I was much less stiff this morning when I got up and I’m noticing that I’m getting some of the muscle tone back in my left leg which is nice because the Miss Teen USA pageant is coming up and I’m not gonna lose out to that Miss Texas bitch again.

I took the Divisader bus to Jackson and then made my way west on Pacific.  It was very, very foggy:

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This is the Presidio at Broadway.  Cue:  zombies.

I came down the Lyon Street Steps which is a lot of steps and very steep:

The garden of Senator Feinstein:

Pretty Edwardians on Union Street:

Gorgeous Italianate storefront on Columbus:

Me on Columbus with my girly bob:

The sun was starting to poke through by the time I got to work.  It’s gonna be a gorgeous day!

I took BART after work to Glen Park and walked home from there.  Bargain hunter alert:  BART intra-city is only $1.75 compared to Muni which is $2.00 and is a relative deal so long as you don’t need a transfer. 

This is St. Paul’s in Noe Valley which has never been one of my favorites.  I don’t know what it is that I’m not crazy about.  Maybe it’s because St. Peter wasn’t involved in the deal:

Me on Church St.

I think these are on Alvarado:

Super cute house:

Super cute Rooster:

Lovely homes on Castro.  I’m not entirely sure when these date from.  Maybe 1890′s later.  It’s hard to tell.  There isn’t really enough millwork on them to pin them down.  They could even be after the earthquake:

These, however are all 1870′s or a little (but not much) later:

The Castro theater:

One of vintage streetcars at Castro and Market:

I was so beat when I got home.  We had dinner and then I went to bed.

I continued on my series of punishing lunchtime walks to get myself back into shape.  I headed off over lunch into Chinatown.  This is the view up Commercial towards Grant Street:

I headed over to Vallejo St.  Where I saw this decolicious building.  It’s fabulous and probably in that Maya revival style from the 30′s that I’m so crazy about.  The fact that the restaurant on the ground floor is called “Loving Hut” = bonus.  I was gonna make fun of them because the name sounds like a massage parlor but the place looks fantastic.  They’ve got a great looking lunch menu–  stay tuned for a review.  You can check out their website.

Maya revival detail:

I headed over to the Vallejo stairs.  I felt pretty comfortable going up which is good.  This is the view from halfway up:

This cool old mansion was at one point an embassy and at another a brothel.  Probably not at the same time.

Nob Hill as seen from Russian Hill:

The Financial District from Russian Hill:

I love the juxtaposition of the Arts and Crafts homes which I believe are pre-earthquake with the modern tower rising behind it:

The view to the northwest from the top of Russian Hill:

I headed over to Nob Hill and then came back to work down California.  I got a few pic along the way:

Gorgeous walk.

I was very stiff when I woke up this morning.  I did a lot of walking yesterday and it’s left me pretty sore which is a good thing I guess.  I took the Divisadero bus to Jackson this morning and walked into work from there.  It was pretty foggy and a little cooler than I thought it would be but not terrible. 

This Italianate home is on Jackson opposite Alta Plaza.  I’m fond of it but it doesn’t seem to be in the greatest of shape.  But the roses are beautiful.

It has incredible detail:

This building left me scratching my head.  It seems to be of two completely different, conflicting styles.  The building overall is in a cool, streamlined deco fashion which is very elegant.  The front porch and the corner tower, however are of a completely different style that is pretty much at offs with the rest of the building.  If I had to guess, I’d say they were just a little later than the rest of the building although you never know maybe somebody had it built like this.

The view down Washington at Lafayette Park:

The Spreckels Mansion:

Some of the gorgeous buildings on Washington St:

The Cable Car Barn at Mason and Washington:

Me:

I think this building with the pretty mural is a school.  It’s got a construction trailer in front of it so it’s hard to photograph.  Nevertheless,  likey!

Great detail on the building as well:

Then I headed into work.

After work I took the California bus to Presidio and walked home from there.  I wanted to check out the University of San Francisco campus at Lone Mountain.  There’s a long staircase off of Anza that goes up to Lone Mountain through some pretty recent dorms:

The view of the Golden Gate from halfway up:

The beautiful tower on Lone Mountain:

The view over St Ignatius to Twin Peaks:

There’s a beautiful staircase that goes down loan mountain to Turk.  It’s fabulous:

I walked through the rest of the USF campus and came up behind St. Ignatius.  Perfect:

Me at USF:

Cole Street on my way to the Panhandle:

These buildings are at Cole and Oak.  I think it’s interesting because you can see that they were almost certainly once identical and at some point somebody removed the attic from the building on the right and put up the Spanish tile.  It looks terrible, by the way:

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Some of the gorgeous Victorians on Waller:

Beautiful homes on Masonic:

The view down Piedmont from Masonic:

I was really beat by the time I got home.  Long ass day.

