Taking the L to downtown SF

Unlike at home in San Diego...

we don't really utilize public transportation as much as folks do in the Bay Area...

It's much easier to drive to where we want to go down here since everything is spread apart. It's a different story in San Francisco where parking is at a premium (i.e. it heinously sucks) and traffic to get across town is insane.

Our motel, which is SF's oldes motel built the same year the Golden Gate Bridge opened, is located conveniently next to a street car line. We plannted to take the L-Taraval street car from its terminus (at Wawona & 46th) all the way up the the Ferry Building. TC was free since she was under 17 years at the time. I think Bert and I paid $2.50 for our fares.

Below, construction across from our motel. There used to be an older motel there along with a surf shop and breakfast place. Now there will be luxury condos. On googlemaps, the aerial view shows the completed complex. Last year it showed dirt, and then wooden skeletons.  When I click on the street view from the motel, it STILL shows the old Roberts Motel, which is funny. I wonder if anyone even knows that the images don't match up!

Our motel had warned us that construction was taking place, thus the noise. But since we were pretty much out for the day, there wouldn't be a noise problem (except for the streetcar) at night.



Some of the businesses we saw as we traveled east on Taraval St to downtown SF.

I liked the old school awning and signage at Lou's Cafe (their other locations are on Geary in the Inner Richmond and on Pine Street in the Financial District).

This was another old school eater, Tennessee Grill

We'll have to try both of those place if we make a trip back here in the near future...

Downtown SF's Orpheum Theater, which was originally the Pantages Theater. It was built in 1926 and is a historical landmark. The

A furry passenger on the streetcar...

TC was quite amused. The dog was well behaved too!


Schedule for the L-Taraval Streetcar:
www.sfmt.com/routs/l-taraval

It would be a forty minute ride from our end of the city all the way to the Embarcadero. We ended up getting off a few stops before so we could walk it to the Ferry Building and get in some steps...