located in his lovely and historic Zoetrope Building, once known as the Sentinel Building. The restaurant is elegant but casual, featuring Coppola’s selection of fine wines by the glass, with pizza, pasta, and calzone dishes.
The birthplace of the Beat movement, North Beach is the home of bookstores, cafes, galleries, small theaters, and nightclubs. City Lights Books at 261 Columbus Street still thrives as a bookstore, publisher of local poets, and gathering place of writers.
Once the center of the fishing and canning industry in the city, Fisherman’s Wharf today attracts tourists with a wide variety of shops, galleries, and restaurants. Nearby Ghirardelli Square, first a woolen works, then a chocolate factory, was remodeled into a shopping and restaurant complex. Pier 39 lures millions of visitors with its shops and resident sea lions.
Attractions within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (35,000 acres of land and water) include Alcatraz, Aquatic Park, and the Golden Gate Promenade. Guided tours of Alcatraz Island, a federal prison until 1963, leave from Pier 41. The boat ride out to the “rock” offers a fine view of The City. Aquatic Park includes the National Maritime Museum, plus several historic vessels you can explore. The Golden Gate Promenade is a walk from the Marina to the Golden Gate Bridge, passing through the restored Crissy Field military airport, now a tidal marsh and open public area. This three-mile path along the waterfront is a popular strolling and jogging area.
San Francisco is a city for walking, but for an overview of the major attractions, the scenic 49-Mile Drive is recommended. The Visitor Information Center at Hallidie Plaza, Powell and Market streets, can assist you with a map. Allow half a day for the drive, well marked by blue and white seagull signs.
Arts and Entertainment
In San Francisco, the arts and entertainment life is thickly textured. For one Saturday each July an “Only in San Francisco” event occurs. On that day comedians gather at the bandstand in Golden Gate Park, braving a bright sunlight that seldom penetrates their nightly comedy clubs. During an all-day marathon of mirth, called the Comedy Celebration Day, the comedians give a collective annual thank you to their audiences. As many as 30,000 appreciators of humor gather for this annual free event. The superstar of American humorists, local resident Robin Williams, has guided the event in the past as the twilight filters over San Francisco.
Comedy is but one thread of the arts and entertainment life of San Francisco, but the degree of vitality in the local comedy club and comedy theater scene is unique. Start a comedy evening at Punch Line (444 Battery Street) and perhaps move on to Cobb’s Comedy Club (The Cannery). If comedy appeals to you, several additional clubs in San Francisco can be visited.
To many past visitors San Francisco has meant topless. It was in North Beach, at the corner of Broadway and Columbus, that one Carol Doda began a revered tradition. Carol Doda descended from the ceiling on a white piano with her bare, silicon-injected figure to titillate a generation of travelers. Similar clubs within view of the Columbus-Broadway intersection promise such events as the He And She Love Act. There was a time when Carol Doda needed a phalanx of lawyers to keep her free of city jail, but the tastes of the modern era have dealt an even crueler fate by declaring such acts passe, vice gone boring.
One refreshing North Beach entertainment is the music and comedy review called Beach Blanket Babylon (at Club Fugazi, 678 Beach Blanket Boulevard). Year after year this theater-musical performance, originally created by the talented Steve Silver, plays to packed houses, partly because the material is constantly updated to parody the current political or sitcom scene.
A spectrum of theater can present either a diverting or thoughtful evening in San Francisco, depending on your wishes. The major company to watch for is the American Conservatory Theater (415 Geary Avenue), but there are also a dozen smaller and more experimental groups. Other theaters whose offerings you might check during your visit would include Theater on the Square and Marines Memorial.
Ever since 1848, when the first lucky prospectors brought their gold nuggets out of the Sierra foothills to San Francisco, certain elements of the population have generously supported the crowns of established culture, the opera and the symphony. In San Francisco there is one element that defines the good life as an evening pubbing around the North Beach jazz joints and refers to San Francisco with passionate familiarity as Frisco. But there is also another high-tone element given to black ties, designer gowns, and limousines. These carriage-trade patrons tend to congregate at the Opera House (Van Ness Avenue and Grove Street) for an evening with one of the great divas. If you don’t fancy taking in an opera, you might want to stop by Max’s Opera Cafe (601 Van Ness Avenue), a classical music bar where the waiters and waitresses aspire to be opera singers and will regale you with arias. The San Francisco Symphony ranks among America’s finest.
