April 27-28, 1974: At the O'Brian's in Indianapolis
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Since I joined Continental Bank in 1971, I have not done much traveling, save for trips to North Carolina and around the Illinois-Indiana-Michigan area; that's why there haven't been all that many pictures since I returned from my stop in Hawaii on my way home from Korea. But that will begin to change this year.

A Personal/Professional Note

As I said above, and earlier in this album, I left the Army in 1971 in Indianapolis and moved to the North Side of Chicago to take a job at Continental Bank as an auditor. I haven't commented much on my job there, but the one thing I can say was that it was very routine, and not just a little bit boring (as you might imagine). But that changed, too, early last year.

After an eighteen-month stint as a staff auditor for charge card and then teller operations, I had the opportunity to rotate into another section. This time, I had a choice, and I chose EDP-Auditing. Since my time playing around with the IBM 1620 at Davidson, and a couple of Univac machines at the Finance Center, I had come to enjoy the precise nature of data processing, and my exposure to coding had given me an appreciation for programming.

This area of the Audit Division, I had come to learn from my friends already in that section, had purchased a computer package called EDP-AUDITOR from a firm in Massachusetts, a package that allowed people with little programming knowledge to write reports to get information out of the computer. As you might guess, auditors need to be independent, and having to ask the programming staff over in data processing to write programs to get us the information we needed would compromise that independence. EDP-AUDITOR allowed even people with no programming expertise to do simple report writing. With my own background in coding, I found it easy and enjoyable to extend the Bank's use of the software to do relatively complex things, and develop programs for the rest of the Audit Division.

For a change, I found my work at the Bank actually enjoyable, and I actually began to look forward to coming into work to try out programming ideas I might have thought of the night before. In late summer, 1973, the guy who was the supervisor of the EDP Audit section himself went on to something else, and I was promoted into that position.

In the Fall of 1973, Cullinane Corporation, the firm that manufactured the software, had a user's meeting for their clients in the Chicago area, and the Bank encouraged me to attend that little convention and also subsequent meetings of the local group of users. The idea was that we EDP-Auditors could share our ideas and develop better audit programs for the Bank. At this first meeting, I did a short presentation on a program we had written that extended the capabilities of the software beyond what most users had done.

One of the EDP-AUDITOR users I met was a fellow named Ted Hollander, who was in my same position at a suburban banking group- the Beverly Bancorporation. He and I had some interesting discussions about the software and what could be done with it. We learned a good deal from each other. Ted, apparently, has been using the system for some time, and I found out about a month after the meeting that John Cullinane had hired Ted to represent Cullinane Corporation in Chicago. Since then, I have had telephone contact with Ted on routine matters in my capacity as a client of his new employer.

For the rest of last year, and the first few months of this year, I've continued to use EDP-AUDITOR at the Bank, and I've developed some good contacts with the other users in the Chicago area. I started getting mailings from Cullinane Corporation about their User Week Meeting that would be held in late April in San Francisco, and I suggested to the Audit Division Managing Officer that it would be a good idea for someone from the EDP-Audit section to attend and bring back as many good ideas as possible for us to use. The Bank thought this was a good idea, and gave me permission to go. I got the travel section of the Bank to make plane reservations for me, and book me into the convention hotel- the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero right on San Francisco Bay. I also got approval to go out on Friday, April 19th, so I could spend the weekend in the San Francisco area ahead of the Monday start for the conference.

The Trip to San Francisco

On a cloudy, cool Friday, I caught a morning flight to San Francisco- my first plane flight since I returned from Korea to anyplace other than North Carolina. About 45 minutes after we took off from O'Hare, we were out over the farmland at the western edge of Illinois:

There wasn't much scenery to see out the window as it was overcast and kind of dark- at least until we reached the Rocky Mountains:

We Arrive at the Rocky Mountains

The picture at left was probably the best I got on the flight. The Great Plains are incredibly flat, although it slopes imperceptibly up until Denver. It's hard to tell that you've risen from 600 feet in Chicago to 5200 around Denver. But then, like an incredible wave of rock, the Rockies slope dramatically up a couple of thousand feet in about two miles (as opposed to four thousand feet in almost a thousand miles across the Great Plains). In the picture, it's almost as if the fields of the farm are about to be innundated.

