San Francisco of course has the famous cable cars, but they also have these cool street cars that run by electricity. Rick was interested in riding these, but decided that the lure of the maritime museum was too great an attraction.
As we walked to the museum pier, we saw these fishing boats that still ply the waters for seafood and take them to Fisherman's Wharf.
Just down the street from Fisherman's Wharf is the Hyde Street Maritime Museum. Rick had to see this!
The Hyde Street Museum has several 19th century ships and exhibits on the pier that date back to the mid to late 1800s. We did not know of this museum until Rick saw the tall ship masts from Fisherman's Wharf, but of course then he had to go check it out!
One of the first ships exhibited is this steam, paddle wheel tug the
Eppleton Hall from 1914. Surprisingly, this tug hails from the London, England where it was used to pull coal barges in the coastal waters. It is one of the last surviving examples of the early coastal tugs.
Wow -- this ship is the 300' long Balclutha, built in 1886. This steel-hulled ship is a veteran of 16 trips around Cape Horn with its 145' high mainmast. Imagine climbing up 145' to furl the sails in a storm around Cape horn.
This is the
Hercules, a 1907 ocean tug. Interestingly, the Hercules towed her sister ship from New Jersey to San Francisco in 1907 through the Straits of Magellan near Cape horn. That must have been quite a trip!
Rick and Orinda had a great time wandering the Hyde Street Pier and looking at these amazing ships. After a great morning of looking at the ships and exhibits, we made plans to walk the short distance back to Fisherman's Wharf to choose which vendor to use for a crab lunch.
Walking back to the Wharf, we saw the city skyline on the hill. Even in the fog it was beautiful. A great morning in San Francisco!
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