Coit Tower

/ Cali, Me, Photo

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Photo of Coit Tower from the parking lot.

After driving around Golden Gate Bridge, we headed to Coit Tower.

The tower, in the city’s Pioneer Park, was built in 1933 using Lillie Hitchcock Coit’s bequest to beautify the city of San Francisco; at her death in 1929 Coit left one-third of her estate to the city for civic beautification. –Wikipedia

After living a year and a half in San Francisco, this was the first time I saw this landmark. While the parking lot of Coit Tower isn’t that scenic, the history is pretty interesting. I’m sure if you can go to top of the tower, the view is probably spectacular… perhaps that’s something I’ll have to do another day.

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Statue of Christopher Columbus, in front of Coit Tower.

Coit Tower was paid for with money left by Lillie Hitchcock Coit, a wealthy socialite who loved to chase fires in the early days of the city’s history. Before December 1866, there was no city fire department, and fires in the city, which broke out regularly in the wooden buildings, were extinguished by several volunteer fire companies.

I didn’t have a chance to go up the tower, but it was nice to quickly scope out the base and learn a little about the significance the tower.

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View from the base of Coit Tower, facing the Golden Gate Bridge.

Lillie Coit was one of the more eccentric characters in the history of North Beach and Telegraph Hill, smoking cigars and wearing trousers long before it was socially acceptable for women to do so. She was an avid gambler and often dressed like a man in order to gamble in the males-only establishments that dotted North Beach.

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The round about at Cost Tower, with little to no parking.

I’ll probably have to come back here at night—I’m sure the lighting is probably way more interesting.

Golden Gate Bridge and Foxxy

/ Cali, Me, Photo

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Foxxy, a 13 year old mixed dog.

After visiting the Painted Ladies, we took a quick trip over to the Golden Gate Bridge, at Fort Point.

Fort Point is a masonry seacoast fortification located at the southern side of the Golden Gate at the entrance to San Francisco Bay. This fort was completed just before the American Civil War by the United States Army, to defend San Francisco Bay against hostile warships. –Wikipedia

While we were there, we bumped into a cute dog named Foxxy. She was adopted at the age of 3, but the owner said that the shelter said her age was much younger. He said that, they typically don’t tell the truth to help the the dogs find new owners faster.

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Foxxy with her owner, tired of walking.

I was thinking about doing a blog that highlighted the dogs of SF, but it seems that there are a lot of other people doing it already.

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View of Alcatraz and the bay.

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Annie and Julia taking a photo in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

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Entrance of Fort Point.

In 1769 Spain occupied the San Francisco area and by 1776 had established the area’s first European settlement, with a mission and a presidio. To protect against encroachment by the British and Russians, Spain fortified the high white cliff at the narrowest part of the bay’s entrance, where Fort Point now stands. The Castillo de San Joaquin, built in 1794, was an adobe structure housing nine to thirteen cannons. –Wikipedia

Full House and Painted Ladies

/ Cali, Me, Photo

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Painted Ladies, a landmark of San Francisco and where the Full House show took place.

After breakfast at Sweet Maple, we went to look for the Full House, house.

“Painted ladies” is a term in American architecture used for Victorian and Edwardian houses and buildings painted in three or more colors that embellish or enhance their architectural details. The term was first used for San Francisco Victorian houses by writers Elizabeth Pomada and Michael Larsen in their 1978 book Painted Ladies – San Francisco’s Resplendent Victorians. –Wikipedia

The intro of Full House.

Man, that show brings back so many memories.

I actually watched a couple episodes from the new series on Netflix. It was surprisingly good, but a little sad—life goes by so quickly. I remember when I was a kid watching this with my sis, Michelle. It’s strange watching a throwback from 20 years ago.

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Closer angle of the painted ladies.

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Julia and Annie posing in front of the Painted Ladies.

Alamo Park was being renovated, but the houses looked beautiful. This was definitely a tourist attraction, and mobs of people were outside taking photos.

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Julia and Annie posing in front of the actual house.

