photos.ALBj.net

photos.ALBj.net → 2009 → Macworld Expo and San Francisco Sightseeing, January 4-11, 2009

The last time I visited San Francisco was July 1998. 10½ years later, I was thrilled to be back in 2009 to attend my very first Macworld Expo, including admission to the Keynote, even though Steve didn't deliver the address, plus it was Apple's last year of Expo participation. The San Francisco sightseeing, however, was superb!

First view from San Francisco
Prior to MWSF, I had been in Alberta for the holiday (Mountain Time Zone), then flew back to Florida, repacked, then flew to San Francisco January 4. I got in at midnight, so suffice to say my jetlagged internal clock was feeling as though it had been raped. When I finally woke up Monday morning, I took this shot out the front window of the condo as my first daylight view of the city. I realize there's not much to see. It's the corner of Hyde and North Point where The Suites at Fisherman's Wharf is located, just a block away from Ghirardelli Marketplace.

Corner of Hyde and North Point
Here's a Google Maps Street View shot of the corner where I stayed with Chris and Eric. If you wish to explore, here's a link to the Street View interface. (Note: back when I saved the screenshot, Street View data was better. At this writing, there's a gap in Hyde Street coverage, and a huge missing section here of North Point.)

Powell-Hyde trolley
A trolley line goes right past this building. Kinda cool, but also kinda noisy.

Alcatraz seen from outside our condo
Viewed from the corner of Hyde and North Point.

Media badge
I'm officially registered!

Walking into the keynote hall
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Opening slide from the 2009 keynote
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Schiller on stage
Even though Steve Jobs didn't give the Keynote address, Phil Schiller brought the same energy to the presentation.

This is as far in I could zoom with my 200mm lens
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Very attractive price on Apple's new bundle
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GarageBand tutorials
A clip of a pretty cool new feature in GarageBand where celebrity musicians teach you the basics of playing instruments.

New unibody style 17" MacBook Pro
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New variable pricing in iTunes, but *all* music will now be DRM-free
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Steve Jobs? Who cares! We were serenaded by Tony Bennett!
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Tony Bennett on screen
No, I didn't actually get this close. I shot a photo of the huge stage projection screen.

A few clips of Tony Bennett singing at the end of the Keynote
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Me in the presentation hall
Just a (horrible) shot of me in the hall as confirmation that I really was there!

Eric playing with a ModBook
I can't recommend these things. I tried it and it lagged with just about every operation I attempted.

XtremeMac press kit
It's on a USB drive!

Apple's exhibitor hall pavilion
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Special (re)Medial Edition
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This is a "no-tuck" shirt
I was given this shirt when I bought WireTap Studio at a 20% Macworld Expo discount. It wasn't until that night it occurred to me that I most certainly shall not wear this shirt tucked into my pants.

Exterior of Flagship Apple Store, Stockton
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Flagship Apple store
I naturally had to have the pleasure of visiting and making a purchase from Stockton, Apple's flagship store. I bought a Kensington 3-port portable power strip, perfect for my backpack and also sporting two USB ports for charging mobile devices. This picture was to show the glass walkway on the second floor and also the Genius Bar screens that my ATPM friend Chris was involved with during their installation—IF they are the same screens and haven't been updated/replaced.

John Lennon Educational Tour Bus Studio
This studio on wheels was a fascinating tour.

John Lennon Educational Tour Bus Studio
The front editing station for video/graphics.

John Lennon Educational Tour Bus Studio
Video switcher.

John Lennon Educational Tour Bus Studio
The rear editing station for sound.

John Lennon Educational Tour Bus Studio
Keyboard and digital drum kit.

John Lennon Educational Tour Bus Studio
This wall in the rear of the bus has a pull-out closet for mics and equipment. The wall is covered with the reflective material that creates a blue or green screen when a light ring shines on it, attached to a camera.

John Lennon Educational Tour Bus Studio
Sleeping bunks for the studio engineers in the same rear space as the sound-dampened vocal recording studio.

Odd attire
I'm really not sure what the deal was here. Bunny ears were being passed out by the thousands, though I never saw from where. Added to it were this man's red sweater and orange Crocs. Ew.

Me and the Domo-kun
Chris' Domo-kun has been traveling everywhere with us and having his journey photographically documented. This shot was taken in the Macworld media room where we chilled out for a short while and topped off our iPhone batteries before dinner.

