San Francisco is a tilt-shifter’s dream come true. There are so many hills and vantage points that look down on various scenes that the opportunities are nearly endless. This is especially true if you’ve got a zoom lens and can get even closer to the subjects below.

I’ve been trying to work my way through the thousand or so images I took while in California. The first batch I tried processing were the ones I took from Coit Tower, with the expressed intent of doing a fake tilt-shift on them. The slide show below contains the images I processed with this technique…

[tags]photography, travel, tilt-shift, San Francisco, California[/tags]

Originally, we had planned to spend this day in the Napa Valley area, However, Laura and I were both tired of long days of exploring and we had already driven through similar countryside. So we decided to stay in the San Jose Area.  Since our flight left so early Saturday morning we wanted to spend some time getting our things ready to do.  Also, there was to be a family gathering in the evening, so we wanted to leave plenty of time for that.  Our hotel was only a mile from the Winchester Mystery House, so we decided that would be one of our activities for the day. Even though we weren’t going to Napa, there were some local wineries so we could still do a tasting.

The Winchester Mystery House was built by Sarah Pardee Winchester, heiress to the Winchester Firearms fortune.  According to legend, a medium in Boston had warned her that the spirits of all those killed by Winchester weapons were unhappy, and that she must build a house to contain them.  Furthermore, she would only live as long as construction continued.  (If true, I think the medium must have been taking kickbacks from the construction companies.)  Regardless, Sarah purchased an eight-room farm house outside of San Jose and began her construction project.

True to the medium’s instruction, construction on the house continued unabated around the clock, seven days a week until the day of Sarah Winchester’s death.  As the house grew, it subsumed the surrounding buildings until it covered nearly four acres, with 120 rooms.  There are staircases that lead to nowhere, and doors that open onto walls or into mid-air.  Myth says that these oddities were built to confuse and trap the unsettled spirits.  However, the reality was that Winchester was not an architect, and some of her construction decisions led to mistakes.  Rather than fix it, she just added another room around it.

When we arrived for our tour, I was having second thoughts.  The gift shop was a bit tacky, and reminded me of an attraction that would be equally at home at Pigeon Forge or Myrtle Beach.  Fortunately, it was not crowded, and our tour guide was great. She was a retired school teacher, and dwelt more on the historical aspects of the house, rather than any spiritual mumbo-jumbo.

The spiritial aspects could not be ignored, though.  Spiderwebs and the number 13 were recurring themes.  One chandelier originally had twelve lights, so Mrs. Winchester added a thirteenth in the middle.  At the very center of the house was her seance room.  It was unique in that it had three exits, but only one entrance which remained locked.  If you left by way of another door, you would find no door knob to return to the room.

Despite its excentricities, the house was stunningly beautiful. The Victorian details and stained glass were lovely, and several rooms seemed bathed in light.  Mrs. Winchester may not have been an architect, but she had a good sense of space.  Also, some of the ideas she incorporated into the house were quite innovative, such as unique drainage systems and plumbing.

Only a few of the rooms were furnished with period pieces.  All of the original furniture is long gone, having been sold after Mrs. Winchester’s death.  Much of the house is either unfinished, or was not repaired after years of neglect.  According to our guide, visitors still try to make off with ornate door knobs and fixtures.  The place may be commercialized, but at least they are attempting to preserve this unusual residence.

After touring the Winchester House and gardens,we went across the street to a large mall.  This shopping area seems to be a fairly recent addition, and features condos and shops around a central location, more like a little town center.  We had lunch at a rather frou-frou place with pretentious food and equally pretentious patrons.  It was time for a change of scenery.

Our target for the afternoon was the Cooper-Gorrod Winery, located in the foothills above Saratoga.  It was only about 30 minutes from downtown San Jose, so it was well within range.   The road to the winery wound past a lake and recreation, then past a variety of houses.  There were some modest places – the original houses built before the land boom.  Then there were the huge places built by dot-com millionaires who work in Silicon Valley below.

We found the winery without trouble, and pulled up to their tasting house. We found out that this was the weekend for a big winery festival, so they were making preparations for the events.  The tasting room wasn’t crowded, so we headed on in.

Our tasting included three complimentary sets – a chardonnay, a couple of cabernets.  These were OK.  We decided to split the additional five flights.  The first was a rich cabernet sauvignon that was fantastic.  We tried the remaining wines, but this remained our favorite.  Of course, we bought a bottle.

We returned from the winery and started packing up our things for the early flight back.  We had a bit of time to relax, then we headed over to Laura’s cousins’ house – Dave and Fran.  Laura’s other cousins, Linda and Bill, joined us, along with two of their sons and grandsons.  It was a nice family reunion, and we enjoyed seeing them again and sharing a meal.  Unfortunately, with such an early departure, we had to cut our visit shorter than we would have liked.

