This Sunday, COYO or Solon Philharmonic...oh wait.

I'm wrapping up Day 2 in San Francisco... got hit with some other work items that required attention so no leisure time today. I skipped the Opera; with work, a 3-hour run time, and an 8pm start it just didn't seem like something I was in the right mood to enjoy.

But being prospective and looking forward to Cleveland and this weekend...you already know what I'm doing Friday night, but Saturday and Sunday are free of plans. One of the problems with a city that has so much to offer is sometimes tough decisions must be made.

The other day I realized Sunday the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra is going to be performing a program that includes Copland's Appalachian Suite Sunday at 3pm. I am interested.

Then going through my NEOhioPAL mail, I found an announcement that The Solon Philharmonic, a group I had not heard of, would be performing Copland's A Lincoln Portrait [no direct relation] and Old American Songs Sunday at 3pm. I am interested.

Then looking at my Performing Arts calendar, I realized that I already have a ticket for Heights Arts' To The Extreme and Back, a program that sounds interesting on its own but more so coupled with the fact that it takes place in a private residence, at 4pm Sunday. So I guess that settles that.

(Other events I know are happening Sunday include Tri-C's Eurydice, two CIM Concerts, Wicked at Playhouse Square, and Browns Rules at Cleveland Public Theater... and this is a relatively light weekend)

Lincoln

California Tour, Day 1: Veni, vidi, vici

This week I'm doing a "whirlwind" California tour -- I flew into San Francisco yesterday afternoon and will be here until Wednesday when I fly to San Diego; Thursday I see a musical (my favorite musical) in Orange County and then at 12:30 AM Friday morning I fly via Houston to be back in Cleveland for the Orchestra's next Fridays @ 7 concert.

I had no plans for today when I got here... and still had no plans when I left the room this morning. Last visit I hit all of the museums I knew about and was interested in so... I wound up finishing my longest walk/run to date -- 16.75, give or take, continuous miles on foot down the Embarcadero, through Fisherman's Wharf (with a brief pause at In-N-Out Burger for lunch), way, way, down Lombard, and that's where it got interesting, especially since that's the last place I actually looked at a map. At some point I decided I was going to cross the Golden Gate while I was here.

First, I found myself at the Palace of Fine Arts which is a beautiful structure and stunning grounds... I'm unclear, though if the Palace includes just the dome or the dome + the hall that is now home to the Exploratorium; if the latter is true the name is much less confusing. In any event, it's amazing what fantastic condition the place is in given the complete lack of walls.

From there the pedestrian path to the Golden Gate was decidedly unclear and I wound up crossing over and making my way through the Presidio, a decommissioned military installation (1776-1994), now a mixed use facility; at some point during my walk through the beautiful grounds, I got turned slightly sideways -- this part of San Francisco is not the most pedestrian friendly with no wayfinding and sidewalks that occasionally abruptly disappear, but it was a relatively scenic hike through the woods with a very peaceful cemetery along the way.

Once back in the general direction of the bridge, I stumbled across an overlook that provided some unworldly views of the Bridge and the ocean before continuing on to my goal: The Golden Gate Bridge. I've driven across, and been driven across this bridge before. I've also walked on to the bridge... but never completely across. Narrowly missing death-by-tourist-cyclist on a few occasions I made it north, then back south.

I, thankfully, did not retrace my steps on the way back; instead, after getting off the bridge I immediately wound up on Lincoln Blvd, switch backed my way down to the coast and followed the coast to Fort Mason; through a park, and back to Van Ness. From Van Ness I took North Point and Beach to the Cable Car turn around. I rode the cable car all the way downtown, not so much because that's where I wanted to go but because I wanted to sit for a little while. Once downtown I walked back to the hotel (about 1 mile, for a total of about 17.75 miles) and took my shoes off.

My hotel is across the street from the Transamerica Pyramid. From the North side of the bridge, you can see the Transamerica Pyramid but it seems like it's one heck of a long way away.

I'm seriously considering, time permitting, checking out the San Francisco Opera tomorrow evening... we'll see.

Lincoln

San Francisco: Day 5 (and final)

So my last "real" day in San Francisco was a 100% vacation day.

Started the morning with a walk to Coit Tower, then down (and way, way up) Lombard Street -- that "really curvy zig-zagy street"... from Lombard I made my way to Fisherman's Wharf where I took my time to people, boat, and seagull watch.

Stopped at In-N-Out for "lunch" although at a brunchish hour. Although they don't officially open until 10:30 (for some reason I remembered 10) they were kind enough to take my order at 10:13. After In-N-Out, I hoped on the cable car -- very touristy, but also a very effective form of transportation and made my way to Union Square... where I walked through the old Emporium building.