Here are four more pictures that I took over the Rockies and as we came in to San Francisco International Airport:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

I collected my luggage and then went to find the rental car counter. Since I've arrived about noon, I have the rest of the day for my first day of sightseeing.

A Drive Down to Monterey

Since I was on my own dime, so to speak, until the conference began, I didn't want to check in to the Hyatt Regency right away (as my presumption is that the hotel is pretty expensive. So I decided to just first drive down the coast of California until it got dark and then just find a motel.

I picked up a map at the rental car counter and headed out of the airport, circling north a bit on Highway 101 to pick up I-280 that would lead me up into the hills at the crest of the peninsula where I could head south along one of the country's most beautiful interstate highways.

As I drove along, I began passing a long, thin series lakes that turned out to be the Crystal Springs Reservoir. The reservoir is a pair of artificial lakes located in the northern Santa Cruz Mountains of San Mateo County, situated in the rift valley created by the San Andreas Fault just to the west of the cities of San Mateo and Hillsborough, and I-280. The lakes are part of the San Mateo Creek watershed.

Yes, that's right; the highway parallels and is just above the actual San Andreas Fault line- a slip in which caused the Great California Earthquake of 1906.

The two reservoir lakes, which supply water for the Peninsula Cities from San Francisco down to San Jose, has a number of sources- rainfall, local creeks from the mountain watershed, and even the Hetch Hetchy reservoir all the way east in Yosemite National Park. California is home to some of the country's most extensive and ambitious water systems. I continued south on I-280 and found California Highway 84 that would take me down to coast road along the Pacific Ocean, and through a few State Parks and Forests.

Forest Area Southwest of I-280

Looking Towards the Ocean from Highway 84

Some of my earlier pictures today were taken when it was very cloudy up in the hills, but as I descended out of the Santa Cruz Mountains towards the Pacific, it got brighter.

This view was taken from Highway 84, a few miles down towards the coast, and it looks back at the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Down out of the mountains and close to the ocean, the land is a lot flatter, and suitable for small farms. This view looks pretty much directly north along the west side of the San Francisco Peninsula.

While much of the California coastline is rocky (particularly the area north of San Francisco Bay and much of the coastline between San Gregorio to Santa Barbara), here at San Gregorio and for five or ten miles north it is relatively flat with various inlets and one or two marinas.

This was a wetland near the highway just outside San Gregorio; the ocean has intruded about a half mile inland.

Here at San Gregorio there is a small natural harbor.

From San Gregorio, I took California Highway 1 south towards Santa Cruz. This highway is like A1A in Florida; it is a scenic highway that hugs the coast and for much of its length is just a couple hundred feet from the coastline. It's not a road for speedy travel by any means, but rather a highway for leisurely travel, allowing one to appreciate the coastal scenery.

As an example of just how scenic the coastline is along California State Route 1, just take a look at this vista along the highway north of Santa Cruz. All along the part of the highway that I traversed this afternoon, there were numerous places where you could stop and admire scenery like this, as the highway hugged the shore in some places and moved maybe a mile inland in others.

State Route 1 (SR 1) is a major north–south state highway that runs along most of the Pacific coastline of California. At a total of just over 659 miles, it is the longest state route in California. SR 1 has several portions designated as either Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), Cabrillo Highway, Shoreline Highway, or Coast Highway. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 5 (I-5) near Dana Point in Orange County and its northern terminus is at U.S. Route 101 (US 101) near Leggett in Mendocino County. SR 1 also at times runs concurrently with US 101, most notably through a 54-mile (87 km) stretch in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, and across the Golden Gate Bridge.

The highway is designated as an All-American Road. In addition to providing a scenic route to numerous attractions along the coast, the route also serves as a major thoroughfare in the Greater Los Angeles Area, the San Francisco Bay Area, and several other coastal urban areas.

