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USA - CALIFORNIA - SAN FRANCISCO : THE MAGICAL MIX OF FISHERMAN’S WHARF by Ursula & Eldrid Retief   There are magical neighborhoods around the world that are magnets for travelers, names that need no city identification – Montmartre, Waikiki, Times Square, the Casbah ........Count Fisherman’s Wharf among them. Think Fisherman’s Wharf and a mind’s eye view of San Francisco leaps at you ...... so do shrimp and crab stalls and seafood restaurants, novelty museums like Ripley's Believe It or Not! and the Wax Museum at Fisherman’s Wharf and other family attractions, street vendors and souvenir shops, street artists and art galleries, languorous sea lions and the eccentrics.
leg warmers and elevated platform shoes. The accessories are all pink ("most items are from the thrift store"). Add an absurd pair of fluffy white wings ("it gives me that smart sexy angel look") and a pink parasol and a sunny, humorous disposition and you don’t have to wonder why Kristy has been the subject of TV documentaries. Other singular residents of Fisherman’s Wharf are Pier 39’s sea lions which arrived here shortly after the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, drawn by the plentiful herring pantry that is San Francisco Bay. On Pier 39 they took over K-Dock, now officially designated a "Watchable Wildlife" viewing area. From the viewing deck you can comfortably watch the antics of the hundreds of sea lions which have made the dock space their home. San Francisco’s Number One attraction, Pier 39, is at the heart of Fisherman’s Wharf, a two-level open-air festival marketplace filled with potpourri of numerous attractions, 110 shops and restaurants like Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., a fun restaurant founded on the movie Forrest Gump and serving wonderful seafood. At Pier 39 the Blue & Gold Fleet, San Francisco’ Bay’s largest provider of ferry and water excursion services, ferries visitors to Alcatraz , now a National Park, once home to the likes of Al "Scarface" Capone, "Machine Gun" Kelly and Robert "The Birdman" Stroud. They did hard time on "The Rock" between 1934 and 1963 when it was one of America's toughest maximum security prisons, surrounded by deep, shark-infested waters and treacherous currents. Alcatraz is a name derived from the Spanish la Isla de los Alcatraces (Isle of the Pelicans). Since 1858 it has been a lighthouse and fort, a US military prison, an army disciplinary barracks, a federal penitentiary and an American Indian stronghold. The cells on Alcatraz are claustrophobic, stacked on top of each other like those for battery hens. Nearby are the dreaded "Holes" where disruptive prisoners languished in inky blackness. For a dose of instant hysteria, step into one of them. You look up in the vast dining room to see the tear-gas canisters mounted in the ceiling. But the view of San Francisco Bay through the bars is almost unsurpassed. The food for the inmates wasn't bad. A chalked menu says there was assorted dry cereals, steamed whole wheat, scrambled eggs, fresh milk, stewed fruit, toast, bread, butter and coffee for breakfast on March 21, 1963. Walk along the beautifully landscaped Agave Trail, winding through a protected bird sanctuary, for some of the most spectacular views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate. The Agave Trail is open from late August to about mid-February, when bird-nesting season begins. The Birdman would be in his element here. But he’d be wondering why well over a million people every year would actually be trying to get into Alcatraz! But then if he had a choice he would rather have been on the other shore watching the early morning fog roll back between the tall pillars of the Golden Gate Bridge, the sun casting a warm glow over the hills of San Francisco; or holding onto the edge of the cable car, poised at the top of Powell Street on Nob Hill, waiting for the cable car bell to ring out again before it rattles down to the other side, and onto Fisherman’s Wharf. Plying the waterfront is the Market Street Railway of vintage transit vehicles. Conceived as a novelty "museum in motion", it is now a full blown transport system. The Market Street fleet includes the original streetcar named Desire from New Orleans and other vintage streetcars, cable cars, trolley and motor coaches from many countries, lovingly restored by volunteers. Other volunteers help keep the streetcars of the F-line sparkling by cleaning them on the line every day. Ghirardelli Square, once home to the world’s famous chocolate factory where you can still see the original equipment in operation and sample treats from the Chocolate Factory, is part of the Fisherman’s Wharf mix. It has been renovated to an open-air center showcasing an international collection of speciality shops, international restaurants and galleries. Entertainers perform daily in its beautifully landscaped plazas. Fisherman’s Wharf has a variety of hotels looking after visitors, among them Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf, the only 4-diamond hotel in the area. SCRIBBLES ETCETERAS
The best way to see San Francisco is probably by walking and there are at least 20 specialist walking tours from which to choose. Three of the more unusual are: • Chef/author Shirley Fong-Torres and her team trace Chinatown’s history, folklore and food on her intriguing Wok Wiz. • Foot! is San Francisco’s only comedian-guided, interactive, historical game show walking tour. • Mina Harker, a vampire banished from London by Count Dracula in 1897, will be happy to take you on a Vampire Tour of San Francisco. Teatro ZinZanni’s bewitching combination of madcap European cabaret, theatrical antics, cirque arts, music, comedy (interwoven with a five-course gourmet dinner) has become an integral part of San Francisco’s lively entertainment scene. The San Francisco City Pass will take you to five famous attractions and includes unlimited Cable Car use and Municipal Public transportation for seven consecutive days. Exploratorium is where you can discover just how the world ticks with over 650 interactive exhibits. Blue & Gold Fleet Bay Cruise offers a narrated one-hour cruise under the Golden Gate Bridge, past Angel Island, around Alcatraz and offers spectacular views of the city. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has a comprehensive collection of 20th-century art. California Palace of the Legion of Honor with 4,000 years of ancient and European art overlooks the Golden Gate Bridge. California Academy of Sciences & Steinhart Aquarium, earth, ocean and space - all in one place. For easy travel try San Francisco’s Muni & Cable Car 7-Day Passport Photo courtesy San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau (photographer Jerry Lee Hayes)
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