Castro, Coit, Garcia

Today was our second day exploring San Francisco. We walked EVEN MORE today than yesterday, and have almost seen a solid half of this huge city that still has so much to show us.

It was this but for about 10 blocks.

We got off the light rail and immediately began walking almost straight uphill from the financial district to the Coit Tower. We all broke out into sweats from this vigorous urban hike and were down to t-shirts by 11am. It was quite a view from the top though, and you could see clear into Marin county, and clear across the city as well.

My favorite street ever.

We descended from the Coit Tower down a wooded staircase that cut down a sharp cliff. It felt for 2 city blocks, as if we were in a rainforest.

My name is not Desire.

From here we took the F-line streetcars all the way from Embarcadero (the waterfront) to the Castro neighborhood. These streetcars are really cool. San Francisco has taken 1920-1950 era trolleys from all over the country (and Milan, Italy) as they were discontinued in their respective cities and have refurbished them to be used still today. We took one from the St. Louis suburban line. We got off in the Mission neighborhood for Regina's first try at thai food, which she liked! She'll have to try Tasti Thai on the Kirkwood Highway when we get back home.

Sausage Factory.

From Mission, we walked through Castro. For those of you who don't know, Castro is the gay enclave in San Francisco, and quite a vibrant and fascinating stretch of town. We window-browsed through various stores and markets, such as the clever pizza joint called "sausage factory." Eric got a few stares and winks, and we found out later it was because he can be classified as a CJB, or cute Jewish boy.

Garcia Residence.

Typical of Haight-Ashbury.

After making our way around Castro, we headed into another vibrant part of town, at the corner of Haight and Ashbury. This is a hippie/alternative neighborhood and the home to the late Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, as well as Janis Joplin. I have never seen so many vagabond travelers in my life in this particular part of town. Very cool.

Drawing outside Jerry's house.

From here we walked toward Alamo Square to see some of the original victorian row houses, like the ones that the Tanners lived in on Full House. Alamo Park was cool because it had an entire section on the backside of the park where it was leash free zone. Something you would not see on the east coast ever without having the proper fencing in place first.

We also struck up a conversation with this man over how he and his boyfriend chose specifically not to live in Castro because it was too homosexual-homogenous for them. It was the first time I had heard someone of the gay community argue against having what he almost described as a gay ghetto. He explained to us that although many gay people who live in Castro feel that they need to stick together and never leave Castro because "the rest of the world doesn't understand me", he felt that with the general acceptance that the rest of the city has for the gay community it was almost to the point of these people being "hetero-phobic". He said he loved the fact that he and his boyfriend are surrounded by 2 gay couples who are just about to adopt their first children, an elderly straight couple, and a typical American family with 3 kids. He was great to talk to, and also an east coast native, and was able to crack a few jokes about each of our hometowns.

Tomorrow we are off to Yosemite for some great hiking. Early to bed tonight, as we are getting up at 6am to go see it.