San Francisco

Today is our last day in San Francisco so we wanted to hit a few of the areas that we hadn't gotten to yet.

Telegraph Hill is the first stop of the day. We hopped on the local bus and rode it right to the top of the hill. Originally named Loma Alta ("High Hill") by the Spaniards, the hill was then familiarly known as Goat Hill by the early San Franciscans, and became the neighborhood of choice for many Irish immigrants.

Today Telegraph Hill is known for supporting a flock of feral parrots, primarily red-masked parakeets, descended from escaped or released pets. The flock was popularized by a book and subsequent documentary (2003), both titled The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.

High upon Telegraph Hill lies Coit Tower, a 210-foot (64 m) tower. The tower, in the city's Pioneer Park, was built between 1932 and 1933 using Lillie Hitchcock Coit's bequest to beautify the city of San Francisco. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places on January 29, 2008. Coit Tower was a prominent landscape feature in Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 film, Vertigo, which was set largely in San Francisco.

The art deco tower, built of unpainted reinforced concrete, was designed by architects Arthur Brown, Jr. and Henry Howard. The interior features fresco murals in the American Social Realism style, painted by 27 different on-site artists and their numerous assistants, plus two additional paintings installed after creation off-site.

The tower, which stands atop Telegraph Hill in San Francisco's Pioneer Park, offers panoramic views of San Francisco including "crooked" Lombard Street, Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Twin Peaks, Aquatic Park, Pier 39, the Financial District, the Ferry Building, as well as San Francisco Bay itself including Angel Island, Alcatraz, Treasure Island, and the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges.

Luckily the fog had lifted that day and the views from the viewing deck were simply outstanding. What an amazing hidden gem.

We decided to hike down the hillside amongst the local houses, in search of the wild parrots. There are two sets of steps: the Filbert Street Steps and the Greenwich Stairs. We headed down the Filbert Street Steps where the views of the Bay Bridge were spectacular. The Filbert Street Steps drop you right down into the Levi's Plaza.

The site was originally known as Frederick Griffing's wharf. Eventually the land was built up and the wharf buried along with the Frederick Griffing's (ship). When the Levi Plaza was under construction the buried ship was rediscovered. It is now home of the Headquarters for the Levi's Company.

Anyone can make a pair of blue jeans, but Levi Strauss & Co. made the first blue jean –– in 1873. And we draw upon our heritage to continually reinvent the blue jean for generation after generation.
When news of the California Gold Rush made its way east, Levi journeyed to San Francisco in 1853 to make his fortune, though he wouldn’t make it panning gold. He established a wholesale dry goods business under his own name and served as the West Coast representative of the family’s New York firm. Levi eventually renamed his company “Levi Strauss & Co.”

Around 1872, Levi received a letter from one of his customers, Jacob Davis, a Reno, Nevada tailor. In his letter, Davis disclosed the unique way he made pants for his customers, through the use of rivets at points of strain to make them last longer. Davis wanted to patent this new idea, but needed a business partner to get the idea off the ground. Levi was enthusiastic about the idea. The patent was granted to Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss & Company on May 20, 1873; and blue jeans were born.

The Levi's Headquarters had a very interesting historical display within the building; free for public to enter.

From there we took the F Street Car to downtown to go find the SFMOMA and check out the artsy side of town. We arrived with only 1.5 hours till closing (oops the tour guide lost track of time). Being that the exhibits and museum take 2-3 hours to enjoy and the entrance fee was quite high, we decided to check out the free art exhibits in the building and around in the park across the street. It claims to be one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary art in the United States - with work by artists from around the world, including Frida Kahlo, Gerhard Richter, Andy Warhol, and Julie Mehretu.

We did a little exploration through Yerba Buena Gardens on our way back to Market Street. The original block opened in 1993 contains several public art installations. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

is located behind a waterfall, which is the largest fountain on the West Coast. The King memorial consists of large, etched glass excerpts of King's speeches in the languages of San Francisco's sister cities, and also includes a large green space where performance arts events are held throughout the year. It is defiantly enjoyed by many of the local people of San Francisco.

So we hopped back on the Cable Car in search of our Baked BBQ Pork Buns to take home for dinner. For this trip we rode on the side of the cable car and had the most spectacular views as we headed up the hillside. Mom had a blast. As we got off in China Town we headed to the local bakery. It was a bit difficult to find a bakery that had BBQ pork buns this late in the day, but we did find one after a recommendation from a local person. We beefed up our dinner and added a couple of Pork Shu Mi and Shrimp Dumplings to the order. What a great dinner!

Tomorrow morning is our last morning before we head off back home. If we get up early we can do a little time down in Fisherman's Wharf before we head home.