Destination: Nob Hill, San Francisco
Summit Nob Hill, visit Grace Cathedral, and explore the Cable Car Museum
This is part of a series of family-oriented day trip outings around the San Francisco Bay Area I look forward to enjoying with my kids once social distancing and shelter in place isn’t the norm any longer.
Social Isolation — Day 46
Interesting news today from the Governor of California, they are considering starting the next school year early — possibly in late July or early August. They said this is to make up for education lost while our kids have been distance learning (although I have to commend our teachers for doing such a great job under the circumstances), and this may be true, but I have a different take-away from this announcement.
We have a decent chance of a resurgence of Covid cases in the winter, and I’m wondering if maybe they are starting school early expecting to go back to a shelter in place status as we near the end of the year, or possibly start the next one. It seems like a safe bet for the Governor, as the only real downside is the kids get a bit more education if we are able to avoid another shelter in place. Interesting proposition nonetheless.
Destination: Nob Hill
Summit Nob Hill
Visit Grace Cathedral
Explore The Cable Car Museum
Summit Nob Hill
Tony Bennett at the top of Nob Hill by Cody Tolmasoff
There are two primary ways to ascend Nob Hill (and a bunch of secondary ways). You can either hop on a Cable Car, or you can walk up the hill to the top. Every other choice is a lesser was of appreciating this hill.
Having worked in a number of offices in the Financial District, I would often find myself taking a walk to the top when projects had me frustrated. The climb to the top would often clear my head. Walking up San Francisco hills are a way to establish your relationship with this fantastic city.
When you can walk up a significant San Francisco hill without complaint, you can consider yourself a local.
Once you make it to the top, take some time to check out Huntington Park, there is a nice little playground here. Be sure to take a little time to check out the lobby of the Fairmont Hotel, during the holidays they make a 2 story gingerbread house that is pretty cool. There is a great Tony Bennett statue out in front too; after all, he left his heart in San Francisco ;)
Visit Grace Cathedral
By Supercarwaar — Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42174165
Once you are done checking out the lobbies of the fancy hotels and Huntington Park next to the Pacific Union Club, go have a look at Grace Cathedral — there are a couple of interesting things to note.
There is an indoor and outdoor Labyrinth you can walk. It’s a winding path on the floor you can walk release stress and find your center.
Have a look at the Keith Haring altarpiece in the Aids Memorial Chapel. There are usually many art installations around the church.
Visit the Doors of Paradise, replicas of famous doors in the Baptistry of Florence Cathedral, Italy, the work of master founder and artist Lorenzo Ghiberti. On my first trip to Florence over 20 years ago, my sister took me to visit the doors here for an art history project she was working on. When I visited the door in Florence, it was hard to get near them as they were crowded with tourists.
Explore The Cable Car Museum
Cable Car Museum by Cody Tolmasoff
I love to stop off at the Cable Car Museum, it’s free. The museum is upstairs from the actual powerhouse that runs the cables for the cable cars, so you can see everything running. The Cable Cars are also housed here overnight. The museum and gift shop are located upstairs and you can check out how Cable Cars function and see some of their history.
We were lucky enough a couple of years ago to help decorate one of the Cable Cars for the holidays, every year volunteers will place temporary decorations on several cars to celebrate the holiday season.
Helping to Decorate a Cable Car for the Holidays by Cody Tolmasoff
Cody Tolmasoff is an author and publisher for Adventuring.in. He is a recovering programmer and a San Francisco native, raising two daughters, and regularly finding new adventures around the SF Bay Area. This article is an excerpt from an upcoming book, 52 San Francisco Bay Area Weekend Adventures, Day Trips With Your Kids!
Find him on Twitter @codyo, and read his most recent title Adventures in Getting Out on Amazon, filled with advice on successfully getting your family out for day trip adventures.
Originally published on Medium on 28 April 2020