Last time I was in SF the building was boarded up and looking very derelict... sad considering it's history. It was interesting to walk through those doors and see the (heavily remodeled, I must assume) interior... The dome, most visible from the upper level is simply majestic.

After deciding against making any purchases I walked down Market, though the Yerba Buena gardens to SFMoMA -- the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. I was impressed by the collection, but the galleries-to-price tag ratio kind of put me off. Two special exhibitions for the price of one -- "Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Natrual Affinities" and "Richard Avedon: Photographs 1946-2004". I've discovered that I have a fondness for Adams' photographs, especially of Yosemite, and I don't particularly care for much of Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings. My feelings on Rhchard Avedon are decidedly mixed. Ascherman and Friedlander, I think, are still my favorite photographers.

One of the sad realities, though, of modern art -- modern graphic art -- is that a piece is no longer necessarily unique. I saw at least two pieces at SFMoMA that I am almost certain art concurrently on exhibit at CMA, though perhaps at different sizes. CMA does a better job of explaining both. It was interesting, though, to see a stack of Donald Judd's boxes, virtually identical to those the CMA has presented: In the CMA piece, the boxes are metal-framed with Plexiglas tops and bottoms. The version in SFMoMA's collection appears to be entirely metal, yet the description indicates that Plexiglas is used.

Piet Mondrain's Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue (1927) has been a recent favorite of mine at CMA for it's simple but definate nature. I enjoyed seeing an almost completely different, larger, Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue (1935-42) as well as the beginnings of a piece that was unfinished at the time of his death.

After SFMoMA I walked to the Civic Center, paused at UN Plaza, and continued to the Asian Art museum. Lured there largely by the promise of architectural tours of what was formerly the main library building, I was disappointed when I found that not only are they "now" a weekend only thing, the person I asked didn't even think that they were an every weekend thing. Bummer. As for the collection, it is impressive but I wasn't particularly moved by it -- like the African Art I mentioned in my last post, it is largely -- to the edge of being called "almost exclusively" -- earthenware, and sculptural (with a large number of those sculptures being various deities). While they deserve respect and analysis and are certainly of historical value, I have an exceptionally difficult time getting myself excited about that media. Something about the various Jade objects on display, as well as the early Bronze age vessels did catch my eye... There's something about Jade.

Following that, I found myself at City Hall. A beautiful building inside and out, I was primarily interested in revisiting the physical presence of the Museum of the City of San Francisco, which formerly had a relatively modest display in the South Light Court. It seems that that has moved on; all that is left in the space is a small scattering of artifacts relating to City Hall itself. The good news is twofold: First, according to the Wikipedia article, in 2012, the Museum will have a permanent home in the Old US Mint building; Second, I discovered a photographic installation on the lower level of City Hall (10 x 10 x 10) that had some really captivating photographs -- and no admission charge.

Walking back to Union Square, I hopped back on the cable car, and rode to Mason and Jackson where I hopped off to visit the Cable Car Museum... it was, for better or worse, exactly as I remembered it. After contemplating how such a relatively simple concept can be so complex in reality (and how much physical mass is involved) I hopped back out, grabbed the cable car line going the opposite direction until California Street. I hopped the California Street line (I'm fairly sure I've never ridden this line before) Westbound to the end of the line... got off, got right back on and rode all the way to the Embarcadero at the other end of the line. Standing on the running board, wind in my face. It was great. Except for the Italian tourist who kept pressing himself against my back while absent mindedly videotaping. C'est la vie.

Grabbed a burger and fries at Bistro Burger for dinner... eh. It was OK; had I known how much cheese I was going to get I probably would have opted for something other than the Gorgonzola. Based on the number of people I saw trying to order milkshakes, it's probably a good bet that those would not disappoint (sadly, they were out of ice cream... next time I'm in SF...)

Walked back to the hotel, feet killing me -- except for lunch, dinner, and about 5 minutes of the cable car ride, I've been on my feet -- and mostly walking -- since 9:00 this morning.

Tomorrow I fly home. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, but likewise look forward to returning to San Francisco, preferably sooner rather than later.

Lincoln

San Francisco: Day 4

Finshed up work today... tomorrow is all play.

This afternoon I tried doing MoMA (closed Wednesdays) and wound up walking half way across San Francisco to Golden Gate Park, Haight/Asbury, and the de Young musuem.

Where I discovered "Art and Power in the Central African Savannah"; a exhibition that is organized by the Cleveland Musuem of Art -- and that I had seen in Cleveland. While it was interesting to see the same peices organized differently, I have to admit that I am still largely unmoved by African art.