SR 1 was built piecemeal in various stages, with the first section opening in the Big Sur region in the 1930s. However, portions of the route had several names and numbers over the years as more segments opened. It was not until the 1964 state highway renumbering that the entire route was officially designated as SR 1. Although SR 1 is a popular route for its scenic beauty, frequent landslides and erosion along the coast have caused several segments to be either closed for lengthy periods for repairs, or re-routed inland.

It was a beautiful afternoon drive down Route 1, and it was easy to see how it has acquired its designation as one of the country's prettiest drives. I snapped quite a few pictures, as I found some of the coastline to be reminiscent of Hawaii, where I had stopped on my return from Korea in 1970. Rather than give you rows of thumbnails to click on, let me put this afternoon's California coast pictures in a slideshow.

1/15 2/15 3/15 4/15 5/15 6/15 7/15 8/15 9/15 10/15 11/15 12/15 13/15 14/15 15/15 < >

At right is a slide show of the pictures I took from south of San Gregorio down to Big Sur south of Monterey- where I began to run out of light with my last picture of a naval observation station on a promontory just north of that scenic stretch.

If you will look in the upper left corner of the picture at left, you will see that it is picture #1 in a series of 15. As you move through the slides, you can watch these numbers so you know when you're "back where you came in". To move from one picture to another, just click on one of the little arrows in the lower corners of each picture; you can move forward and backward as much as you want. The show will "wrap", which means that if you move forward from picture #15 you'll be back at the first picture, whereas if you move backward from the first picture, you will be at the last one.

I hope you find the California coast as beautiful (and as worthy of being photographed) as I did.

Big Sur is the rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel Highlands and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. Big Sur has been called the longest and most scenic stretch of undeveloped coastline in the contiguous United States, and indeed seems to be one of the most beautiful coastlines anywhere in the world. It is isolated, with only California Route 1 giving access to it, a fact that results in traffic backups of 20 miles and more in the peak summer season and on holiday weekends. I was lucky in that today there was fairly little traffic on the two-lane road. I only got five or ten miles into the most beautiful part before my light began to go and I turned around to go find a place to stay in Monterey.

Driving Back to San Francisco

I spent the night in Monterey where, incidentally, I had an extremely good seafood dinner at a casual restaurant near the harbor. I'd heard a lot about Monterey before, and although it was dark when I arrived last night, this morning it was sunny and I could see how charming the city actually is. I'd stayed in a motel just south of the city, and drove in for dinner. This morning, I had to retrace my route and I was glad I did, for the scenery coming into the city on California Highway 1 was certainly impressive:

So I have this second day, Sunday, for more sightseeing, as I'll be turning in the car downtown when I check in to the Hyatt this evening. What I really wanted to see was the Golden Gate Bridge and to get some views of the city from the north side of it, so I headed in that direction.

I decided to go back by a different route which, while not as scenic, would be much faster.

Just north of Monterey, I headed inland through Castroville and Gilroy to pick up California Highway 101, which was actually a freeway that took me into and around San Jose (another interesting place that I hope I'll get to see sometime).

(Little did I know how much the area north of that city, which, in the coming years, would acquire its fabled nickname, would figure in my career path. But that's still years in the future, and gets me way ahead of myself.)

I got back on Interstate 280 and took that north, cutting back over to the coast on California 92 to Half Moon Bay. There, I once again picked up California Route 1 and I headed north, again admiring the coastal scenery on the way.

At Daly City, civilization takes over, and the coast becomes more like a beach community, with houses and businesses coming right down to the beach itself. While very nice, I didn't think it very scenic, so I continued on California 1 as it jogged inland and continued north. Apparently, I-280 is being extended, and there are also some other freeways being built through the southern part of the San Francisco Peninsula. I knew that California Route 1 went over the bridge, but instead of staying on that route, I followed the signs for US 101, since I could tell from my map that it would approach the bridge from the east and perhaps offer me some good views as I approached it. It did, and as I drove through the city's "Marina District" I found a bayside park where I could get out and take some pictures before heading on to the bridge itself.

The morning drive was really neat, although, had this not been a Sunday, I understand that the traffic, beginning south of San Jose, would have been very heavy (although not so heavy as it would be in the coming years).

