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Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge is acclaimed as one of the world's most beautiful bridges and with its tremendous towers, sweeping main cables and great span, it is a sensory beauty featuring color, sound, and light. The Bridge can be a very busy place, particularly during the summer months. It is estimated that about nine million people from around the world visit the Bridge each year (1989 survey by San Francisco Convention and Visitor Bureau).

Visiting the world famous Golden Gate Bridge is a unique experience for everyone. Whether you drive, walk, bike, shop, or just want to look, there is something for everyone. 

The climate is temperate marine and generally mild year-round. Daytime temperatures range from 40 degrees in the winter to 75 degrees in the summer. Morning and evening fog rolls in during the summer and winter months, and can burn off by midday . The best months to visit can often be May/June and September/October.

Adapted from http://goldengatebridge.org/ on March 28, 2008

Ways to be a Smart San Francisco Tourist

1. Know the Weather: Many a San Francisco tourist doesn't realize how cold it can get here in summer, and dozens of sweatshirt shops thrive on their ignorance. Our guide to weather and what to expect can help you bring the right stuff.
2. Don't Rent a Car: San Francisco is small, and all the tourist sights are close together. Some hotels charge more than the price of a nice lunch just for parking, and snagging a spot on the street is impossible. Pick a hotel in a convenient area (Union Square or Fisherman's Wharf), use public transportation or taxis, and rent a car for just one day if you want to take a side trip.
3. Make Reservations for Alcatraz: Alcatraz tours fill up fast. Reserve ahead online, or go to the ticket office your first day to avoid disappointment.
4. Get on the Cable Car Faster: Don't stand in the interminable line below Ghirardelli Square. Instead, head over to Mason and Bay Streets, where lines are much shorter. You'll end up at Union Square on either line. If you just want to ride for the fun of it, also avoid the lines at Powell and Market Streets and get on the California line where California Street intersects Market near the Ferry Building.
5. Get Behind the Facade: Don't just stand there looking at the boats in Fisherman’s Wharf. Walk toward the water anywhere you can find an opening and see what the wharf is really like. In Chinatown, resist the urge to shuffle down Grant Street and branch off onto the side streets and into the alleys. See if you can find the fortune cookie factory or the Tien Hou Temple.
6. Walk on the Golden GateBridge: Stopping at the parking lot overlook and not walking on the bridge is like looking at an ice cream sundae and not eating it. To get the true feel of this iconic landmark, stroll the sidewalk, even if you only go out a little way.

Adapted from http://gocalifornia.about.com/ on March 28, 2008

 Fishermans Wharf

Eighty-seven percent of San Francisco 's visitors include Fisherman's Wharf on their itinerary. With good reason. Waterfront marketplaces include The Anchorage, The Cannery, Ghirardelli Square and PIER 39. The Wharf's working hub, "Fish Alley," sells thousands of tons of sole, shrimp, salmon, sea bass, squid and other deep sea delicacies annually. During the crab season (mid-November through June) devotees line up for the best of the catch. For an impromptu picnic, order some cracked crab and pick up a loaf of sourdough French bread from a nearby bakery.

Adapted from http://www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com

Palace of Fine Arts

The Panama Pacific Exposition of 1915 was an event dedicated to progress, the celebration of the completion of the Panama Canal , and the rebirth of San Francisco following the disastrous 1906 earthquake. Funds came from six million dollars in donations, five million in state bonds and five million in San Francisco taxes.

A nationwide architectural commission conceived of the Exposition as an architectural unit, and Berkeley architect Bernard Maybeck was assigned the task of designing the Palace of Fine Arts .The Palace was the last of the major buildings of the Exposition to be started; construction began December 8, 1913 . The original columns and Rotunda were framed in wood, and covered with "staff", a mixture of plaster and burlap-type fiber. It was the largest building ever to be made of that material. For purposes of an exposition, in which buildings were supposed to last a year and then collapse readily, staff was ideal; but durability was one quality it lacked.

William Merchant, who was from Maybeck's office, designed many of the Palace's decorative elements. He also spent the last ten years of his life until 1962 planning the Palace's restoration.

A move to preserve the Palace was begun in October, 1915 with a Fine Arts Preservation Day. 33,000 supportive signatures were gathered, and $350,000 was raised towards the duplication of the Palace in lasting materials.

When the ashes of the Exposition were cleared, all that was left was the Palace of Fine Arts . It was maintained first by the San Francisco Art Association who attempted to raise additional funds for the preservation. After the First World War, the Palace became part of the city park system. Federal funds were used to repair and replace some of the Palace's decorations, and in 1934, the Recreation and Park Department installed eighteen lighted tennis courts that operated until 1942. During the Second World War, the Palace was used by the Army as a motor pool. In 1947, the Army returned the building to the city.

The Palace slowly crumbled from the ravages of the weather and ill-use. Finally, the structure had to be fenced off as it was a public hazard.

Then, in the late 1950's, a group of dedicated citizens, led by philanthropist Walter S. Johnson, initiated a drive to rescue the Palace from planned demolition and restore it to its former glory. On July 20, 1964 , a contract was awarded and the reconstruction began. Workers carefully removed original design elements from which molds were made. The rotunda, colonnade and all except the steel framework of the gallery were torn down and replaced with concrete castings. In September, 1967, work was completed of a stripped-down version of Maybeck's original. The addition of the remaining original colonnades was completed in January, 1975 - a gift from Walter S. Johnson to the city and the people of San Francisco .

The gallery area now houses the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre and the Exploratorium. The theatre, which seats 1,000 in a continental-style configuration, was added in 1970. The Palace of Fine Arts Theatre is operated by the Palace of Fine Arts League , Inc., a non-profit corporation.

The Exploratorium is a non-profit corporation, which operates a science museum based on a core of material that involves visual, auditory and tactile perception. The exhibits provide demonstrations and explorations on optics, acoustics, motion, electricity, waves and resonance, atomic spectra, mathematics and several other related phenomena. It is a museum about aspects of nature that are not generally available to people. The exhibits reflect insights about nature through the eyes of both scientists and artists.  

Adapted from http://www.palaceoffinearts.org/ on March 28, 2008