Sunday, March 21, 2010

San Francisco (March 2010)

I recently got the chance to travel to San Francisco. Overall it was a great trip. The Game Developers Conference was time well spent and perhaps even enjoyable, which is not true of all conferences. I also caught up with some friends and took my camera sightseeing...

A fountain near the conference center...


Palm trees normally signal warm weather, but not this day...

A sculpture near Pier 39. Interesting from many angles...

Alcatraz island from the pier...


The sea lions have returned, but looked like they were just trying to stay warm...

The wind was blowing and my hands were frozen, so I headed into a nice restaurant for a seafood supper and nice views of the bay...




On the long walk back to my hotel, I stopped on another pier...




The next day I decided to hop on a tour bus that went by all of the sites...





Taco Bell and bell shapes in between windows...

I was doing some people watching in Union Square when I saw this unexpected car...


My last day in San Francisco I fit in an early morning trip to Alcatraz. The sun was just coming up as I again walked to the pier...



It was a nice boat ride over...




There are lots and lots of interesting things on the island...

And lots and lots of birds...



And evidence of birds...


And different textures...


Prison showers...

A room that is move in ready...

A cell block...

Nice views...

Escape would not be as difficult as it once was...



3 tiers...

Radiators in the library...

These little windows showed the prisoners what they were missing...

The warden's house has seen better days...





San Francisco is not so far away...


More than one way out of a cell...

A gun gallery...

Stairs to ?...

Metal mesh...

Black and white...

Rusty pipes...

Sailing on a Sunday...


More texture...

Bird proof...

Standing guard...

Another texture...

There are a lot of gardens on the island too. Unfortunately, my time was very limited...


More interesting textures...


and shapes...



Heading back to shore way too soon, but I had a plane to catch...