Castroville

Heading north and inland from Monterey, I went through Castroville, a small town of about four thousand. The site of the community was originally part of Rancho Bolsa Nueva y Moro Cojo, a 30,000-acre Mexican land grant given in 1844 by Manuel Micheltorena, Governor of Alta California, to María Antonia Pico de Castro. After the 1848 cession of California to the United States following the Mexican–American War, Juan Bautista Castro, son of María Antonia Pico de Castro, founded Castroville in 1863.

Castroville is known for its artichoke crop and for the annual Castroville Artichoke Festival, leading to its nickname as the "Artichoke Center of the World". It was the Spanish settlers who brought the artichoke to California. Some artichoke plants were in the gardens of European immigrants. California's first artichoke fields grew south of San Francisco, near the town of Half Moon Bay, in the early 1920s.

In 1922, the first artichokes were planted in Castroville. They grew amazingly well, and just five years later there were over 50 growers and 12,000 acres of artichokes growing in Castroville and the Monterey Bay area.

The first artichoke festival was held in the early 1950s, and by 1961 it had grown to include the crowning of an official "Artichoke Queen" in 1961. Sally Hebert (1941–2004) was the first queen, but the most famous Artichoke Queen was actually a woman given that honorific (long before the first official queen) 1947 during her visit to the Monterey Bay area. A local jeweler had arranged for the famous model Doreen Nash to advertise a promotional sale, but when she wasn't able to attend, she was replaced with an ingenue from Hollywood who had barely begun a career in film and who just happened to be visiting the Monterey Bay area. During her visit to the local Kiwanis Club, one of the members, a member of the California Artichoke Association, got the idea to present her with a sash with the words "California Artichoke Queen" and the photos of her wearing the sash were used in advertisements. That's how Marilyn Monroe became the first "Artichoke Queen".

When I cut back over to the coast at Half Moon Bay, I found more pretty coastal scenery- scenery that alternated between relatively flat beaches and rocky outcrops and pounding surf like you see in the picture at left.

Again, California Route 1 was slow going; even though it was foggy in spots, there was a fair amount of traffic. But I pulled over to take some pictures of different aspects of the shoreline, and some of these pictures are below:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

California Route 1 brought me back into the western part of the city, and merged me onto US 101- the highway that crosses the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Golden Gate Bridge

I got my first view of the Golden Gate Bridge (from the ground, anyway) as US 101 went through the Marina District on its way to the bridge approaches.

At left is an aerial view of the extreme northwestern part of the city of San Francisco. I have marked some of the locations where I took pictures, and some of the features that you'll see in those pictures.

One prominent feature is the Presidio of San Francisco, an active U.S. Army military fort. It has been a fortified location since September 17, 1776, when New Spain established the presidio to gain a foothold in Alta California and the San Francisco Bay. It passed to Mexico, which in turn passed it to the United States in 1848. Fort Point was built in the 1850s to protect the Bay, soldiers from the Presidio were involved in the Indian campaigns, and some became the nation's first "park rangers" when they were asked to patrol the new Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks.

During the Spanish-American War, the Presidio played an important role in assembling, training, and shipping out forces to the Philippine Islands and Letterman Army Hospital was modernized and expanded to care for the many wounded and seriously ill soldiers from that conflict. Army units were "first responders" in the 1906 Earthquake, and refugee camps were set up at the Presidio. The Presidio was was used as a training and deployment center during World War I, and of course World War II saw even more intense activity with the same mission, and Letterman Army Hospital was filled with casualties from the Pacific Theater. The Presidio was briefly considered a potential site for the future United Nations, and was again tasked with support functions during the Korean war. Most recently, it has played that same role once again for the war in Vietnam. As long as there are wars anywhere in the Pacific region, it seems, the Presidio will play an important part.

The Golden Gate Bridge (seen from the Marina District)

Coming west through the Marina District on the 101, I got my first good views of the Golden Gate Bridge, which connects the San Francisco Peninsula with Marin County on the other side of the inlet called The Golden Gate. While I was stopped there, I took another picture looking back at downtown San Francisco, but it did not turn out well. But I'm going to include it here anyway, because in the foreground you can see the dome of the Palace of Fine Arts, which is just east of the Presidio. You can see that picture here.

