Back in San Francisco we headed over to the Cable Car Museum. The museum is located on the edge of Nob Hill, close enough to Chinatown that the cable car sign above is in Chinese script.
The museum is the powerhouse that drives the cars. I didn't realize prior to going to San Francisco that these cars aren't simply old fashioned trolleys. They are called "cable cars" for a reason. I assumed it was because of an electric cable- I was wrong. The cable runs under the street and is constantly running. The cars essentially work like a gondola except the cables that pull them are under ground, and they have the ability to clamp onto or let go of the cables at will to stop and go. Cars are also aided by breaks, a necessity in San Francisco.
This engine is a modern electric replacement built by everyone's favorite conglomerate, General Electric.
Grace Cathedral is a couple blocks up Mason St. from the Cable Car Museum at the top of one of the city's many hills. This San Francisco landmark is surprising constructed of cement. A true American Cathedral. The cathedral boasts a signature labyrinth inside the church, as well as outside on the plaza in front of it. Navigating the labyrinth is supposed to be meditative, as long as David Bowie, goblins and a minotaur don't show up midway.
A modern looking stained glass window in one of the Cathedral's chapels.
After crossing these attractions off of our remaining must do list, Kate wanted to go to the ruins of the Sutro Baths back out towards Ocean Beach. I was skeptical about this particular attraction but I'm thrilled we went. On the surface, ruins of a couple of old swimming pools sounds pretty uninspired, but this was a spectacular site. The location is gorgeous, and going there and imagining what it must have been like is out of this world. In the site's hey day it was the largest indoor pool/ spa made of 7 pools. The crazy thing is that 6 of the pools were salt water, and a mechanism was built so that the tides would keep them filled with water. This still exists today. It really is a marvel of engineering. This first image is on approach to the ruins, a still filled pool can be seen in the lower left corner.
This picture below looks out across where the pools used to be with the modern incarnation of the Cliff House off on the upper left.
This is an entrance to a tunnel dug to access a natural cave that was modified to fill the baths.
Below is the view from the mouth of the tunnel back towards the ruins. You could hear water rushing through what remains of the tunnels.
The natural cave in the middle of the tunnel. Apparently there used to be a pump in here to aid in filling the pools.
If you follow the tunnel all the way through the cliff you are treated to this spectacle. I tried several times to get the perfect image of water crashing on the rocks.
I believe this is looking out towards Seal Rock.
I'll continue Day 6 in the next post where we watch a gorgeous sunset, which served as a perfect conclusion of a trip to remember.
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