What a visitor needs to comprehend, when thinking of the arts and entertainment world of San Francisco, is that there are many San Franciscos, and each is as authentic as the others. How would one classify such events as the annual Bay to Breakers run in May (about 100,000 participants each year, with many in costume) or the annual San Francisco Pride Parade in late June (another 100,000 participants in this lesbian, gay, and transgender event, led by Dikes on Bikes)? Not all the theater and performers in this city can be confined indoors.
San Francisco enjoys its share of art museums. South of Market Street on Third, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (151 Third Street) has never been accused of lagging behind its audience. This museum also makes a special effort to show modern photography. The de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park has been rebuilt to display its diverse painting collections more advantageously. The Palace of the Legion of Honor (Lincoln Park, near 34th Avenue) hosts European and American shows. Many of the major modern art galleries in San Francisco are located downtown around Union Square. If you want to browse them, walk along Post and Sutter streets.
If you want to engage in the art of conversation with an agreeable San Franciscan, one place to locate the natives is the Buena Vista (2765 Hyde Street). The proprietors claim this is where Irish Coffee was invented. This is a fitting drink for San Francisco, a city of brisk weather, a fact noted by the American writer, Mark Twain, when he reportedly said, “The coldest winter I ever spent was my first summer in San Francisco.” Drink and food are taken seriously in San Francisco, a city that helped invent the notion of the celebrity chef. Try Wolfgang Puck’s Postrio (545 Post Street). There are numerous restaurant styles to explore. Restaurant Lulu (816 Folsom Street), for example, lures patrons with its country-style Southern French/Northern Italian ambiance, where the rosemary rotisserie chicken is a favorite. Source (11 Division Street) is on the leading edge of inventive vegetarian cuisine, with a carefully thought out rationale feeding the body and the spirit.
San Franciscans with a decided interest in art and entertainment also tend to argue passionately that the canvas of greatest interest here is the cityscape itself. The symphony with the most soothing sounds is composed of the assembled foghorns, strategically placed around the bay, each with its own instrumentation. The laser light show that dazzles most in this urban disco is the sight of sunlight breaking through the fog bank. And the fitting center stage place for you, the traveler, to witness all this is an evening cruise out on the Bay, with the Red and White Fleet (Pier 41) or the more posh Hornblower Yacht (Pier 31-33). The cruises amount to floating cocktail parties, some with a full dinner, music, and dancing, plus a display of one of the most glorious works of U.S. urban architecture, San Francisco, bathed in the setting sun, framed by curls of fog.
San Francisco: If You Go
The overall San Francisco information source for travelers is San Francisco Travel, http://www.sanfrancisco.travel.
2. San Francisco Through the Lens: Tips on Viewing/Photographing the City
If you happen to be traveling to San Francisco soon, with a camera in hand, you may be wondering, “Where can I get the best shots?”
Of course, you might not have a camera at all, but may ask a parallel question, “Where can I see the best views?”
I’ve been working on the answer for you, culminating in the publication of my book/ebook The Photographer’s Guide to San Francisco: Where to Find Perfect Shots and How to Take Them (Countryman Press). I also published a parallel app titled San Francisco Travel and Photo Guide, available now both in iTunes and Android.
Here are my considered tips to make your photographic/viewing adventure successful.
Savor a sunset glow on the Golden Gate Bridge.
There are two terrific places to be from 3 p.m. to sunset.
Within San Francisco, go to Baker Beach, west of the Golden Gate Bridge on the north shore of the City. Baker Beach presents an expansive ocean-side walk with crashing waves in front of you and the famous bridge in the background. It’s the cover photo on my book.
The other choice site is in Marin County on Conzelman Road, the first exit after you leave the north side of the Bridge. Turn onto Conzelman and snake your way west as the road curves through the Marin Headlands.
There are three turnouts for stops. The first is at Battery Spencer, a World War II gun emplacement next to the North Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge. The second is the turnout a quarter mile west, a classic postcard-view stop. The third is a small road that angles left off the main road, the first possible turn to the left. Drive to the end of this small road, and you’re at Hawk Hill, with a breath-taking panoramic view of the Golden Gate.
Indulge in a morning walk at Crissy Field, arguably one of the most glorious urban walks on the planet.
The light is beautiful in the morning, from dawn until about 11 a.m. Transport yourself to Crissy Field and start near the Marina Green/St. Francis Yacht Club. Walk towards the Golden Gate Bridge.