I wasn't sure where the best place would be to get views of the bridge, so I continued on Highway 101 towards it. Just at the beginning of the approach to the bridge, I saw a sign for "Fort Point", and beneath that an indication that there was a parking area and viewpoint for the bridge, so that's where I turned off and found the parking area.

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the one-mile-wide strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Carrying both Highway 101 and California Route 1, the bridge is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco and of United States. It has been declared one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The bridge has been described as "possibly the most beautiful, certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world." At the time of its opening in 1937, it was both the longest and the tallest suspension bridge in the world, with a main span of 4,200 feet and a total height of 746 feet.

The Golden Gate Bridge (seen from Fort Point)

Although the idea of a bridge spanning the Golden Gate was not new, the proposal that eventually took hold was made in a 1916 San Francisco Bulletin article by former engineering student James Wilkins. San Francisco's City Engineer estimated the cost at $100 million (equivalent to about a billion dollars today), and impractical for the time. He asked bridge engineers whether it could be built for less. One who responded, Joseph Strauss, was an ambitious engineer and poet who had, for his graduate thesis, designed a 55-mile-long railroad bridge across the Bering Strait. At the time, Strauss had completed some 400 drawbridges— most of which were inland— and nothing on the scale of the new project. Strauss's initial drawings were for a massive cantilever on each side of the strait, connected by a central suspension segment, which Strauss promised could be built for $17 million.

Local authorities agreed to proceed if Strauss brought in other experts to validate his design. A suspension-bridge design was considered the most practical, because of recent advances in metallurgy. Strauss spent more than a decade drumming up support in Northern California. The bridge faced opposition, including litigation, from many sources. The Department of War was concerned that the bridge would interfere with ship traffic; the US Navy worried that should something happen to the bridge, the Bay might be blocked; unions demanded that local workers be used; the powerful Southern Pacific Railroad opposed the bridge as it would affect the income from its ferry fleet (which led to a mass boycott of their service).

By 1924, these issues had been settled, and the Federal Government transferred land at both ends for bridge approaches and structure. The bridge's name was first used when the project was initially discussed in 1917, and became official with the passage of the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District Act by the state legislature in 1923, creating a special district to design, build and finance the bridge- a taxing district joined by San Francisco and most of the counties along the North Coast of California.

Strauss was chief engineer in charge of overall design and construction of the bridge project. However, because he had little understanding or experience with cable-suspension designs, responsibility for much of the engineering and architecture fell on other experts. Strauss's initial design proposal (two double cantilever spans linked by a central suspension segment) was unacceptable from a visual standpoint. The final graceful suspension design was conceived and championed by Leon Moisseiff, the engineer of the Manhattan Bridge in New York City. Senior engineer Charles Alton Ellis, collaborating remotely with Moisseiff, was the principal engineer of the project.

The Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District was authorized in 1928 to finance the bridge, but after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 was unable to raise the construction funds, so it lobbied for a $30 million bond measure, which was approved in 1930. But the District was unable to sell the bonds until 1932, when Amadeo Giannini, the founder of San Francisco–based Bank of America, agreed on behalf of his bank to buy the entire issue in order to help the local economy.

The Golden Gate Bridge (seen from the parking area)

Construction began on January 5, 1933, and the project ended up costing more than $35 million (about $120 million in 1974). It was completed ahead of schedule and $1.3 million under budget. The Golden Gate Bridge construction project was carried out by the McClintic-Marshall Construction Co., a subsidiary of Bethlehem Steel Corporation.

Strauss remained head of the project, overseeing day-to-day construction and making some groundbreaking contributions. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati, he placed a brick from his alma mater's demolished McMicken Hall in the south anchorage before the concrete was poured. He innovated the use of movable safety netting beneath the construction site, which saved the lives of many otherwise-unprotected ironworkers. Of eleven men killed from falls during construction, ten were killed on February 17, 1937, when the bridge was near completion and the net failed under the stress of a scaffold that had fallen.[33] The workers' platform that was attached to a rolling hanger on a track collapsed when the bolts that were connected to the track were too small and the amount of weight was too great to bear. The platform fell into the safety net, but was too heavy and the net gave way. Two out of the twelve workers survived the 200-foot fall into the icy waters, including the 37-year-old foreman, Slim Lambert. Nineteen others who were saved by the net over the course of construction became members of the Half Way to Hell Club.

