San Francisco Part 2 Coit Tower and Views

Reaching the top!

The Coit Tower was built with a bequest from Lillie Hitchcock Coit to honor the city she loved.  The views from the top of  Telegraph Hill vary from Lombard Street, Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and Treasure Island.  Visitors can take the tour and elevator to the top, or enjoy the famous murals and surroundings for no cost.  The murals were painted in 1934 and part of the Public Works of Art Project.  25 artists worked on the various murals showing life in the area.  

Local Lore

Views from the very small parking lot…  

Curves are well known

This picture alone made carrying my tripod up 378 steps and back down 397 worth it!  

Typical summer Bay Are weather…everywhere but in SF was sunny and beautiful.  Could not get a clear view of the Golden Gate Bridge.  

Fogged in Golden Gate Bridge

Towards the East Bay and Oakland side.  Treasure Island and the Bay Bridge.  

Treasure Island and Bay Bridge

Another view on the way back down…a Princess Cruise ship that will be sailing to Alaska, looks parked at the bottom of this hill!  

Is there a meter?

Steps and LOTS of them!  

One small flight

There were more gardens on the way down the Greenwich Steps.  These steps were steeper and much better to go down than up, that is for certain!  

Single Rose

Burnt orange color

Another view from steps of the Bay Bridge  

Sunny in the East Bay!

I could have taken much longer and really appreciated the views from the entire bay area–stunning and such a wonderful vantage point!  But–in a group, so off we went to the Fisherman’s Wharf.  Few views on the way there!  

Working Along

Another reason to lug along my tripod–end of the wharf a view of Alcatraz  

Closer View of Alcatraz

We caught the ferry back to Vallejo and once again, I was out in the blustery winds–hand holding my camera and snapping away!  

Bay Bridge leaving San Francisco

As luck would have it…the sun was trying to come out as we returned…  

Golden Gate Bridge--almost all of it!

Imagine this is a tour in the helicopter!  

Helicopter right hand top!

This really was a delightful trip and I learned even more about my skills.  

My favorite image of the day was the rose pictured above.  It was not taken with my beloved D300s, but my D40x.  I had both cameras out both up and down the stairs and changed lens at the top.  70-300mm and 18-50mm.  I really thought I would be blown away by my 300s–nope.  I was hand holding it in Aperture and Program.  I am now using Shutter to hand hold at a faster speed and am much happier with the results!  Do think where the 300s lived up to its ability was with Lombard Street–where I used a tripod.  The good news about learning curves–is that you do learn.  I AM trainable!  Off to SF this weekend with a new tripod and more knowledge.  We will be staying in Sausalito which is across from SF–with a view of the Golden Gate bridge and The City.  Will be visiting Alcatraz Island and other points.  Yes, there will be another SF blog!  Hopefully, we will all be able to see what I learned and more views from The City!