The Unexpectedly Perfect Day

Today I headed downtown about noon and planned to walk and see where the day took me. I ended up matching my 20 mile walk in Boston with another 20 miler, only with lots more hills thrown in.



I started out at the Public Market and Ferry Terminal



Headed up Telegraph Hill



To Coit Tower



Got some good views towards the main part of downtown San Fran



Saw San Francisco's steepest street (Filbert) with over 30 percent grade. Note that the sidewalk is stairs.



The famous curvy brick section of Lombard Street



I headed over past the Palace of Fine Arts Theater into the Presidio of San Francisco, with my eventual goal being to end up at the Palace of the Legion of Honor (art museum).



But I unexpectedly stumbled out of the Presidio into a beautiful day with no fog and a clear view out at the ocean.



And an even clearer view of the Golden Gate Bridge.



I hopped on a trail that turned out to be the Batteries to Bluffs trail. It drops down to several different beaches, some rockier than others.



I saw some of the abandoned military batteries.



And crossed Baker Beach on my way towards Lincoln Park.



To get to Lincoln Park, I took Sea Bluff Drive and El Camino Del Mar, which features some of the nicest real estate in the city, mixed with some absurdly large mansions. While I'd pass on the houses that were just too big and without a view, many of the houses on the bluffs were amazing with 3-4 stories of picture windows looking directly out towards the bay and ocean.



I got to the area near the Legion of Honor about 5:00, which wasn't the best timing considering it closed at 5:15. That's alright though, because all the cool stuff I stumbled upon was an unexpected surprise. I hopped on the coastal trail through Lincoln Park next.



And as you can tell, I walked a good distance away from the bridge.



All the way to the beach on the Pacific Ocean. There were nice 6-8 foot waves that surfers were making sure to take full advantage of.



I thought this turned out rather well, given the fact that I was taking a picture directly at the sun. The sailboat is a little small. It makes me wish I had an SLR and some lenses. Much of the day's walk made me want a better camera, actually.



I turned back to the East and headed through park of Golden Gate Park. I'm not sure why there is a windmill in a tulip garden, but there is.



Homer Simpson makes an appearance on Balboa Street.



Drunken Sushi anyone?



Nearly 7 hours and 20 miles later, I got a chance to rest my legs while watching Joey's softball team in their final game of the season. Joey had a big night at the plate with 3 homers and 10 RBIs.



He also pitched the game. They won the game courtesy of the mercy rule when they were up by 15 runs (21-6).



We grabbed a drink and parted ways until we meet again. Now I'm back at the hotel getting reorganized to move to San Jose tomorrow (assuming the truck is ready in the morning, that is).