The project was finished and opened May 27, 1937. The Bridge Round House diner was then included in the southeastern end of the Golden Gate Bridge, adjacent to the tourist plaza where I have stopped today to take pictures. The Bridge Round House, an Art Deco design by Alfred Finnila completed in 1938, has been popular throughout the years as a starting point for various commercial tours of the bridge and an unofficial gift shop. Not needing a gift, I didn't go in, but instead walked up onto the bridge itself.

Walking up some stairs to the pedestrian walkway and then around and onto the bridge was really neat, and I should have taken more pictures, but I was getting towards the end of the only roll of film that I had with me, and wanted to save a few pictures for the north end of the bridge. So here are my other two pictures from this end of the bridge:

This picture, my third of the entire bridge, was taken as I was walking up and around the curved pedestrian walkway and ondo the bridge. You can actually walk all the way across, if you wish, as there are walkways on both sides of the roadways.

Everybody's probably heard of Alcatraz, the prison on an island in the middle of the Bay. Originally a lighthouse, it became a federal prison from 1934 until 1963. In 1972, Alcatraz became part of a national recreation area and you can take tours out there now.

After just hanging out on the bridge for a while, I walked back to the car to drive to the north side. One of these days, I would like to return here and walk all the way across the bridge and back; I'll bet there are amazing views from the middle. Sadly, I would not get that opportunity, as we are all aware of what happened just a few years from now:

But, back to today. I got back in the car, drove across the bridge to Marin County, and then found another parking and observation area on the north side of the bridge. Once again, I was able to park and walk out onto the bridge.

When the roadway reaches Marin County, it curves around to the west, and the parking area is to the right of that. So, from that parking area, you can look straight across the bridge (without having to stand in the middle of the road). It provides a very interesting view.

I followed the walkway out onto the east side of the bridge and walked to the north tower. At each of the towers there is a walkway that juts out to go around the tower, and from there you can get views like this one, that make it look as if you are hanging in mid-air looking along the side of the bridge.

The color of the bridge is officially an orange vermilion called "international orange". The color was selected by consulting architect Irving Morrow because it complements the natural surroundings and enhances the bridge's visibility in fog.

San Francisco (seen from Marin County)

I returned to the parking area and took one last picture of San Francisco itself. I don't know why a fair number of my pictures don't turn out well, but I can only guess I have some setting that is 'off' (or perhaps I am just a poor photographer). Anyway, at right is that picture- which should have been a lot better.

It was getting late in the day, and there was a pre-conference shindig at the Hyatt, so I thought I should head back to check in.

The City of San Francisco

During the three days of the User Group Meeting, I had an opportunity to get out and walk around downtown San Francisco. This was my first time in this lovely City by the Bay, and I thought it was a very attractive and interesting place.

While you may not find it useful when you look at the pictures I took while walking around the city on lunch hours and after the conference each day, I wanted to try to show you where in the downtown area I was when I took those pictures. If you have never been to San Francisco before, it may help you understand the layout of the area so that when you do visit, as I hope you will, you will be a bit ahead of the game in learning your way around.

At left is an aerial view of the area of downtown that I traversed in my walks. First of all, the view is about a mile north to south, and a bit over a mile east to west, so the area is eminently walkable. The view runs from Telegraph Hill (the site of Coit Tower) on the north, over to Lombard Street in the northwest, down to Nob Hill in the southwest, and then over to the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero in the southeast.

I have marked on the map where I was when each picture (or, almost all of them) was taken, and in most cases I've also indicated the direction I was looking. You will see the same landmarks in many of the pictures, and I hope this will help you tie them together. I might point out that all the lettered locations were on the same walk I took one afternoon (and the pictures were taken in that order), while the numbered pictures were taken on shorter walks closer to the Hyatt Regency.

