San Francisco to Old Sacramento

Travel Day

• Explore San Francisco via various roads
• San Francisco, CA to Sacramento, CA via I-80

I started my day with another bit of exploration around San Francisco. First stop, Ghirardelli Square, home of world famous Ghirardelli chocolate. This is where I stopped for ice cream with Burhan yesterday.

While taking the picture of the square, I noticed this boat. It's been down there in the harbour for as long as I remember. I wonder what it is?

These are the "Painted Ladies", a group of beautifully painted Victorian homes beside Alamo Square. Many people refer to them as the Full House houses because they were featured in the opening establishing shots of the TV show. However not one of these is the actual Full House house.

This is the actual exterior shot of the Full House house at 1709 Broderick Street. Even this is only an exterior establishing shot for the show. The actual show was filmed in Hollywood.

I've been here before. I think I can remember it. I know it wasn't in the '60's. It might have been the '70's, or perhaps even the '80's. It's all a bit of a blur. My memory fails me. Does anyone have some chips?

The neighbourhood still looks pretty cool though. Funky!

This is the cathedral on the top of Nob Hill. It is the Grace Cathedral, an Episcopal cathedral.

This is the California Masonic headquarters. In spite of its neo-classsical look, it was built in 1958. It, too, is on the top of Nob Hill.

Also on the top of Nob Hill are four of the ritziest hotels in San Francisco. This one is the Fairmont, the original Fairmont.

I'm sorry. It parked in front of me. I had to stop, and since I was there...

As you go down the other side of Nob Hill, China town is at the bottom. It's actually a fairly big neighbourhood.

I went from Chinatown across the Bay Bridge. This time, for the first time ever, I took the turn onto Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island. This is a shot of San Francisco from Treasure Island.

Treasure Island is actually a man-made island. The original island was Yerba Buena. Treasure Island was seized by the US Navy in WWII. Then they closed the base in 1997. Most of the military buildings are abandoned now, like these Bachelor Enlisted Quarters.

Looking from Treasure Island at the new, east section of the Bay Bridge. That's Oakland off in the distance.

Even though the buildings are mostly abandoned, there are still remnants of the Navy past lying around.

Even the Officers Quarters, and the Base Commander's Quarters are empty. It;s kind of a military ghost town.

Even with the abandonment, a number of the buildings have been reclaimed and re-purposed. Here one of the hangers has been turned into a winery.

I left San Francisco and drove the 2 hours up to Sacramento, the state capital. Here is the Capitol Building.

I am not sure if this is the Supreme Court of just Legislative Offices. All three, the Capitol, the Court, and the Offices, are clustered around a roundabout.

Old Sacramento. Very old. Very cool. Lots of fun. I come here every chance I can get.

The sidewalks are really old west. This is not fake. This is how it was when the town was selected as the end point for the Pony Express.

I went up to one of my favourite Tex-Mex restaurants and had a Margarita with dinner.

I finally made it back to the Delta King. This is the lobby.

And this is the night view from my stateroom. That red thing is the paddle wheel of the boat. That's the bridge over the Sacramento River in the background.