Early Spring weather had me trotting down to one of the local parks where the Fish & Game
Department does regular stocking of game fish in the small lake.



The lake is only about 5-foot deep and it's one of the designated "Fishing
In The City Program" lakes that gets stocked with trout in the winter-spring months
of the year.



I was lucky enough to catch a brown trout which usually are not part of the stocking program.



Beautiful fish. Gave a fiesty fight before I managed to land it.

Early Spring is always a wonderful time of the year to take strolls along the river.
Wild young oat grass blanklet the banks of the levee.



The early Spring wildflowers are beginning to show their finery too.



AT times, we see the pair of beavers who make their home in the banks of the river
in the river foraging for food in the early morning too.



Of course, there is the occasional fisherman making his way up or downriver to his favourite
fishing spot in the river

Some striped bass will start moving upriver in early Spring with the mass migration occurring
in late Spring for the annual spawning run.



The majority are schoolies (school bass) which are under 5-lbs in weight. A lot of fun
to catch using light tackle (10-lb test line).



Most of the striped bass caught in early Spring are usually under-sized about a pound in weight.



All the under-sized bass caught will be released unharmed back into the river.



Wild Mallard ducks have paired up by now and they nest among the luxuriant growth along the
river bank. Love to watch the mallards feeding in the river.

During periods of balmy Spring weather, more boats appear on the river in the early morning
than usual.



These boats were headed downriver to the popular deep hole where the sturgeon and bass hang
out below the Freeport Bridge



The river bed in our neighborhood is loaded with freshwater clams. Watched him raked for
calms with a special wire-basket-like clam-raker. He probably supplies the local baitshops.



We occasionally see grebes in the river diving for small bait fish.

Early Spring is like a re-birth of all things beautiful by Mother Nature. The wild plum and
almond trees are usually the first to flower.



This is a green cherry plum tree. You can tell by the color of the its leaves and pure white flowers.



These are the flowers of the red cherry plum tree. The leaves turn a deep maroon-red later and the
flowers have a reddish-tinge in the center.



With adequate water and fertilizer, a cherry plum tree can go ballistic and grow quite
tall within a few years.



Daffodils burst into their glory under the cool shade of the trees.



On the heels of the daffodils are the apple blossoms.



Together with the carmellia bushes whose beautiful flowers blanket the branches.



The ground beneath the carmellia bushes are soon smothered under a blanket of carmellia flower petals.

Family friend flew out for a visit and one of the places on her wish list was San Francisco. So we
drove down there early one weekend morning. First stop was Chinatown for a dim sim breakfast.



Chinatown was starting to stir by the time we had finished stuffing ourselves and onto the
main drag of Chinatown (Grant Avenue) to check the shops out.



Over the years, large ginseng farms in the Wisconsin area have ramped up the production of
ginseng and prices have dropped significantly.



Nothing much has changed in Chinatown except for the turnover of the shops and restaurants largely
due to the rent increase when the term of a lease expires.



Since it was approaching the Chinese New Year, the shops had New Year-related items on display



The Chinatown supermarkets were piled high with fresh Asian produce from the San Joaquin valley in California.



One can detect the whiff of a dried-goods market in the air a short distance away. The aroma of
the dried fish and other seafood is especially distinct from that of the dried vegetables.



One can find imported foodstuffs from around the world. In Chinatown, the food imports
from the Asia-Pacific countries dominate.

Since we decided to go on a walking tour around San Francisco, we stopped at a Chinatown deli to
purchase a number of dim sum items like chicken-stuffed buns and shrimp pastries to take along with us.



Broadway Avenue near Chinatown is a shadow of itself compared to 20 years ago. It used to house a large
number of nude joints but Chinatown has steadily been enroaching and spilling over onto Broadway.



A landmark restaurant between Chinatown and Little Italy is the 'Stinking Rose' restaurant.
Great food dishes with lots of garlic for garlic lovers like us.




We passed by Washington Square with the imposing cathredral along the park on one side.

A short distance away from Washington Square is the memorial tower to Christopher Columbus
called Coit Tower. One can go to the observation deck of the tower via an elevator for a
nominal fee to be able to see a 360-degree view of San Francisco and the bay.



After a short walk in the cool misty San Francisco morning, we arrived at Pier 39 on the
San Francisco waterfront.



Looking back, we can see Coit Tower in the distance from Pier 39.



Part of the Golden Gate Bridge that spans the narrow entrance into the San Francisco
Bay is visible in the distance too.



Right next to Pier 39 is where one can catch the tour ferry to Alcatraz Island. That's the
island in the centre of the photo.

We stopped at a deli with a very unique service counter on Pier 39 for coffee and hot chocolate.



The boat docks in this section were abandoned years ago when California sea-lions began
using it for their 'home'. During the summertime, these docks will be overflowing with sea-lions
and their noise is almost deafening to one's ears.



The seagulls are fed by tourists so some of them have become quite tame and experts at begging for handouts.



Closeup photo of 3 sea-lions hogging one of the boat docks



We walked to the end of the Pier 39 and sat down to eat our deli-food from Chinatown and to
enjoy the expansive view of the bay with Alcatraz Island smacked in the middle of our faces.