The last thing I should point out is that the aerial view is from sometime around 2015, while my pictures were taken in 1974- a 40-year span. So you won't see many of today's skyscrapers in my own pictures, although you will see some iconic structures (e.g., Coit Tower, the Transamerica Pyramid, the Bank of America Building, etc.) in my pictures that still exist today. So if you want to refer back to this aerial view, just use the number or letter I'll reference in the picture descriptions. Let's begin with the pictures taken on short walks from the hotel.

(1) Looking West Along Sacramento Street Taken a block or so from the hotel, this is Sacramento Street, and that is Nob Hill in the distance. Almost to the top of the hill, on the left, is the famous Fairmont Hotel, which is often seen in movies and television shows that take place here. The Red Knight, on the right side of the street, is one of the city's oldest restaurants.

(2) The View Down Washington Street from Nob Hill I thought there might be nice views from Nob Hill, so I walked up there a couple of times during my stay. There is a park at the top of the hill, and the famous Grace Cathedral is located there. Washington Street is two streets north of Sacramento, and at its lower end runs alongside the Transamerica Pyramid, prominently visible here.

I can't resist mentioning here that, even though I didn't know it at the time, I would eventually spend a great deal of time in San Francisco, and in fact would essentially live here for the better part of a year. And where would I live? Literally one block away from where I was standing when picture #2 was taken!

(3) San Francisco's Chinatown Famous worldwide, San Francisco's Chinatown is about 20 square blocks, and located a half-mile west of the Hyatt. Wandering up and down the streets makes you feel you are in the Orient. This particular picture was taken at Washington and Pine, and looks west. To my right, Pine runs north to the Bay, and Washington goes almost all the way to the ocean. As of 2019, Lamps of China restaurant is still in business!

(4) The Transamerica Pyramid A couple of blocks southeast of Chinatown, over on California Street, is the Bank of America Tower (at right in this picture). I am looking northeast directly at the iconic Transamerica Pyramid which, along with the Golden Gate Bridge, is one of the "symbols" that identifies the city. It was built in 1970 and is the tallest building in the city (still, as of 2019). The BankAmerica Center was completed in 1969, and is the city's second-tallest building.

Although it is hilly, San Francisco is eminently walkable, and there always seems to be something interesting to see. The people I saw on the streets of San Francisco seemed energetic and healthy, and maybe walking up and down the hills has something to do with that.

Something Interesting I Saw

I can't place where I was, but that's not important, because in this picture it's not the city I'm showing you, but a couple of its residents. I just noticed them as I came down the sidewalk (it would have been hard not to notice them), so I asked the obvious twins if I could take a picture. They both raised their hands to their hats simultaneously- almost as if they'd practiced, and that made all the difference in the picture. I might not have noticed them as twins had their outfits not been so attention-getting.

NOTE:
As I create this page in 2019, I got curious about the two women. Googling "San Francisco twins" brought me a wealth of information:

Marian B. Brown (1927 – 2014) and Vivian A. Brown (1927 – 2013) were American identical twin actresses who also appeared on television talk shows and television commercials. They became celebrity icons in San Francisco, known as the San Francisco Twins, renowned for their appearance in media with signature identically bright snappy outfits and hats atop meticulously coiffed hair. They were voted second as San Francisco's "Best Local Character" in 2000. They would often eat dinner at one of the front tables at Uncle Vito's restaurant, just below the crest of Nob Hill, San Francisco.

The Brown Twins in 2008

Marian B. Brown and twin sister Vivian A. Brown were born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, just eight minutes apart. Vivian was the elder. They grew up in Mattawan, Michigan, where they attended Mattawan High School and in 1945 graduated as co-valedictorians, giving the valedictory speech together. They went on to earn matching degrees in business education from Western Michigan University at Kalamazoo.

At the age of 43, the Browns left Michigan for San Francisco in 1970 with the intent of escaping hot summers and the long cold winter months. After they arrived in San Francisco, Vivian became a legal secretary and Marian worked at a bank. Whilst in Kalamazoo, they were often seen in the Kalamazoo mall already and always dressed identically. Both Marian and Vivian were petite at 5 feet 1 inch tall and weighing 98 pounds each. They were always seen together. They dressed alike, walked in lockstep and ate at the same speed, even lifting their forks in unison.

