Pacific Heights

Pacific Heights, San Francisco

In our tireless quest to explore the whole of San Francisco, Dan and I hopped on the train Saturday morning and headed north. Or west. Or northwest, more accurately. Dan had expressed a desire to see the Pacific Heights neighborhood, home of the City's most elegant homes and wealthy residents. This would be our attempt to explore this bit of a world that was so unlike our own.

November 8, 2008
Pacific Heights, San Francisco

The train ride from Mountain View is generally very relaxing. Caltrains has a good system, the trains are clean and quiet and the seating is fairly comfortable. It takes just over an hour to go from the station near our house to the end of the line near the Giant's stadium in downtown San Francisco. I had forgotten to bring the street map, so we navigated our way west through the city with a couple of good guesses and the rare bus stop map. The variety of neighborhoods that we traveled through was amazing and we saw some very interesting things.

Reward sign under and overpass (click for larger image)

A surprising sign along Geary St.

The Peace Tower in Japantown

Japantown

Geishas in the square

We traveled from the financial district almost directly west towards what we hoped would be Pacific Heights. The weather was warm this time and it wasn't raining so much as it felt like we were walking through a cloud. In fact, I think we were. We took the time to visit the malls and shopping areas. It was almost like being in Japan. Weird foods, bookstores with illegible books, bizarre photo booth stores specializing in exotic backgrounds. And not "exotic" like a warm tropical island. It's a whole different culture.

From Japantown we passed into a quieter, commercial district and found lunch at a tiny hole-in-the-wall Falafel place where Dan found one of the better falafels he's had in a long time. I didn't care for it and decided that I'd eat later. So now we were close to Pacific Heights. We passed by well-treed streets, tall and elegant houses and narrow alleys. The clouds came and went, adding a sense of mystery to the shrouded homes.

We climbed a lengthy set of stairs in a park and found ourselves in quite possibly the coolest playground I'd ever seen. What I would have given to be 5 years old again! Dan, of course, is still five years old, so he wasted no time in exploring. I took pictures.

Narrow, elegant homes

Tree-lined streets

Little room for yards

So they put in public parks

Glorious playground!

Dan dives right in

You spin me right 'round, baby

Yo! Dig this!

Nice ceramic murals

Who's the monkey now?

Eventually Dan pulled himself away from the toys and we continued on our walk. We were in the neighborhood of foreign embassies and movie stars. And some ordinary-looking people too, as we saw as we walked by open garages. But the architechture was interesting and challenging to portray through the lens of the camera.

Probably an embassy

A beautiful gate

Shared fire escape. Your house on fire? Flee to the neighbor's!

Butchered trees

A unique apartment building

A very rare flat front garden space

We were dropping down out of the "the Heights", although we really weren't sure where the center of the Heights really was. But with the shorter winter days it was time to head back to the train. We were still quite a ways away. We saw more houses along the way.

An obviousl well-cared for house

A detail of the detail

A seemingly abandoned house

Now it was my time to eat. I wanted a burrito and figured that a "crispy taco" place ought to be able to handle that. The sign didn't hold much promise, but Mexican food establishments rarely look good anyway. It was worth a shot. And what a surprise I was in for! The inside looked more like a night club (which I suspect it is, "after hours") complete with shimmering chandeliers, mirrored walls and plush, blood-red (and torn) booth seats. The burrito was ok.

Nick's Crispy Tacos

I suspect they serve more than tacos here

I had eaten and it was time to keep heading for the train. I was getting a little tired of walking but of course Dan (the Energizer Bunny) was doing just fine. Fortunately he listens to me and we didn't dally too much longer. There were a couple of hills along the way, probably the steepest ones I've been on yet. I still missed Lombard Street, which just gives us an excuse to go back again. We also studied the cable cars, listening intently to the sound of the cable running madly under the metal plates.

Probably the best possible vehicle to have in the city

The last house at the top of the hill

Dan stands at the end of the street

Yes, it was steep

Dan checks the security of one of the gates

We surprisingly came up Chinatown. We had been through here before, amidst a riotous market with the sidewalks and streets full of people. This time it was a little less hectic and we managed to do some window shopping. I confess that I wouldn't want to do much other kind of shopping.

Random view down Kearny St

Dinner in the window

Open markets along the sidewalk

Questionable seafood products

Ornately painted buildings

Getting dark, but one last shot

The light had faded quickly and there wasn't much to see in the gloom. At least until we happened upon a brilliantly-lit street just a block out of our way. Curious, we wandered nearby and learned that they were filming a commercial for an LG Steam Cleaner. Interesting, I suppose, if you're involved in the making of the commercial.

Cleaning up in downtown

We hit the train station with 20 minutes to spare for the next train. The station was crowded with all manner of people and what few seats there were had already been taken. Eventually we were allowed to board and we took a couple of seats in the upper level. The rains came in earnest as we headed towards home, disturbed puddles reflecting the steetlight's glare as our train rolled by.

Dan!

Colleen!