Drunk domo-kun
Don't ask. I'm not sure I can explain. Only that this was the apparent aftermath of a fabulous supper with new friends Joshua and Kristen Rudd. Thanks to them for inviting Chris, Eric, and me.

Back to the Future replica
A software data recovery developer had a Back To the Future DeLorean time machine model in the expo hall.

Back to the Future replica
Mr. Fusion!! A software data recovery developer had a Back To the Future DeLorean time machine model in the expo hall.

Back to the Future replica
A software data recovery developer had a Back To the Future DeLorean time machine model in the expo hall.

Back to the Future replica
A software data recovery developer had a Back To the Future DeLorean time machine model in the expo hall. Here's the time circuit indicator.

South hall panorama
Apple's booth is in the background.

South hall panorama
This view is to the left side of the Apple booth.

Flags outside Moscone South
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Flags outside Moscone South
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Acrobatic performer at Cirque du Mac 6.0
Chris was acquainted with Jeff Gamet of Mac Observer. Upon meeting up with him in the Expo hall, he handed us free tickets to the annual Cirque du Mac party on Thursday evening. It started out with this acrobatic performer.

Acrobatic Performer video
Some video of the acrobatic performer's skill.

Cirque du Mac 6.0
The rest of the evening (I presume, since we left after about an hour) consisted of the Macworld All-star Band.

Macworld All-Star Band
Musicians at the Cirque du Mac party.

Chris Breen
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Paul Kent (on the right)
Paul Kent is Macworld Expo Vice President. Not sure who the guy on the left is.

Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus
Check out the VU meter shirt. It actually lit up and pulsed in beat with the sound in the room.

Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus
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A shot of LeVitus' glowing shirt VU meters in action
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St. Peter & Paul Church‎
A nice nighttime shot of this landmark as we waited at Washington Square Park for the bus back to our condo.

Coit Tower
A nice nighttime shot of this landmark as we waited at Washington Square Park for the bus back to our condo.

Fisherman's Wharf end of Hyde Street
Thursday began our San Francisco sightseeing. This is at the bottom end of the Hyde-Powell trolley line.

Defenestration
After poking around the Wharf for a little while, we returned to Macworld for a few last stops, then took a hike through town to the park where the famous Painted Ladies are. On the way, I noticed this very odd building with furniture appearing to flee out the windows. Apparently, it was an art project called Defenestration.

Defenestration
www.defenestration.org/

Painted Ladies
Yes, pathetic light, but I was here. The next photo in this album is a better shot with my Nikon D90 instead of the iPhone.

Painted Ladies
I arrived too late and missed the sun, so the lighting was pathetic. A bit of Photoshop work made a dramatic difference to this photo, but I still wish I had managed to get the sun on the houses. But yes, we really did walk about two miles from the Moscone Center to Alamo Square.

Victorian House
Whereas the Painted Ladies are on the east side of Alamo Square, this house was on the south edge, and I really liked both the architecture and the color.

Sutro Tower
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Lombard Street at night
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Lombard Street at night
Coit Tower visible in the far distance.

Golden Gate Bridge, seen from near Lombard Street
Why the odd angle? I had no tripod and was resting my camera on a concrete rail. I'd been trying to hold it horizontal on the angled rail, but later decided to just brace it flat, so this angle matches the angle of the rail. I was planning to straighten this picture in Photoshop before enhancing the color, but I decided I liked it at the angle. Booyah.

Is that an iPhone in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
Couldn't help but be amused at Eric's iPhone lighting up in his pants.

The Buena Vista Irish Pub
At the bottom of Hyde Street, we enjoyed a wonderful, very tasty dinner at this little restaurant.

Ghirardelli Square
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Ghirardelli Square
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Ghirardelli Square
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Caramel Sundae
Nom nom nom! Okay, sue me. I didn't get a chocolate thing at Ghirardelli. I'm a sucker for caramel.

Chocolate-making machines
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Chocolate-making machines
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Chocolate-making machines
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Gift trolley
I bought this model trolley filled with chocolates for my parents. (This shot was taken several days later after I'd returned home and my mom had opened the box.)

