I may have posted similar views of some of these Pacific Heights houses before, but I never get tired of gazing at this turn-of-the-century architecture — steep gables, enthusiastic gingerbread, rounded turrets, and vast covered porches. Even some of the less ornate structures exude a certain historic charm, especially when contrasted with the modern buildings surrounding them. Very few of […]
I have to admit I’ve been skipping over this particular episode for awhile, assuming it was a duplicate, part of Huell’s series on all the California missions. You may recall that I featured the episode including Mission San Juan Bautista back in March of this year. Well, I finally decided to confirm my suspicion — and discovered I was wrong. […]
Today’s San Francisco is a very different place from the city of the early 20th century. But if you spend much time walking around in the area to the east of Van Ness Avenue, eventually you’ll find inevitable reminders of the great cataclysm, the earthquake and fire of 1906. This memorial, San Francisco Landmark No. 42, caught me by surprise […]
The third California mission established in 1776, San Francisco de Asís is more familiarly known as Mission Dolores. I finally got a chance to visit last month and spent an afternoon exploring the original mission building, the basilica next door, and the small cemetery. Here are just a few of my images, although I have a lot more!
One of the historic homes I went searching for in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood was the Atherton House at 1990 California Street. I didn’t know anything about the house’s history, but that — and the scaffolding obstructing my view — didn’t stop me from admiring the place from the sidewalk. Built between 1881-1882, the house was added to the […]
If I had planned ahead better, I may have booked a tour of the inside of Grace Cathedral. This Gothic beauty sits atop Nob Hill in San Francisco. Despite its elaborate style, this church building is relatively modern; the earlier cathedral, built a bit lower down on the slopes of Nob Hill in 1862, was destroyed by fire in 1906. […]
I have heard the story of San Francisco’s great earthquake and fire in 1906 countless times, but walking around certain parts of the city can still bring the history back to life in unexpected ways. Visiting the California Academy of Sciences in 2016, I entered the earthquake simulator and experienced first the shaking of the Loma Prieta quake in 1989 […]
A few images from my visit to San Francisco in August 2023.
I have some very fond memories of Alameda, California, since we made frequent visits between 1986 and 2000 — especially around Thanksgiving and Christmas — back when the Big Guy’s parents lived on nearby Bay Farm Island. I also recall scrambling around on the Alameda rock wall at Encinal Beach a few times while the Big Guy would do some […]