Movin' On Up

No doubt many of you have forgotten that I am on my way to California in three weeks. In fact, three weeks from right now, I will be on the ground, camera in hand, thinking "How can these people afford to live out here?". Watch and see. Anyhow, these pictures are from my trip out four years ago, and they all feature me looking up at something in San Francisco. I'm from Florida, where everything is flat. And I'm from the sticks, where all the buildings are small. So one thing that caught my eye in SF was tall buildings and things on hills. The first shot above is the statue of Christopher Columbus in front of Coit Tower. Beautiful view, but I remember having to climb 10,000 steps just to get to the top of the hill where they built the tower. Thankfully you got to take an elevator once you got in the tower.

Look, it's a big green building! I didn't know the history of this building at the time, I just thought it looked neat. Turns out to be the home of "the hungry i", a nightclub in the 60's that was home to many, many folks artists and comedians in the bay area. I've got quite a few albums that were recorded here, including several by The Kingston Trio who once owned the building. I think Francis Ford Coppola owns it now. (Not Scorsese as I originally posted. I'm an idiot...)

If you visit SF for very long, a trip to Alcatraz is obligatory. I don't know if I'll need to go again on this trip though. I don't think it changes very much out there. This is the water tower on the edge of the exercise yard.

Last but not least, this is the Transamerica Pyramid, an internationally recognized symbol of San Francisco. It's most impressive from the base. I don't think you can get inside it, though. I'll have to give it a try again, but I'm not going to hold my breath.