Finally getting around to posting another afternoon on Muni, courtesy of last week’s awesome weather. I’d been getting up early so I could leave work by 1pm or so, and go outside to enjoy unseasonably sunny weather. Last Thursday I met “Mason Powell” for lunch in West Portal at Bullshead Restaurant for a burger, and then figured we’d flip a coin and see where we’d end up.
I’d always meant to go try Bulls Head, but every time I was in West Portal I wasn’t really in the mood for a big burger. I’m glad we finally tried it – I don’t know that i could afford to eat here every day, but it was good. After we finished, we walked over to add some cash to “Mason’s” Clipper card and ended up decided to go east on the 48.
Muni lines can surprise you sometimes. If you only travel a small portion of any one line, it may not seem that scenic, but if you stay on long enough, they can surprise you. The 48 makes some twists and turns that show off some pretty amazing sights, including a great shot of the City as you wind your way towards Noe Valley. Sadly my photo didn’t turn out very good because the bus had to make a quick stop, and it came out blurry. Next time, though, I’ll get out and take a few.
The 48 takes you through some interesting neighborhoods, some with bustling streets full of activity, and some, such as the route via Portero Hill, that’s quiet and full of nice houses. We ended up getting off towards the end, and flipped another coin that had us going inbound on the T-Third.
It seems like every time I go out that way in the Dogpatch area, there’s something new sprouting up, crowding in on “old” Dogpatch. The fact that there are wine bars out there still amazes me a little, even though much of those “new” looking condos are quite old. We also saw the repairs being done on that cruise ship from Hell that made all those tourists miserable a while back.
Later, I’d learn that not more than 20 minutes after we passed by, there was a pretty major Muni failwhale sighting that got people so ticked they started a mini riot..
We decided for fun to get off at Castro station because it’s always kind of an amazing feat of mad driving skillz that is the 33 Inbound when it makes that right turn from Market onto Clayton. I need to go back and film when the driver makes the turn and literally comes within inches of a retaining wall before going up Clayton. Again, when you’re up in the hills there and you have the time to stop and look around, its kind of fun and relaxing, especially on a sunny day when you can see everything for a change!
Eventually, the bus was so full of people being goofballs, we jumped off and caught a 6 Parnassus home, and then walked to Pacific Catch for happy hour beers. I’ve always wanted to make a “Scenic Route” feature that would go into more detail and take more photos, but I either don’t have a day to devote to it, or when I do, the weather totally sucks and the pictures never come out very good.
However, I’m rethinking how to do this in such a way that might be more fun, so as I come up with some new ideas I shall let you all know.
While I generally enjoy the 48 as it takes me from Ocean Beach to West Portal Station for a jump on a street car with a two block fab view of the Golden Gate Bridge, today was not one of those pleasant rides as the 48 bus I was on could not make it up the hill from Sunset to Lincoln High School. Everyone got off the bus as it struggled and then reboarded at the top of the hill.
The legendary 33-line switchback! In the ancient times the old Market St. Ry. streetcars did a “switchback” here; they’d come down the hill past the switch to a stub track, then the motorman had to “change ends” right there in the middle of things. It was San Francisco’s first car line to be changed to trolley bus operation, way back in 1935 (none of the original coaches have survived).