The following is a Photographic journal of my recent visit to San Fancisco during Memorial Day Weekend 2003.The photos, like most of the photos on this site are arranged by categories.

Like L.A., San Francisco definitely has it's own style and is definitely not the East Coast. I was born and rasied on the East Coast and that is where my heart is. I hate to say it but:

Even people who hate the USA love San Francisco. It has an atmosphere of genteel chic mixed with offbeat innovation, and a self-effacing flutter-of-the-eyelids quality so blatantly missing from brassy New York and plastic LA . This is a place that breeds alternatives: it's the home of the Beat Generation, flower power, Critical Mass direct action bike rides and gay pride. One of the USA's most attractive cities, San Francisco's hilly streets provide some gorgeous glimpses of the San Francisco Bay and its famous bridges. This is a mosaic of a city, a big picture made from the colorful tiles of bustling Chinatown, the gentrifying Mission, gay Castro, clubby SoMa, hippie Haight-Ashbury and faux-hemian North Beach.

Attractions

Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park stretches almost halfway across the 6mi (10km) wide peninsula, from the Pacific Ocean to the Haight's Panhandle. Apart from gardens (including a flower conservatory and a charming Japanese tea garden), lakes (rowboats, pedal boats and motor boats can all be rented), sporting facilities (including horse riding, archery, softball, golf, lawn bowling, horseshoe pitching and petanque), the park also has a host of museums and an aquarium, making it a useful escape even when the fog rolls in and the temperature plummets.

San Francisco Bay
San Francisco's bay is curiously shy. It always seems to be around the corner, glimpsed in the distance, seen from afar. It is spanned by bridges, surrounded by cities and suede hills, dotted with sails and crisscrossed by fast-moving ferries. The bay is the largest inlet on the California coast, stretching about 60mi (100km) in length and up to 12mi (20km) in width. The beautiful Golden Gate Bridge crosses the 2mi (3km) mouth of the bay. Completed in 1937, the bridge remains the symbol of the city despite competition from modern constructions. At the time of its completion, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world and the 746ft (224m) suspension towers were higher than any structure west of New York City. The Bay Bridge, connecting San Francisco and Oakland, is five times as long as the Golden Gate Bridge, carries far more traffic and predates it by six months, but it's never had the same iconic fame. The bay's other attractions include Alcatraz Island, which operated as an 'escape-proof' prison from 1933 to 1963. Al Capone, 'Machine Gun' Kelly and Robert Stroud, the 'birdman of Alcatraz,' were among the prison's unsavory residents. North of Alcatraz, Angel Island served as an internment camp during WWII; it's now a popular place for walking, hiking, biking, picnics and camping. Both islands are accessible by ferry from Fisherman's Wharf and the Embarcadero.

San Francisco Zoo
As most of you know I love Zoos. And what would a visit to the Bay Area be without a visit to the zoo. This zoo, although small, has a few exhibits going for it. One thing that impressed me about it was that the free range Peacocks. These beautiful and majestic birds can be found wandering the zoo and the many enclosures. Another thing was the animals. These friendly critters were none too happy to pose for pictures. While this is definitely not the World Famous San Diego Zoo and Zoological Park, it holds a place in my heart.

all information provided by Lonely Planet.