I headed out over lunch to Telegraph Hill so I could torture myself with as many steps as possible despite the sizzling heat we’re having in San Francisco today.  I took the Greenwich steps up to Coit Tower. Here is the view from halfway up:

Coit tower:

The view from the top:

This amazing Deco Apartment building is on Lombard.  It’s incredible.  I love the way the cool lines of the building play against the organic ornamentation:

Incredible detail:

Then I headed up to Jack Early park which also has incredible views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the bay:

The view back up to Coit Tower:

Then I went to go investigate this ship I’d seen in port from the Greenwich steps.  It’s a Mexican Naval ship on some kind of an exhibition tour.  It was interesting, free, and packed with Mexican sailors.  What’s not to like???

Aztecalicious:

A tell you about stuff plaque tells me this is the Cuauhtemoc.  I don’t know Spanish so I’m not sure what the rest of this says but Wikipedia of course has an entry on it. 

The ship is incredibly well maintained:

Me:

I headed back to work and its air conditioning.

After work I took the California bus to Laguna and walked home from there.  I headed over to Japantown which I have sorely neglected in the last couple of months:

Origami inspired metal flower sculpture:

The Japanalicious view up Sutter:

I found these interesting plaques celebrating Japanese culture on the wall of Japantown center in Peace Plaza.  I thought they were new but they in fact are a year old.  They commemorate Japantown’s centennial.  You can read about them here.

Introduction:

Transition:

Innovation:

Then I headed home.  I got as far as Market and 17th when some well mannered gentleman noted to me that my fly was open.  Which must have been the case since I left work.  Which was very humiliating.  Ah, Mondays. 

I was running late this morning and took the fastest way into work.  Over lunch at headed over to meet Mr. Poe at the Office Depot and then we went to Westfield Center for lunch.  I can report that Mr. Poe was unable to finish the spicy pork platter because of the size of the platter.  It’s a rare day that Mr. Poe can’t finish a meal.  Maybe it was the heat.  Here he is threatening me with a Karate chop:

I walked him over to Muni and then headed up to Nob Hill on my way back to the office.  Here I am at Sutter and Powell:

The Theater District on Bush:

The view up Mason of the Saint Francis:

Huntington Square and Grace Cathedral:

The view down Clay towards the Financial District:

Commercial Street:

I got a short but pretty good walk in.  It’s really hot today which totally surprised me.

Satuday rolled around and Mr. Poe and I went to the Samurai exhibit at the Asian Art Museum after lunch.  Here’s Mr. Poe posing with his stern face.  Hello gorgeous!

I liked the exhibit a lot.  The coolest thing there was the Samurai armor.  Sadly, I wasn’t interested in them in the least although Mr. Poe enjoyed them very much.  There were some interesting swords with incredible workmanship and some gorgeous lacquers and textiles that were incredibly sophisticated.  Likey!   It’s a gorgeous exhibit and it’s well thought out and I recommend it especially if you’re going to like the armor.

This is one of the halls in the Asian Art Museum:

We had a snack and then headed up to the Japanese permanent collection which you can photograph.  They have all these beautiful baskets that show such great craftsmanship:

And some gorgeous textiles. 

Me in front of Civic Center Plaza:

The Federal Building on 8th at Mission:

We headed home and Nathan came over and Mr. Poe took us to the Comic Outpost on Ocean and then drove home with my comics while we walked home with Sofi and Rufus.  It was almost five miles home and I was very, very tired when I got there.  As were the dogs.  We all had dinner and then we went to bed.

I headed over to Telegraph Hill over lunch.  There are a lot of steps and it was pretty tough but very pretty.  Check out the gardens of Telegraph Hill:

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Ginormous fuscias

Fabulous view of the Bay Bridge from the top:

Treasure Island:

I headed back to the Financial District through North Beach.  I walked down Grant Street.  This building as a pretty Mansard roof on it which I think is doubly interesting because it almost certainly dates from after the earthquake:

I found this lounging Chihuahua in a store window.  I wonder if he gets paid by the hour:

The Hilton Hotel and Transamerica Pyramid from Kearny:

Lotta’s Fountain on Market at Kearny:

After work I got my long awaited haircut.  I hadn’t had my weave restrung since February!  I had to push my appointment back because of the my knee surgery.  I’m growing it a little longer and I’ve got a bob now.  I’m hoping I look like neither Kate Gosselin nor Susan Sullivan, Tylenol Spokesperson.