F/A-18 Hornet flying over Fisherman's Wharf
More sightseeing on Friday. Before picking up a rental car for the weekend, we walked through Fisherman's Wharf. This F/A-18 Hornet was buzzing the bay.

Alcatraz
Two of us had been to Alcatraz before, so we didn't arrange a visit this time, but I still made sure to take distant photos since today was nice and clear. The first time I visited, it was very foggy.

Pier gateway under restoration
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Webcam screen shot from the pier's web site
This was captured by my friend Jeff back in Orlando from the Pier 39 webcam site. Sadly, the current webcam doesn't seem to offer nearly the same degree of custom viewing angles, but you can still watch the sea lions.

Forbes Island
Floating restaurant. It shut down from this location in 2017 and relocated to the east in Oakley: maps.google.com/maps?ll=37.9728,-121.5813&q=37.9728,-...

Golden Gate Bridge with military vessel in foreground
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Looking back to Fisherman's Wharf
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Coit Tower and TransAmerica Building, seen from Pier 39
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Pier 39 marina
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Sea lions at Pier 39
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Sea lions at Pier 39
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Sea lions at Pier 39
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Sea lions at Pier 39
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Sea lions at Pier 39
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Sea lions at Pier 39
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Sea lions at Pier 39
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Sea lions at Pier 39
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Video of the Pier 39 sea lions and their barking
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Sea gull at Pier 39
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Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz panorama
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Marina at Pier 39
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Me at the One Infinite Loop sign
After picking up our rental car and getting lunch, we bee-lined to Cupertino for a pilgrimage to the Apple headquarters—the mothership.

Apple Headquarters entrance
1 Infinite Loop.

The Apple Company Store
Here's where to find Apple-branded swag you really cannot find anywhere else.

GPS proof
Hard to fake this when I don't have access to Photoshop. Yes, parked at the Apple campus.

Salt House restaurant
Back in San Francisco, meeting for dinner with parents of a former ATPM staffer, Tom, who couldn't come to Macworld this year. Look closely. There's a tree planted sideways.

Salt House restaurant
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Salt House restaurant
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Golden Gate Bridge
Saturday was definitely our best sightseeing day. TONS of Golden Gate Bridge and Fort Point photography along with a stroll through the Letterman Digital Arts campus at the Presidio.

Golden Gate Bridge
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Kayakers leaving a marina
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Alcatraz
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Golden Gate Bridge
Stunningly beautiful sunny day.

Golden Gate Bridge and Fort Point
In the morning, we started at the Marin Headlands, but quickly realized the latter part of the day would have far better light for that location. Since the sun in the morning came from the opposite side of the bridge, we drove back across and down to the street leading to Fort Point.

Golden Gate Bridge and Fort Point
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Me at Golden Gate Bridge and Fort Point
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge panorama with Fort Point
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Golden Gate Bridge panorama
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Hopper's Hands at Fort Point
Interesting story behind this landmark: www.hoppershands.blogspot.com/ - Note the dog paw versions below—and yes, I actually did see one dog touch the sign upon his owner's command.

Fort Point Entry
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Map of Fort Point layout
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Fort Point
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Fort Point Panorama
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Infinite Hallway at Fort Point
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Officer's Quarters at Fort Point
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Fort Point
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Spiral Staircase at Fort Point
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Spiral Staircase at Fort Point
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Bunks at Fort Point
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Fort Point
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Fort Point
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Fort Point
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Fort Point
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Fort Point
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Fort Point
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Fort Point
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Fort Point
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Fort Point
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Fort Point
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Fort Point
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Fort Point
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Fort Point
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Fort Point
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Birds at Fort Point
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Birds on the pier
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Birds on the pier
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Birds on the pier
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Seagull and Alcatraz
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Seagull and bridge
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Sailboat in front of downtown
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Sailboat in front of downtown
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Alcatraz and sailboat
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Bridge and sailboat
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Downtown seen from Crissy Field
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Balanced Rocks at Crissy Field
At Crissy Field, near Fort Point, it's apparently a popular past-time to balance towers of rocks along the shore.

Balanced Rocks at Crissy Field
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Balanced Rocks at Crissy Field
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Balanced Rocks at Crissy Field
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Kite at Crissy Field
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Philo T. Farnsworth sculpture, inventor of television
At the Letterman Digital Arts campus.