How does one see a city as diverse as San Francisco in only one day? You can’t. We did try our best, though. Today we were headed into the city proper, so Laura pulled out the guide books and picked the top three things she wanted to see/do in the city today. We managed to hit all of those, and then some.

The weather was nearly perfect – clear and in the 70′s. We lingered at the hotel so that the morning rush hour traffic cleared, then headed north once again. We stopped at one of the scenic overlooks on I-280, but only paused a bit. The view was of over-priced houses clinging to hillsides, so we didn’t hang out long.

Our first stop was the San Francisco Mission. Having grown up in California, Laura loves visiting the old Spanish missions that dot the state. Since we were disappointed at San Juan Bautista yesterday, we decided that this would be our first stop this morning. We drove straight to it and found free parking on the street without too much searching. We took that as a good sign.

The mission sits right next to a much larger basilica. Most visitors look at the larger, more ornate church and confuse that with the mission, bit it is the smaller adobe structure. The mission was built in the late 1700′s, and is the heart of the city. Built to honor Saint Francis of Assisi, the mission is the source of the city’s name.

The interior of the mission is very ornate. There are carved altar pieces, and the ceiling has a geometric pattern reminiscent of the original native tribes.

From the mission sanctuary we entered the basilica. The original mission survive the 1906 earthquake, but the basilica did not. It was rebuilt in 1918. The interior was just as ornate as the exterior. The lights were dimmed, so sunshine poured through the stained glass windows. The glass was rich in red tones, and bathed the church in a warm light. Catholicism is a visual religion, and this church reflected that in just about every square inch with pictures and carvings of saints and other biblical scenes.

From the basilica we entered the historic cemetery. The headstones attest to the fact that California was originally a Spanish settlement. Many of the older stones are in that language. The cemetery is small, but is a peaceful place, with flowers and statuary. It was a nice place to linger for a bit.

From the mission we ventured further downtown, and got lots experience negotiating the hilly streets of the city. Once again my mind flashed back to movies of San Francisco, especially of car chase scenes over these impossible streets.

Our guide books suggested avoiding the Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39, so that’s where we headed. We figured that a tourist trap area would be the best place to find a tour, which is what we wanted, then we could venture to other parts of the city. Of course, with a place that popular, parking was neither simple nor free, but we managed.

After getting our bearings on the waterfront, we got a bite of lunch on the main tourist drag. Laura and I shared to small pizzas – one with a dungeoness crab topping that we want to try to recreate back home. The rest of the street is lined with T-shirt shops, “artists” offering caricatures, and all manner of opportunists that tend to collect where there are large numbers of people.

The mission visit was item number one on Laura’s list. Item number two was a Duck Tour. These tours use WWII vintage amphibious craft, or “ducks”, so that they can cruise both the city streets and the waterfront. Most major cities that border a river or other large body of water now have these types of tours. I had taken one of these in Philadelphia and thoroughly enjoyed it, even as silly as it might sound.

At 2:00 we boarded our duck, along with a large group of eighth graders from a local school on a field trip. We were all issued quackers, which the students tried out with a vengeance. Laura was beginning to have second thoughts. Once underway, however, the kids settled down, and things got better.

The tour took us through the Italian and Chinese sections of the city, then through downtown proper. Our guide was quite well-versed, albeit a bit culturally insensitive. Near AT&T Field, home of the Giants, we entered the bay. Our tour took us along the waterfront for just a bit. However, sine we could only cruise at about 5 MPH, the water portion of the tour was just a token to prove that the craft was, in fact, amphibious.

Safely back on dry land, Laura decided she wanted to visit Ghiradelli Square, home of the famous chocolate. Most of the square seemed to be under construction, and the only thing related to chocolate seemed to be the two small Ghiradelli shops on either end of the square. We got a couple of samples just so we could say we had some chocolate.

In the square was a large wine cellar that was having a tasting. We decided that would be a good diversion. Laura and I decided to split one flight of five samples, ranging from a light chardonnay to a heavier shiraz. I must admit that I don’t have a well-developed palate, so I can’t sense the “overtones of plum” or other things people say they taste and smell. I just know what tastes and smells good to me. Despite my inexperience, I enjoyed the tasting, and we found two types that we noted for future reference.

The third and final item on Laura’s list was a visit to Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill. To get there, we boarded one of the historic street cars. Here was another lesson to be learned. San Francisco has some beautifully crafted street cars and trolleys. Some are made in Italy, some in Germany, and some in the US. These run on the more level streets of the city and are enclosed. In addition to their appeal to tourists, they serve as transport for regular commuters.

The cable cars, on the other hand, are open air cars designed to climb the steep hills of the city. A cable assists the car by pulling it up the route. These only run in straight lines up and down the hills. There are only two routes left, and these are incredibly crowded, with long lines waiting for a ride.

