The Photo Shoot

I have arranged for Mrs. de-I to spend an entire day doing nothing but being ferried around by a person knowledgeable of both the city and photography. I need to thank John the Armenian who had me contact his Dad A and who enlisted his friend D to handle this for me. Both A and D took part in this and were the most wonderful of guides.
At 10:30 in the morning we were down in the lobby of the hotel. A shows up with a chauffeur’s hat and a sign with Mrs. De-I’s name on it. She has been dying to find out who it was that I had lined up to do this tour and had never imagined it would be A. A and D have the entire day planned out. D spent a career managing utility maintenance in the city of San Francisco. So he knows the city and how to get around it. Plus which he had studied photography earlier in life. He and A have put together an entire list of places to visit. We (A, D & I) have been worried all week because the prediction has been for rain today. But by some miracle the day is sunny and clear all day.
The itinerary was:
Civic Center-City Hall to see the Rotunda and monumental architecture
Mission Delores – One of the original buildings in SF that has survived the many earthquakes
Twin Peaks – The highest location in San Francisco with wonderful views when its sunny
Chinatown – D has a great time showing wife all the historic architecture.
Break for lunch at a real ‘local dive’ Chinese Restaurant. To get in entered a small door along the road, walked practically into the kitchen then up a flight of stairs to dining rooms on either the second or third floor. The food was basic but good.
The Cliff House – A historic restaurant on the Pacific Coast with excellent views.
Lincoln Park – Another park along the coast with an excellent views looking north to the Golden Gate Bridge
The Presidio – A park to the southeast of the Golden Gate Bridge looking at it from the opposite direction as before
Palace of Fine Arts – A leftover from an international exhibition at the end of the 19th century
We met up with D & A’s wives back at the Cliff House for dinner, a very nice affair with us talking for hours. Then D wanted to take Wife to one more sight (it’s about 10 PM now), so we head to Telegraph Hill and the Coit Tower for night views of the city.