Serial number
I'm not going to say here what the serial number represents. Only a true Lucasfilm geek would know without having to be told.

Palace of Fine Arts Dome
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Yoda Fountain at Letterman Digital Arts
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Yoda Fountain at Letterman Digital Arts
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Yoda Fountain at Letterman Digital Arts
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Yoda Fountain at Letterman Digital Arts
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Yoda Fountain at Letterman Digital Arts
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Presidio sign
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The Missing Sock
We passed the humorously named laundromat in search of lunch.

51st Artillery
After lunch, we returned to the Marin Headlands side of the bridge, up to some of the emplacements used in the war.

Beautiful Marin Headlands terrain
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Downtown San Francisco seen from atop the Marin Headlands
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Golden Gate from Battery Spencer
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Battery emplacement with cool graffiti
I went down here to shoot some photos, but wanted a shot of the emplacement itself. I don't even want to think about what activities go on down here these days, but the graffiti is still kinda cool.

Beach below the bridge
Kayaking in is pretty much the only way to get to this beach.

I liked the texture in this hillside
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I liked the texture in this hillside
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I liked the texture in this hillside
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Panorama shot
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Panorama shot
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Panorama shot
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Panorama shot
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Panorama shot
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Me in front of the bridge
An obligatory "I was here" tourist shot.

Sunset at Marin Headlands
We tried to get over to the Bonita Point lighthouse, but it had already closed by the time we reached it.

Sunset at Point Bonita
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Sunset at Point Bonita
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Moon over San Francisco
Even though we couldn't get to the lighthouse, I instead managed to get some beautiful moonrise shots.

Moon over San Francisco
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Moon over San Francisco
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Moon over San Francisco
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Moon over San Francisco
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Moon over San Francisco
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Moon over San Francisco
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Moon over San Francisco
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Street magician
On Sunday, Chris and Eric had midday flights home. I drove them to the airport early in the morning, returned to Fisherman's Wharf area, and returned the rental car. My flight wasn't until 10pm, so I had nearly the entire day to kill. I started by enjoying a second visit to In-N-Out for lunch (came here earlier in the week and met a local resident friend of mine, Colby). While eating, I watched this performer setting up and practicing, basically enabling me to see how some of his tricks are done.

On the trolley
After lunch, I finally got my much-desired trolley ride, taking the Hyde-Powell line all the way from Fisherman's Wharf to the opposite end in downtown San Francisco.

Looking back, riding the trolley
That's the Fisherman's Wharf bottom end of the line in the distance.

On the trolley, Lombard stop
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Trolly turntable
And here's the top end of the Hyde-Powell trolly line. This is how you turn a trolly around when it reaches the end of the line and has to go the opposite direction. (This photo was actually back from Tuesday, but it seemed more appropriate to show here at the end of my ride.)

Cool clockwork mechanism
Happened across this contraption while killing time in San Francisco.

Sitting in the mall, looking up
It was going to be a while before meeting Colby who was going to take me to see Golden Gate Park. I was kind of tired from the past week's fun and having awoken pretty early this day, so I camped out in the ornate mall for a while.

Japanese Tea Garden
Once I met up with Colby, We headed to Golden Gate Park to visit this Japanese Tea Garden.

Japanese Tea Garden
Visitors tried to toss coins into a Japanese equivalent of a wishing well.

Japanese Tea Garden
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Japanese Tea Garden
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Japanese Tea Garden
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Japanese Tea Garden
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Japanese Tea Garden
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Japanese Tea Garden
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Japanese Tea Garden
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Japanese Tea Garden
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Japanese Tea Garden
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Japanese Tea Garden
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Japanese Tea Garden
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Japanese Tea Garden
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Japanese Tea Garden
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Japanese Tea Garden
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San Francisco Botanical Garden
Colby (the friend who had met up with me and drove me to Golden Gate Park) was originally going to be the one to take me to the airport, and I'd have had to kill many hours there since he had other obligations that evening. Fortunately, yet another friend, Tammy, and her husband, Jeff, came down from Santa Rosa (quite a drive) to visit since she and I hadn't seen each other for many years. They accompanied me through the botanical garden, and then I treated them to dinner as a thank you for making it possible for me to not have to sit in the airport for 5-6 hours before a redeye flight home.