As we road the street car (not the cable) we overheard several talking about this, thinking that they were, in fact, on a cable car. Oh well.

The street car that we took headed in the wrong direction, although we didn’t know it at the time. We could see Coit Tower, but I kept thinking that we were facing a might long hike whichever way we went. We decided to get off the trolley and try to find a better route.

Laura and I walked along several of the streets, but they all seemed to turn away from Telegraph Hill. Finally, I found a set of stairs heading upwards that appeared to be public. I figured they would only get us closer. The stairs were steep, and there were lots and lots of them. They wound through beautiful gardens between expensive homes on the hillside. Laura wasn’t sure we would make it, but wanted to keep going. Finally, we reached the top of the hill and could see that the tower was close.

At the tower, we paid the entrance fee and took the elevator seven floors up to the observation platform. The views of the city were simply stunning. The wind whipped around at that height, and I was glad for plexiglass shields.

We were exhausted from the climb up, and really wanted an alternate route down. We just missed a city bus, and decided that we would climb back down the same set of stairs. With gravity with us, it had to be easier.

Finally down, we walked past Levi’s Plaza and their corporate headquarters to the Embarcadero. We caught a return street car back to the Fisherman’s Wharf area.

Dinner was at one of the Italian seafood places that line the waterway.  It was a relaxing end to a very active day.  We bailed our car out of parking, then headed on back for the evening.

It always surprises me how our perception of place is colored by movies.  San Francisco is such an iconic city that it’s easily recognizable when on the big screen.  However, sometimes the reality is altered a bit.  The Monterrey Bay Aquarium figured prominently as “The Cetacean Institute” in Star Trek IV.  However, their outdoor tide pool was digitally enhanced to become a huge whale enclosure.

Movie:

Reality:

Alfred Hitchcock set two of his most famous movies in the area.  As mentioned before, The Birds was set in Bodega Bay, north of the city.  We had planned to visit, but the guide books said that apart from the shoreline, it was unrecognizable as movie setting.  The main reason we didn’t continue was because we were tired, and there wasn’t much likelihood of finding dinner there.

The other Hitchcock movie is Vertigo, starring Jimmy Stewart.  Many of the San Francisco locations are relatively unchanged, and can be recognized n the movie.  Muir Woods, the Golden Gate area, and even several of the streets remain basically the same.  However, the most prominent landmark, San Juan Bautista, is quite different. In the movie there is a tall bell tower that serves as an important plot point.  Turns out it’s completely fictional.  On our visit yesterday, I actually looked for it.  The actual bell tower wouldn’t quite work for what the movie needed.

No trip to this area would be complete without a trip to the Monterrey Peninsula and a visit to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium.  We got an early start this morning and drove straight on down.

Traffic was not too bad.  The route took us over hills, through ancient eucalyptus groves, past farms, and finally past the blowing dunes north of Monterrey along the coast.

The aquarium itself was not crowded.  Visiting mid-week paid off.  We wandered through the exhibits, lingering at the huge tanks.  There is something relaxing about just watching fish swim.

One of my favorite displays are the tanks with jellyfish.  These are illuminated in such a way that they seem to glow.

Lunch was at the aquarium restaurant.  We had fish and chips at a table with a spectacular view across the bay.  The tide came in, and sea lions and otters swam outside the window, as gulls and cormorants dived for fish.

We watched as the otters were fed, then headed outside for more views of the bay itself.

This is probably the best aquarium we have ever visited.  I’ve not spent much time at the one in Atlanta, but this one certainly is better than the aquarium in Charleston.

We headed back to the car, dropped the top, and decided to explore the coast a bit.  We found a lovely little park in the town of Pacific Grove with a garden lined with blooming ice plant.  We walked along the rocks, watching the birds.

From Pacific Grove we decided to explore Fisherman’s Wharf.  Both the Wharf and Cannery Row near the aquarium have become tourist havens, with little junk gift shops and restaurants.  The Wharf did offer views of sea lions, who take up residence on just about any flat surface.

We decided that it was time to head back.  However, we had one more stop to make.  The Mission of San Juan Bautista was on the route home, so we stopped by there.  Unfortunately, the mission had just closed for the day, so we were only able to take some shots from the outside.

The little town is quaint, with many historic buildings.  We walked along the single main street, peaking into the art galleries that were still open.  One had some original paintings that really caught our eye.  I think we might have made an art investment if we could have figured out how to get it home.

We made our way back to the hotel, rested a bit, then went for a quick dinner.  From there we headed over to visit Laura’s cousin, Linda.  We spent the rest of the evening catching up.  It turns out that we got our artwork anyway.  Linda gave us a beautiful framed watercolor that she had painted.  I guess we’ll need to find a way to ship art anyway.