We immersed ourselves among the crowds and began exploring the various stores on Pier 39.



Flower plantings and flower boxes abound on Pier 39 with springtime flowers. These
are Kale whose leaves come in varied colors.



Daffodils and tulips still remain the dormant harbingers of the definite onslaught of
Spring weather.



Lots of tourists even for early Spring and in this cold misty weather too.



Lots of very unique shops to browse around on Pier 39 for both young and old alike. And, of
course, do not forget to bring lots of $$$ along with you.

We stopped to admire all the beautiful spring flowers on Pier 39.



After Pier 39, we began to make our way towards the direction of the Golden Gate Bridge for the
Ghiradelli Square along the way to visit the chocolate 'factory' to see if it is still in operation.



Sport-fishing charter boats are docked by Castagnolia's restuarant. A few noisy sealions
hang around the vicinity barking at tourists to feed them.



The WWII USS Pompanito submarine and SS Jeremiah O'Brien liberty ship are open for self-guided
tours along the waterfront of SF's Fishermen's Wharf.



A lovely open parkland near the terminus of the cable car turntable by Ghiradelli Square

Chris, been wondering when you are going to post some nice picture and then wow.

You give better explanation that a tour agency man.

Wonderful photos,

yes, wonderful photos and thank you for sharing

loved reading your post - good photo skills, lovely scenery and fantastic write-up.

but i no like it when you talk about dim sum etc - you make the Jedi think of his wonderful Singpore foods (now prata, mee siam, durian, hor fun, kway teow all come to mind and it is a real torture )

Wow, nice photos taken. Enjoy seeing them

While in Chinatown, we heard somber band music and stepped out of the store to see. It was a
funeral procession coming down the main drag (Grant Avenue).

As we approached Ghiradelli Square, we noticed that it was not crowded like it usually was as in
the past. We next noticed that the stores and restaurants that used to populate the old chocolate factory
gone. Turned out that it has been converted into condos. So another favourite tourist spot (together with
our favourite Hungarian restaurant called Paprika Forno) has disappeared into the abyss of history.



The next surprise came when we went into the Ghiradelli Chocolate store. The production of chocolate has
stopped too. It was such a treat to actually see (in the past) how they made the Ghiradelli chocolate. We
departed accordingly with other disappointed tourists.



We continued our walk over to the Golden Gate Bridge along the park beachfront.



Mary (family friend from St. Louis, Missouri)) wanted to walk onto the bridge so I accompanied
her while my better half decided to check the tourist trap store and restaurant by the bridge.



There's forts under the bridge on both sides of the entrance into the bay. These were constructed
in the early hey days to protect San Francisco from hostile ships. The forts are part of the State
Parks system and open for tours.

As we walked along the Golden Gate Bridge, we stopped at times to take in the scenic view of the
bay and the city. Below us in this photo is the beachfront that we had hiked along to get to the
bridge. In the background (hills) is the Presidio - a former army base built on the niciest piece
of real estate in San Francisco.



And this is the view of San Francisco in the distance on a cold cloudy afternoon in early Spring.



We turned around at the first bridge tower as we had other tourist sights to go to on our agenda.



On the way back, we stopped for the customary 'must-for-the-tourist' photo by the cross section
sample of the cable that holds the bridge.



We then retraced our steps along the beachfront to the terminus end turntable of the cable car
to take a roundtrip ride ($5 one-way fare) over the hills of San Francsico. Remember to to
try it when you are in San Francisco - ride it from end-to-end.

The line of waiting cable car riders wound around the turntable so we took the opportunity to tuck into
the snacks which we had brought along with us while waiting in line.



After a cable car had arrived at the terminus and unloaded its passengers, 4 men will physically
push the cable car around on the turntable to re-position it onto another set of rails. Then the next
passengers are loaded and off it goes clanging its way uphill towards the terminus at the other
end of its run.



Along the hilly route, one gets to see the lovely Victorian homes built on the steep hills of the city



It is an experience one does not want to miss in San Francisco. I would recommend to do it early
in the morning before it gets crowded and it does get very crowded as the day progresses.



The best seats on the cable car is in the front and back as you are seated in the open area directly
facing the side of the street.

It was interesting to watch the conductor work the gears on the cable car to start, slow and stop
the cable car along its route. There is a moving cable in the slot between the cable tracks built into
the road. The cable car is pulled along its tracks by the gear physically grabbing onto the moving
steel cable. To stop, the conductor releases the grip onto the cable and apply the brakes.



Every conductor has his own distinct time-honed clanging version of the cable car bell. The ride ended
at the Market Street terminus and we waited in line, re-boarded another cable car for the ride
back to the Fishermen's Wharf terminus again.



A short walk brought us into the heart of Fishermen's Wharf again. This landmark sign is about the
most photographed spot by all tourists alike.



Cooked Dungernness crabs awaiting to be shelled for crab cocktails and crab sandwiches. One can
buy the whole crab too. Be prepared to hand over your wallet as this is a prime tourist area in
San Francisco.



The Dungernness crabs are cooked (boiled) in a big stainless steel cauldron by the side of the street.