Home	Back

Pacific Heights, San Francisco
In our tireless quest to explore the whole of San Francisco, Dan and I hopped on the train Saturday morning and headed north. Or west. Or northwest, more accurately. Dan had expressed a desire to see the Pacific Heights neighborhood, home of the City's most elegant homes and wealthy residents. This would be our attempt to explore this bit of a world that was so unlike our own.

November 8, 2008 Pacific Heights, San Francisco
The train ride from Mountain View is generally very relaxing. Caltrains has a good system, the trains are clean and quiet and the seating is fairly comfortable. It takes just over an hour to go from the station near our house to the end of the line near the Giant's stadium in downtown San Francisco. I had forgotten to bring the street map, so we navigated our way west through the city with a couple of good guesses and the rare bus stop map. The variety of neighborhoods that we traveled through was amazing and we saw some very interesting things.

Reward sign under and overpass (click for larger image)	A surprising sign along Geary St.

The Peace Tower in Japantown

Japantown	Geishas in the square
We traveled from the financial district almost directly west towards what we hoped would be Pacific Heights. The weather was warm this time and it wasn't raining so much as it felt like we were walking through a cloud. In fact, I think we were. We took the time to visit the malls and shopping areas. It was almost like being in Japan. Weird foods, bookstores with illegible books, bizarre photo booth stores specializing in exotic backgrounds. And not "exotic" like a warm tropical island. It's a whole different culture. From Japantown we passed into a quieter, commercial district and found lunch at a tiny hole-in-the-wall Falafel place where Dan found one of the better falafels he's had in a long time. I didn't care for it and decided that I'd eat later. So now we were close to Pacific Heights. We passed by well-treed streets, tall and elegant houses and narrow alleys. The clouds came and went, adding a sense of mystery to the shrouded homes. We climbed a lengthy set of stairs in a park and found ourselves in quite possibly the coolest playground I'd ever seen. What I would have given to be 5 years old again! Dan, of course, is still five years old, so he wasted no time in exploring. I took pictures.

Narrow, elegant homes	Tree-lined streets

Little room for yards	So they put in public parks

Glorious playground!	Dan dives right in

You spin me right 'round, baby	Yo! Dig this!

Nice ceramic murals	Who's the monkey now?
Eventually Dan pulled himself away from the toys and we continued on our walk. We were in the neighborhood of foreign embassies and movie stars. And some ordinary-looking people too, as we saw as we walked by open garages. But the architechture was interesting and challenging to portray through the lens of the camera.

Probably an embassy	A beautiful gate

Shared fire escape. Your house on fire? Flee to the neighbor's!	Butchered trees

A unique apartment building	A very rare flat front garden space
We were dropping down out of the "the Heights", although we really weren't sure where the center of the Heights really was. But with the shorter winter days it was time to head back to the train. We were still quite a ways away. We saw more houses along the way.

An obviousl well-cared for house	A detail of the detail

A seemingly abandoned house
Now it was my time to eat. I wanted a burrito and figured that a "crispy taco" place ought to be able to handle that. The sign didn't hold much promise, but Mexican food establishments rarely look good anyway. It was worth a shot. And what a surprise I was in for! The inside looked more like a night club (which I suspect it is, "after hours") complete with shimmering chandeliers, mirrored walls and plush, blood-red (and torn) booth seats. The burrito was ok.

Nick's Crispy Tacos	I suspect they serve more than tacos here
I had eaten and it was time to keep heading for the train. I was getting a little tired of walking but of course Dan (the Energizer Bunny) was doing just fine. Fortunately he listens to me and we didn't dally too much longer. There were a couple of hills along the way, probably the steepest ones I've been on yet. I still missed Lombard Street, which just gives us an excuse to go back again. We also studied the cable cars, listening intently to the sound of the cable running madly under the metal plates.

Probably the best possible vehicle to have in the city	The last house at the top of the hill

Dan stands at the end of the street	Yes, it was steep

Dan checks the security of one of the gates
We surprisingly came up Chinatown. We had been through here before, amidst a riotous market with the sidewalks and streets full of people. This time it was a little less hectic and we managed to do some window shopping. I confess that I wouldn't want to do much other kind of shopping.

Random view down Kearny St	Dinner in the window

Open markets along the sidewalk	Questionable seafood products

Ornately painted buildings	Getting dark, but one last shot
The light had faded quickly and there wasn't much to see in the gloom. At least until we happened upon a brilliantly-lit street just a block out of our way. Curious, we wandered nearby and learned that they were filming a commercial for an LG Steam Cleaner. Interesting, I suppose, if you're involved in the making of the commercial.

Cleaning up in downtown
We hit the train station with 20 minutes to spare for the next train. The station was crowded with all manner of people and what few seats there were had already been taken. Eventually we were allowed to board and we took a couple of seats in the upper level. The rains came in earnest as we headed towards home, disturbed puddles reflecting the steetlight's glare as our train rolled by.

Dan!	Colleen!