This is a great people-photo or people-watching opportunity, as all manner of San Franciscans parade in an egalitarian manner. The hikers, bicyclists, joggers, and dog-walkers congregate on this paved bayside path to enjoy the Bay and watch the windsurfers celebrate life on the water. If you want to experience brilliant urban planning and design, Crissy Field is the place.
Bring a windbreaker because it can be chilly any time of the year. The restaurant, aptly named the Warming Hut, offers a pleasing break. Don’t forget a plastic bag for your camera to keep the blowing saltwater mist off your optics.
Sample ethnic San Francisco with a morning walk in Chinatown and an afternoon stroll through North Beach.
Both of these intriguing ethnic neighborhoods must be photographed or viewed on foot. It takes time to watch and wait until a pleasing moment appears in front of you.
Chinatown is better in the morning when the hustle and bustle of shopping occurs. North Beach is a more languorous afternoon experience when café idling might be appropriate.
For Chinatown, walk Grant Avenue from Bush to Broadway. Sometimes a detail can jump out at you and define a subject. Roast ducks hanging in a restaurant window is such a shot. You are likely to see roast ducks at Yee’s Restaurant, 1131 Grant. Go inside and watch the butcher, who may be slicing up beef tongue. You can get a modestly priced lunch here of meat, rice, and tea.
After Chinatown, go to Broadway/Columbus, walk on Columbus and you will be in North Beach. Walk southeast one block to Kearney and Columbus to enjoy one of the classic San Francisco photos and views, juxtaposing the old and the new. In front of you will be Francis Ford Coppola’s Zoetrope building, 916 Kearney, a classic structure from Old San Francisco. Behind it, you will observe the signature modern San Francisco building, the Transamerica Pyramid.
Then walk back up Columbus to Washington Square and browse around the streets immediately off the square. Bakeries and coffee shops abound. Caffe Roma, 526 Columbus, would be a good place to pause.
Ride the City’s famous Cable Cars, then peruse the innards of the system at the Cable Car “Barn.”
A slice-of-life experience of the Cable Cars is high on most visitors’ and photographers’ to-do list for San Francisco.
The Cable Car turnaround at the foot of Powell is interesting to watch and photograph. The busiest coming and going of Cable Cars occurs at Powell and California, where two lines intersect. The classic steep hill shot is from Hyde and Chestnut as the Cable Car climbs Hyde, with the Bay and Alcatraz Island in the background. This last shot is best between noon and 2 p.m. when the sun is high and the Cable Cars are lit rather than in shadow due to tall buildings.
However, beyond these outdoor shots, a fascinating image can be made of the innards of the system, the giant wheels that turn the cable and pull the little Cable Cars around the city. See this at the Cable Car “Barn,” formally known as the Cable Car Museum, 1201 Mason. You will want to ramp up the ISO on your camera or use a tripod because the interior is dark.
Meander the redwoods at nearby Muir Woods.
San Francisco is so famous for its nearby redwood trees that you owe it to yourself to drive north across the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Woods in Marin County.
Follow this plan for best results. Get up early and leave San Francisco at 7 a.m., arriving at Muir Woods by 8 a.m. Drive north on Highway 101 across the Golden Gate Bridge and then west on Highway 1, following the signs.
There are several good reasons for the early morning trip. At 8 a.m. the light is lovely, soft and even, making good photos possible. When the sun gets high and the light gets hot, it is difficult to photograph the piercing bright shafts of light and the darkness of the shade together in the redwoods. A more diffuse light is preferable.
Also, when Muir Woods opens at 8 a.m., the parking is easy, before congestion occurs. With very few people around, you will enjoy a high-quality experience communing with the tranquility and beauty found in the redwood forest. You’ll be able to photograph and walk at Muir Woods and still get back to San Francisco for a day of further exploration.
For Muir Woods you may want to use a high ISO light sensitivity on your digital camera because the deep woods are fairly dark. Better yet, bring a tripod if you have one. Then set your camera on a low ISO, let the camera take its time, and you will have a photo that can be printed large with minimal pixelation “noise.”
September/October and April/May are the optimal months to view and photograph San Francisco because the light is clear and crisp. Summer can be foggy and winter gray and rainy.
San Francisco is a world-class city to photograph and/or view. My hope is that these notes will help you replicate some of the fun I have had looking at the City as I created my book and app.
3. San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge Beyond 75 Years
San Francisco celebrated in 2012 the 75th birthday of its beloved Golden Gate Bridge.