The house shown is located at 1709 Broderick Street, not one of the Painted Ladies on Postcard Row. The Tanner family home, zoomed out. From the opening credits of Full House, season one.

The Painted Ladies are in Alamo Square, however, a warning to all the Full House fans—these are only used for the opening credits to show the family having a picnic. The actual house where the family lived was on 1708 Broderick Street.

Anyway, it was pretty cool to swing by and see all these landmarks.

Breakfast at Sweet Maple

/ Food, Me, Photo

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French toast at Sweet Maple.

After watching the sunrise at the Golden Gate Bridge, we grabbed breakfast from one of our favorite places, Sweet Maple.

Nearly as famous are our Big Hip deep fried French Toast, bottomless mimosas and bloody Marys.

I typically get the eggs benedict… however, from this point forward, I’ll probably get the french toast—it’s unbelievable. Both Annie and Julia got it, and I have to say, I was a little jealous! 😋

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Millionaire bacon.

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Eggs benedict.

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Annie and Julia enjoying their breakfast in SF.

Founded in 2010, Sweet Maple is now the the go-to brunch destination for San Francisco locals and knowledgeable food tourists alike. Home of world famous Millionaire’s Bacon, our extra-thick, sweet and spicy bacon that is slow-cooked for hours with brown sugar and spicy peppers to a chewy perfection.

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Julia and Annie posing for a photo after breakfast in front of Sweet Maple’s entrance.

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Glass door entrance of Sweet Maple.

If you’re ever in the area, you should definitely check Sweet Maple out. Be prepared for a long wait if you want brunch on a sunday though.

🚶🚶🚶

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Big hip deep fried french toast.

EDIT

Annie said this photo is actually the “Big Hip deep fried French Toast”. She insisted that you try this—it tastes like funnel cake. And yeh, it’s pretty damn delicious.

Golden Gate Bridge Sunrise

/ Cali, Me, Photo

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Julia and Annie watching the sunrise at Golden Gate Bridge.

One of our favorite things to do is watching the sunrise from Marin County. It’s such a fantastic view of the city, the bridge, Alcatraz, Angel Island, and more.

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The trail is easy to get to from this parking lot.

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A trail that goes up to the vista point.

Please respect earthworks. The National Park Service is preserving unique earthworks of Battery Spencer (1887) and Ridge Battery (1871-1872). Please respect fencing, trail boundaries, and closed areas so that we may preserve these sensitive earthworks and vegetation that protects them.

To be really honest, everything up there was really dry—like bone dry—but I would be careful around the edges. There are some pretty steep fall offs, so be mindful when shooting selfies.

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Julia and Annie jumping in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

No matter how many times I come up here, it never ceases to amaze me. I think this was both Annie and Julia’s favorite view from the trip. Just be prepared—it can get cold up there. Make sure to bring extra layers.

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Annie, Julia and I.

Time-lapse video of the Golden Gate Bridge.

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My el-cheapo time-lapse setup.

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Viewing northwest, towards Sausalito.

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Julia and Annie taking photos of the Golden Gate Bridge.

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View from Hawk Hill.

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Annie enjoying the view.

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Julia enjoying the view and snapping a ton of photos.

If you ever come out to San Francisco, make sure you go across the Golden Gate Bridge to check out the view. It’s breath taking.

Night Time Shot from Bernal Heights

/ Cali, Me, Photo

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Photo of the SF at night from Bernal Heights

After share tea, we swung by Bernal Heights at night to snap a couple photos.

Bernal Heights remained undeveloped until the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Built atop bedrock, the hill’s structures survived the tremor, and the sparseness of the development saved much of Bernal from the ravages of the firestorm that followed. The commercial corridor of Eugenia Avenue filled in with shops as the pastureland on the hilltop was developed for workers’ homes during the rapid rebuilding of the city. Some of the tiny earthquake cottages—which the city built to house quake refugees—survive to this day, including three which were moved up to Bernal Heights. –Wikipedia

I’m hoping to get some more photos from here soon. Check out similar photos from Twin Peaks.