Some of the other pieces in the musuem though were remarkable -- my "art favorites" are definately grounded in the 1920s-40s, and it seems like the de Young has a much larger proportion of it's collection (on display) from this time period.

Earlier in the day I stumbled across the Wells Fargo History Museum practically steps away from the hotel and spent some time exploring; 90% or more of the museum was dedicated to bank robberies -- I guess that's the colorful part, there was some content on early stage operations, which was very interesting (sidenotes: involved with the Butterfield Stage, which was routed through Temecula, and the Western Headquarters of the Pony Express was steps away from where my hotel is located) but I would have been interested to see something on the evolution of the bank branch across the past 150 years or so.

Met a friend and former coworker at Midi for dinner -- nice atmosphere, great service, steak was eh...about what I'd expect for the price. Fries were good, sorbet was likewise good.

Lincoln

San Francisco: Day 3

Another day at the jobsite was... another day at the jobsite. I could really get used to walking to work, though. Not that I fancy myself a greenie or a tree hugger or anything of the sort--quite the opposite, really--but there's something refreshing about being able to do eveything you need to do without needing car keys, gas, a taxi, or anything of the sort.

After work, I walked up California Street -- literally, up. I think parts of the street hit a 45 degree angle. At some point I decided to cut down Van Ness for no real good reason, crossed Lombard -- but not the scenic touristy part of Lombard -- and kept walking, eventually finding myself in the neighborhood of Fisherman's Wharf.

I found a cable car terminal and despite its overwhelmingly touristish nature and the fact that I've done it before I was sorely tempted to catch a ride. Until I noticed the line. Continued walking up Powell Street, to Lombard (again, not the scenic part -- but about a 45% incline) around Coit Tower and back to the hotel.

The views from Coit at sunset with the fog held out at bay were unbelievably beautiful. I grabbed a couple quick pictures with my cell phone but seeing it in person was like looking into a living painting. Definitely worth the hike up, and definitely not a sight I was expecting.

San Francisco: Day 2

Hmmmm... I could get used to this.

Woke up this morning to the beautiful sight os skyscrapers out the window. After a leisurely start to the day, I took the elevator 23 floors down...Walked out the front door of the hotel, walked to an Bank of America ATM at 555 California Sreet*, made a few deposits... then kept walking to the job site. 101 2nd St.

I love this particular client -- very easy to get along with, very responsive when I need something. Just makes my life not a pain in the rear. Day went more or less smoothly; some technical issues that I need not go into here... then I walked back to the Hotel.

From the hotel I hit Coit Tower-- which I can't beleive I've never seen before-- some amazing views from the top, equally amazing were the murals surrounding the base. The old school elevator (with operator) is also just kind of cool. There are some very steep streets in San Francisco, particularly leading up to and down from the tower.

From Coit tower I walked down some neighborhood streets that were completely devoid of street signs, eventually arriving at The Embarcadero, proceeding to Fisherman's Wharf and my mecca -- In-N-Out Burger. Honestly the fries were a little overdone, but the burger satsfies a craving that I can only satisfy in California. Now that that's out of the way I promise to try some "more local" food for the rest of the week. If you have never had In-N-Out, I can not understate the importantce of trying it at least once. (My order is a #2 Spread Only)

After In-N-Out I walked back up the Embarcadero past the ferry terminal, cut up some really quiet streets and wound up at the base of the Transamerica Pyramid... it's an impressive building from the ground, but not nearly as smooth as it looks from a distance. From there it was back to the hotel and here is where I call it a night...

Until tomorrow.

Lincoln
* - Useless bit of trivia: Until 1998, the headquarters of BofA.

Lincoln In... San Francisco?! Day 1

Yep... I got into San Francisco this evening for an extended work/vacation visit.

It's been probably close to 10 years since I spent time in San Francisco proper and I have to admit that was just before I truly discovered the wonder of travel. The strongest memories of that trip were the homeless, who have significantly decreased in both quantity and agressiveness since that visit. This time around, I am in awe -- and wondering how I can see all I want to see in the short period of time I'm here

I've only been here for a handful of hours (on a Sunday evening) and I'm truly looking forward to the week ahead. BART from SFO to Montgomery, waked from Montgomery to Kerney to the hotel-- right near the Transamerica Pyramid, the top of which is currently encassed in a light fog. I'm pretty sure I can see the building that my project is in from the hotel room... I had considered cabbing it, but it's only about a 15 minute walk so using a taxi just seems crazy.

More posts later this week... I can see the top of Coit Tower (at least I'm pretty sure I can see the top of Coit Tower), there's an In-N-Out in Fisherman's Wharf so I need go get my fix while I'm in CA.

Lincoln