All visitors to the Golden Gate area will notice some subtle improvements in the setting. The visitor experience at the south end Vista Point of the Bridge has been enhanced. The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, a local ally of the National Park Service, took charge of the existing Round House gift shop and art deco-themed Bridge Café, upgrading the quality of the merchandise and installing a restaurant with locally-grown food. A new interpretive Visitor Pavilion was built, and became the starting point for guided tours of the south area of the Bridge
Views of the Bridge were improved as non-native trees were eliminated and more overlooks added. Trails along the north side of San Francisco, part of the Coastal Trail system, were improved, as was the trail system east from the bridge through Crissy Field, part of the Bay Trail. If a visitor has not yet walked any of these trails in recent years, a pleasant surprise awaits. It is now possible to walk west from the Golden Gate Bridge all of the way to the Cliff House along the north side of the San Francisco peninsula. It is also possible to walk east from the south end of the Bridge through Crissy Field to the Marina Green, another engaging outing.
The 75th birthday was an occasion to contemplate many aspects of the Bridge, including its beauty, its engineering design genius, and its economic importance. The Bridge became a symbol of America’s vision of a brighter future, approved of and constructed during the darkest days of the Great Depression.
The Golden Gate Bridge at Any Time
Any day of the year, it is a joy to view and photograph the Golden Gate Bridge. Spring is an especially wonderful time in the Bay Area for such a pursuit. Each day, thousands of travelers engage in a private ceremony of affection for the Bridge.
Consider the Bridge’s history and beauty, then some suggestions on how to enjoy and photograph it today.
The object of all this adulation is one of America’s best-loved landmarks. Whether seen from the south and north end visitor viewpoints or from special vantage points, such as the deck of a Blue and Gold Fleet excursion boat, the Golden Gate Bridge is a pleasing sight. The gracefulness of its suspension construction, the bridge’s proportion alongside the green hills of Marin County to the north, and the orange-vermilion color of the bridge against the blue sky and sea all add to the breathtaking effect. The ship lane below the Golden Gate has become its own bridge to the orient, adding to the mystique of the site.
How the Golden Gate Bridge was Built
Building the Bridge required both political vision and technical imagination. A San Francisco character of the 1860s, named Emperor Norton, is credited with the first public proposals for a bridge. In the 1870s railroad magnate Charles Crocker presented plans for a bridge. However, the task was enormous and public interest dwindled until 1916, when newspaperman James Wilkins launched an editorial campaign favoring a bridge. The idea appealed to North Bay residents who were transporting their cars across on time-consuming ferries. Spanning the Golden Gate, however, seemed more like a dream than a possibility. In 1917, San Francisco’s chief engineer, M. M. O’Shaughnessy, enlisted the aid of a Chicago engineer, Joseph B. Strauss, to design and build the Bridge.
Strauss followed the project attentively for the next two decades. A distinguished bridge builder, Strauss engineered over 400 bridges from Leningrad to New Jersey in his lifelong record. A statue at the south end of the Bridge acknowledges his role as “The Man Who Built The Bridge.”
The political hurdles required to build the Bridge were considerable. In 1930 voters in the six counties making up the Bridge District approved issuing the bonds to finance it. This act required some vision as the nation waded through the Depression. In January 1933 Strauss broke ground for construction of the towers. Admirably, the Bridge was built on time and under its $35 million budget, with the last bridge bond paid off in 1971. Today’s toll goes entirely to maintaining the Bridge, including its never-ending schedule of painting.
The first technical challenge in the 1930s construction involved the 4,200-foot length of the span, which many said could not be bridged successfully. Strauss weighed plans for a suspension bridge, which risked being too flimsy, and a cantilever bridge, which might be too heavy for the site. His original plans called for a design incorporating both ideas. From an aesthetic point of view, his later decision to focus just on the suspension approach proved far superior. At that time, a suspension bridge of this length had not yet been built.
The location of the Bridge, bearing the full brunt of the ocean elements, exacerbated potential problems of design. Winds of 20-60 miles per hour are commonplace. A broadside wind at 100 miles per hour produces a midspan sway of 21 feet, which had to be allowed for. Heat and cold expansion and contraction of the Bridge meant a movement of 10 feet up and 10 feet down. The depth of the water underneath the Bridge and the speed of the current were major technical challenges. Pacific tidal pressures are enormous in the narrow outlet, especially when the 7-1/2 knot tidal outrush combines with the swift-flowing waters of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers emptying through this gap into the ocean. Strauss decided to anchor one of the 65-story towers right in the waterway, 1,215 feet from shore.
