Downtown San Francisco, Part II

This was Part II of the San Francisco adventure following recommendations of Atlas Obscura. Some destinations were interesting, others appeared just kind of boring. The idea was to cover the following:

Blue Bottle Coffee (Brunch)
Children's Creativity Carousel
140 New Montgomery St
Lotta's Fountain
Roof Garden
130 Sutter St
Banker's Heart
Corporate Goddess Sculptures
Transamerica Redwood Park
The Labyrinths at Grace Cathedral
Last Drop Tavern (Food + Drinks)
Mayan Arts
San Francisco Fountain

After using CalTrain, just like the first time in Part I, we headed to have some coffee at Blue Bottle Coffee on Mint St. Great place!

Read Christy W.'s review of Blue Bottle Coffee on Yelp

There was a weird flipped over car nearby, as an attraction. Not exactly sure of its symbolism.

We then checked out the Children's Creativity Carousel built in 1906 in Rhode Island, but eventually moved to San Francisco. I have never ridden on a carousel, so for $4 it was quite an experience.

Oh, and there was a free second ride!

140 New Montgomery St. building was the first skyscraper development in SF. Unfortunately, we were not able to go inside. Now Yelp is the main tenant in this building. Did I mention how much I love Yelp?

Lotta's Fountain is the oldest surviving monument in San Francisco. Apparently, it has quite a bit of history and is very impressive. It belongs to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

The Roof Garden was unfortunately closed, but Roof Terrace was open. To get to the Roof Garden, you have to go through some high-end shops in Crocker Galleria, closed on Saturdays and Sundays for some reason. The Galleria itself was quite impressive and filled with luxurious brand-name products that I have no interest in.

Hallidie Building aka 130 Sutter St. had quite a bit of history as well. Architecture caught my eye even before I found out that it was on the list of attractions to see. Built in 1918, it now serves as office space.

The Bankers Heart is another architectural attraction in San Francisco. It is made of 200 tons of black granite. In the past, Bank of America had its headquarters here before moving to the East Coast. I was not as impressed by it as I thought I would. I guess it was supposed to represent stereotypical coldheartedness of bankers... I don't know...

Transamerica Redwood Park is only open on weekdays (I have no idea why), so we were able to just peak in. It reminded me of NYC and how little space big cities have for nature.

We ended up visiting Chinatown, which reminded me of New York yet again. It literally felt like you were in another country there: Chinese language and writing, strangely decorated building and streets and loooots of people.

Grace Cathedral was probably the most impressive structure of this trip. Both inside and outside, it represented history and grandness from the entrance door to stained glass windows.

San Francisco Fountain was a bit of a disappointment. I imagined it would be somewhat bigger, but there was a cool "LOVE" sign in rainbow colors nearby that I could not help but take a picture of.

We stopped for lunch at Last Drop Tavern and headed out. Not every planned place of attraction was visited, but we certainly enjoyed another day in SF. It is truly an interesting city with lots of history and art, culture and technology. Here are a couple of pictures I thought well represented what SF is all about.