Newport Beach->San Francisco

I caught the Super Shuttle this morning from my hotel to LAX.  While whistling, the driver strongly encouraged me and others to sing along with the "Journey" tune he was amplifying.  I declined.  I took a mid-morning flight to San Francisco Airport, and took the BART subway system to the Embarcadero Center stop downtown.  I then checked into my nearby hotel, the Harbor Court.  It used to be the YMCA, serving military folks. Now it is likely spiffier, with small rooms and nice decor.  I grabbed a nearby burrito for lunch.  The Iranian owner was an SIU-Carbondale Saluki, who had also attended U Illinois at Chicago.  He talked to me quite a bit about his fond memories of the Land of Lincoln.  I then went back to the hotel for about three hours and worked on my talk for Monday.

Around 6:00 PM, I set off on a long walk for an evening show I had booked.   Destination:  Fort Mason.  Distance :  3 miles.  I walked through the financial district and turned onto Columbus, pictured below.

Columbus Ave. street scene

I walked past the "City Lights" bookstore, through the randy distict, into the North Beach area, and then to Fisherman's Wharf.  From there it was a short walk to Fort Mason.  Here is a shot of the Golden Gate along with some of the old military buildings.

Golden Gate and Fort Mason

It turned out there was a festival of exotic roach coaches in the Fort Mason parking lot.  There was music and food from all over the world.  Here is a shot of the roach coach roundup, formally called the "Off the grid" festival.

Roach coach roundup

I was going to sample some Malaysian food, but the line was too long.

Malaysian Food

So I went next door and had a tasty treat from the Yucatan, picture below.  It was a chicken enchilada with some mango involved.

My Yucatan feast

The fort had a solid institutional charm.  Some of its concrete solidity is on display below.

Interior shot of Fort Mason

Nearby was a nice view of another federal institution now doing a new duty:

Alcatraz from Fort Mason

At 7:30, I entered Building D for the performance of Emmanuel Chabrier's L'Etoile.  The performers were up and coming opera students of national stature, and were very talented.  The sets were minimal, and a good pianist did the job of the orchestra.  The libretto was very late nineteenth century French operetta fare--which means totally silly.  It was charming.  Here is a shot of the stage.

Stage on which Chabrier's L'Etoile was performed in Fort Mason

After the opera was over at 10:00 PM, I hunted down a nearby city bus, which I found right away.  Unfortunately the transfer to the next line took some time.  There were lots of talkative people at the bus stop--a big Italian group and some Canadians.  And when it came, the bus was really packed full.  I got off early and took a short walk through Chinatown to my hotel--a little dicey at that time of night, but not really that bad.  To bed.