The 36-1/2 inch cables manufactured for the Bridge were the largest bridge cables ever made, incorporating 80,000 miles of wire about the thickness of a pencil. Each of the two cables has a tensile strength of 200 million pounds. During construction, Strauss paid particular attention to worker safety. It was assumed in bridge building that a worker would die for every million dollars worth of construction. The safety record was excellent until near the end of the project. A special net saved 19 men who fell at various times.
Pete Williamson, one of the bridge workers, recalled what it was like.
“I had to walk along those girders with nothing to hold onto,” said Williamson, “balancing myself on 8-inch I-beams with only net and water underneath. The thought of walking the flanges scared the hell out of me. But I did it. I learned quickly that when the wind was blowing, which was all the time out there, you had to carry lumber on the side away from it. If you didn’t, it could get hold of you and blow you into the drink.”
The safety record remained excellent until 1936 when a falling beam crushed an iron worker. Unfortunately, another tragic incident, in February 1937, took 10 lives when a scaffolding with workers broke off. The weight of the scaffolding tore through the net, carrying the workers to their deaths below.
Over the years the bridge has set some remarkable and gruesome records. Over 100,000 cars a day cross it, joining San Francisco to Marin County and the redwood country to the north. By February 1986 the billionth car had driven across. More than 1,200 people have jumped suicidally to their death from the span.
How to Enjoy and Photograph the Golden Gate Bridge Today
If you want to enjoy and photograph the Golden Gate Bridge today, here are some suggestions.
From mid-afternoon through sunset, choice photos and spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge and its setting are best from beaches on the western side of the Golden Gate in San Francisco and from bluffs on the Marin Headlands on the north side of the Bridge. For these outings, you will want to have your own car.
Baker Beach
West of the Bridge, the Baker Beach turnoff from Lincoln Boulevard is well marked. There is ample parking and direct access to the beach. Good shots can be made of the Bridge in the distance with breaking waves in the foreground. The beach is extensive. Many photo strategies can be employed. You can draw in the Bridge with a long lens or use a wide-angle to create vertical photos of the Bridge and the surf. If the sky is clear, the afternoon light can be golden. If the sky is cloudy or foggy, the interplay of the setting sun on the clouds/fog can be dramatic.
The cover photo for my recent guidebook and app, The Photographer’s Guide to San Francisco (Countryman/Norton) and San Francisco Travel and Photo Guide (Sutro Media), is from Baker Beach, and you can replicate the image. Get to Baker Beach at about 3 p.m. on a gorgeous, sunny day and prepare to meditate on the scene for an hour. Walk from the parking lot area toward the Bridge until you see the image that pleases you. It is helpful to have a tripod and rubber boots that allow you to stand in the surf. The singular beauty of the Bridge, the beach, and the surf is appealing. Optional amenities to bring are a bottle of wine, some brie, and a baguette.
One unusual aspect of the scene at Baker Beach will help orient you to the fact that you are in San Francisco. The “family” area of Baker Beach is near the parking lot. Walk toward the Bridge on a warm and sunny day and you will see perhaps a thousand naked people cavorting in this salubrious environment. You will need to be patient as you wait for the Bridge and the surf to appear alone in your frame without naked people running into the surf. A bottle of wine can help. Be litigiously respectful of naked people running through your photos. This is not the proper occasion to whip out your model releases. Although no thefts have been reported, it is best to have a colleague present to watch over your camera equipment if you decide, after getting your fabulous photo, to run naked into the surf yourself.
Marshall’s Beach
Another, closer beach access to the Golden Gate Bridge is also possible, but the trek to it requires some athleticism. That is Marshall’s Beach, but it is less well signed and the walk to the beach is long and steep. The parking spot is one of the first available parking areas, good for only a few cars, as you travel west on Lincoln Boulevard from the Vista Point at the South End of the Bridge. You will know you have the right parking spot if you see a Park Service board path leading toward the water. An extensive set of steps and paths, part of the glorious California Coastal Trail system, leads down to the beach.
The experience is one of an extraordinary wildness. You will wonder if you are still in San Francisco. The vegetation is Californian, with the blue blossom ceanothus bushes especially fragrant in the spring. If you are up to the physical demands of the steep ascent and descent on the steps, the extraordinary private pocket beach, known as Marshall’s Beach, awaits you at the bottom. Fairly close-up photos of the Bridge from water’s edge in afternoon and sunset light are possible.
