Infamous name from the past

I've been going to the same post office for many years, but never noticed this plaque until recently. Richard Nixon is the only U.S. President to have ever resigned from office (so far, that is).

Linking to signs, signs.

Perkins House

Built around 1901, the James T. Perkins House is one of many historic homes near downtown that have been preserved and are now being used as offices. This one is located across the street from the Brokaw-McDougall House which I showed in a post here back in the fall. The Perkins House is currently the home of the offices of the Tallahassee Trust for Historic Preservation.

Linking to Tuesday's Treasures and Our World Tuesday.

Unhappy monkeys

I am back to posting local photos today and I found this interesting mural located not far from downtown on the outside wall of a local nightclub. I could not find the name of the artist.

Linking to Monday Mural.

Swan shower

When we stopped at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, I zoomed in on this swan, who seemed intent on taking a shower in the fountain. This happened several times while I was watching. The swan would sit under the water for a few minutes, swim away, and then circle around and come right back to the fountain.

Originally built for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915, the Palace of Fine Arts was one of a few structures that were saved from demolition after the exposition ended. However, since it was originally intended to stand just for the duration of the exposition, it was not stable. By the 1950's, it has fallen into such disrepair that it had to be completely demolished and rebuilt using permanent building materials. Today it is a tourist attraction and is also used as an event venue.


Linking to Saturday's Critters, Camera Critters, and The Bird D'Pot.

Sunset on the beach

I took these photos of my two oldest grandkids at Stinson Beach, where we stopped to watch the sun go down on our way back to San Francisco after spending the day in Sonoma.

Linking to SkyWatch Friday.

Golden Moments

I took the first two photos of the Golden Gate Bridge on a sunny morning from the Visitor's Center located on the south side of the span. The next three photos were taken on a different day. That is my oldest grandson running on the beach toward the bridge in the third shot and my granddaughter jumping in the air with the bridge behind her in the next one. In the last photo, you can see the excited face of my grandson in the mirror behind me as we were approaching the bridge. He was sitting in the back seat of our rental car with my granddaughter and the car we rented was a convertible. It was a little cold and windy that day, but we put the top down just for our ride across the bridge. The kids loved it! Today I am linking my post to Thankful Thursday, because I am so thankful that I am able to take wonderful trips like this with my grandkids.

I left my heart....

These hearts are located all over San Francisco as part of a public art display installed in 2004. This particular one was painted by Tony Bennett, a singer and artist, who is known for his famous song "I left my heart in San Francisco". It is located in Union Square downtown.

Linking to signs, signs.

Alcatraz Island

Unfortunately we waited too late to try and get tickets to visit Alcatraz Island and they were all booked up, but I was able to get some photos of it by zooming in from various locations during our visit to San Francisco. Located a little over a mile offshore in San Francisco Bay, the island is the site of the oldest operating lighthouse on the west coast of the United States. Through the years, it has been a military fortification, a military prison, and from 1934 to 1963, a notorious federal prison which was home to some of the most infamous criminals in U.S. history. It is now managed by the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and is open to tours. The first two shots were taken from Pier 39. The third one was taken through the window of a restaurant while we were eating lunch in Sausalito on other side of the Bay. That is the Bay Bridge behind it. I took the last photo from the beach near the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a very cloudy and windy morning and I was watching that dog digging a hole in the sand with Alcatraz Island in the distance behind him.

Linking to Tuesday's Treasures and Our World Tuesday.

Chinatown San Francisco

One of the other places we visited in San Francisco was Chinatown. This is the oldest and most established Chinatown in North America and the largest Chinese enclave outside of Asia. In the first photo, you can see the famous Dragon's Gate entrance. There were so many beautiful things to see in the shops and they also had a parade while we were there, as shown in my video. It was a lot of fun!

Sea Lions at Pier 39

My grandkids and I really enjoyed seeing the sea lions at Pier 39 in San Francisco. They are fun to watch, especially when they are playing, barking, or just swimming around in the water. As you can see from my photos, most of them just lay there basking in the sun and napping. I took the first two photos by zooming in on them from a walkway on the west side of the sea lion docks and the second two photos were taken on a different day from the east side of the docks. You can see the Golden Gate Bridge and part of the Bay in the distance in the third photo. The first sea lions showed up at this location after the 1989 earthquake hit San Francisco and before long they began to arrive in droves and just stayed. Protected from predators and with a good supply of food from the Bay, they have been here ever since and have become a big tourist attraction.  If you want the hear them barking, check out my short video below:

Linking to Saturday's Critters and Camera Critters.

Downtown San Francisco at dusk

I took these photos through the windows of the restaurant on the 46th floor of our hotel in San Francisco as the sun was going down. The views were fantastic!

Linking to SkyWatch Friday.

"Painted Ladies"

In American architecture, the term "painted ladies" refers to Victorian and Edwardian houses painted in three or more colors that enhance their architectural details. One of the most famous examples of "Painted Ladies" is this row of seven Victorian houses on Steiner Street in San Francisco, across from Alamo Square park. Also known as the "Seven Sisters" or "Postcard Row", all of them were built between 1892 and 1896 by a developer named Matthew Kavanaugh, who lived nearby. This block of houses may look familiar because it often appears in photographs of the city in the media and has also appeared in numerous movies and TV programs, including in the opening credits of the American television series Full House, which is one of my granddaughter's favorite shows and one of the reasons we just had to go see them while we were in San Francisco. It was cloudy the morning we visited, but at least it wasn't raining! My last photo shows a closeup of the sign in the window of the house on the end, just in case you were wondering what it says.

Haight Ashbury

Some nearby houses just off of Haight Street.


Having grown up in the 60's and gone to college in the 70's, there was no way I was leaving San Francisco without visiting the Haight Ashbury district. My daughter wasn't really interested and I think she was just humoring me by going. My grandkids didn't really care, but once we got there, we had a lot of fun. I bought tie dyed shirts for everyone and we had lunch at a cute little restaurant on Haight Street. We were there on New Year's Eve, the day before recreational marijuana was officially legal in California, but from the smell of things as we were walking down the street, there were a few people who were definitely not waiting for the new law to kick in on January 1st.

Update: I have added an additional 7 photos to this post because of a special request in the comments from Debbi!

Linking to signs, signs.