Crissy Field
The entire stretch of public land east from the Bridge south end Vista Point to the Marina Green is now a splendid public park known as Crissy Field. A walkway along the Bay is shared by an eclectic mix of joggers, hikers, dog walkers, and families on outings.
Stop in at the Warming Hut Cafe for a break in the walk. Lovely views of the Bridge are possible all along this walk. To enjoy and photograph the views most advantageously, walk from the Marina Green to the Bridge so that an image of the span is always in your sight. Morning is a good time for this walk, when the sun light is on the Bridge. Wind surfers and huge container ships sometimes present themselves on the waterway.
Conzelman Road in Marin County
Grand afternoon and sunset views of the Golden Gate Bridge are possible from the Marin County side. Drive across the Bridge and take the first turnoff, which is Sausalito. Then turn west at a T onto Conzelman Road, which snakes along the Marin Headlands bluffs.
Three turnoffs here are recommended stops.
The first turnoff, immediately above the North Tower of the Bridge, amounts to a walk out to Battery Spencer and a close-up view of the Bridge. A vertical photo of the North Tower is possible. Another visual concept is the military fortification and the Bridge together. The Marin Headlands played a critical part in defending the United States following the hysteria of Pearl Harbor. There was substantial fear that Japan would mount a mainland invasion, with San Francisco as the target. The Marin Headlands hillsides were heavily fortified with gun emplacements. Gone today are the guns themselves, but their concrete bunker support systems are a sobering reminder of the World War II era.
The second turnoff, a quarter mile to the west, is the classic view of the Golden Gate Bridge North Tower with The City in the background. This is a vertical image that is seen in many postcard collections about San Francisco. Possibly a photo visit will have extraordinary good light in the hour before sunset. If the sky is clear, the Bridge will have some golden glow on it. If the sky is foggy or cloudy, you may just happen upon a dramatic dance of fog and bridge.
There is also a third turnoff to a site known as Hawk Hill, which is choice for getting a grand perspective on the Golden Gate. Continue on the road west, and keep to the left, following the Point Bonita Lighthouse signage. You will come to a famous place called Hawk Hill. Park where the two-lane road ends and a one-way road begins. This promontory offers one of the most amazing views of the Golden Gate area, which is a famous Bridge, of course, and is also an entrance to San Francisco Bay. This view calls for a wide-angle horizontal photo encompassing the Golden Gate and The City.
At the parking turnoff at Hawk Hill, there is signage alerting you to the naming of this Golden Gate location. Credit falls to John C. Fremont, who was a lieutenant in the U.S. Corps of Topographical Engineers. He wrote, “Between these points is the strait about 1 mile broad in the narrowest point, and 5 miles long from sea to bay. To this gate I gave the name Chrysopolae, or Golden Gate.” Fremont was making reference to the fabled Straits of Bosporus and the Greek city, Chrysopolis, which translates as City of Gold.
Hawk Hill is unusual because this is where many migrating raptors on the West Coast cross the Golden Gate span, due to the favorable thermals available. An informal count of raptors migrating each year becomes an index of the health of the western U.S. ecosystem. If your photographic or nature passion is birds, especially raptors, this is a place you should visit.
All aspects considered, there is much to celebrate regarding the Golden Gate Bridge, from its history and beauty to today’s opportunities for enjoyment and photography of this beloved object. Besides the land-based approaches, an excursion from Fisherman’s Wharf on a Blue & Gold or Red & White fleet boat shows the Bridge from the water, including from its west side.
The more one meditates on the Golden Gate Bridge, the greater will be your appreciation of the aesthetics and practical value of this world-class icon.
San Francisco: If You Go
The overall San Francisco information source for travelers is the San Francisco Travel Association, http://www.sanfrancisco.travel.
4. San Francisco’s Neighbor: The Oakland-Berkeley East Bay
East across the Bay from the grand tourism capital of San Francisco stretches her sunnier neighbor, the Oakland-Berkeley East Bay. Those of us who live in the East Bay area are quite content to let San Francisco carry the heavy burdens of tourism fame. We enjoy the many amenities and good life of the less pretentious East Bay, which we also delight in sharing with visitors.
Oakland, a brawny port city, and one of the largest container freight ports on the West Coast, is home to the salt-of-the-earth laborer and the rapping, streetwise citizen. However, Oakland also has large numbers of resident artists and writers because it is one of the few places in the Bay Area where people in the arts can survive financially. The East Bay, especially Oakland, also includes one of the largest U.S. concentrations of immigrants from diverse Asian and Pacific Island regions.