They never broke suit until Vivian became diagnosed with forgetfulness due to Alzheimer's disease. After a slip and fall in the summer of 2012, Vivian ended up in the California Pacific Medical Center and her condition deteriorated. In 2012, the sisters faced financial problems, after Vivian required costly medical care after her fall. San Franciscans and charities united to help keep the sisters together. Vivian died aged 85 at the Rhoda Goldman Plaza Assisted Living Center; Marian died at her home in 2014, aged 87.

(6) California Street (looking west) California Street is downtown San Francisco's "main drag", and this view of it was taken from right next to the Hyatt. The view looks up to the top of Nob Hill. You can see the Bank of America Building five blocks up the street on the left. Note that California Street is one of the ten or so streets in the city that have cable cars- certainly another of the symbols of San Francisco (and of Rice-a-Roni). One of the turning platforms for the cable cars is just behind me.

(7) Grant Avenue Through Chinatown As I walked up California Street, I crossed Grant Avenue, and took this picture looking North. On the right is the Old Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception. It is a Roman Catholic parish church built in 1854 in the Gothic Revival style, and was made a Designated San Francisco Landmark in 1968.

Old St. Mary's survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, only to be gutted a day later by the fires started by the earthquake. The fires were so hot that they melted the church bells and marble altar. All that were left were the exterior brick walls and the bell tower. The renovation of the church was completed in 1909. Dupont Street, with its association with the Barbary Coast and Chinatown, was renamed Grant Avenue, a respectful nod to former president and general Ulysses S. Grant.

(8) On California Street Near the Top of Nob Hill In this picture, I have walked up California Street and am almost to the top of Nob Hill. That place name has a storied history, once being the site of the wealthiest San Francisco residents. You can see a blending of different architectural styles from 1910 onward.

(9) Looking East Down California Street This is the way I have come up California Street, and you see one of the iconic cable cars (their dinging bells enhancing the ambience). At the base of the street is the Hyatt, and one of the towers of the Oakland Bay Bridge in the distance.

You can tell that the two shots above were taken in quick sequence, as that is the same cable car coming down the street in the left-hand picture, and heading on down the street in the right-hand one.

One day, I had a couple of hours free in the middle of the day, and so took a long walk as far as "The Crookedest Street in the World" (Lombard Street) a mile and a half northwest of the Hyatt.

(A)Coit Tower (as seen from Columbus Avenue) I began over at the Transamerica Pyramid and headed northwest along Columbus Avenue. Along the way I got a nice view of Coit Tower up on Telegraph Hill. If I had known you can climb to the top, I would have made an effort to get there.

(B)Looking Down Columbus Avenue to the Transamerica Pyramid I am almost to Lombard Street and Columbus Avenue now, and this looks back towards the hotel. I did not know it at the time, of course, but I am standing at the same intersection that will appear in the 1986 movie "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home".

Coit Tower is 210 feet tall and offers panoramic views over the city and the bay. The tower was built between 1932 and 1933 using Lillie Hitchcock Coit's bequest to beautify the city of San Francisco. The interior of the art deco tower features fresco murals in the American Social Realism style, painted by 25 different on-site artists and their numerous assistants. The tower was dedicated to the volunteer firemen who had died in San Francisco's five major fires.

(C) Typical Residential Street West of Columbus Avenue There are relatively few flat streets in San Francisco- mostly those right by the Bay. In the middle of the city, it's all hills like this one. Although I would come to learn how to do it, parallel parking on hills like this one is a skill not easily acquired.

(D) Looking Down Hyde Street Towards Alcatraz Where Hyde Street meets the Embarcadero the San Francisco cable car has one of its turntables, as the cars on this line can only grab the cable at the front (other cars can "grab" at either end). That is the famous Alcatraz Prison in the Bay (no longer used as such, though).

I didn't like the way that the buildings near me on Hyde Street obscured part of Alcatraz, so I walked back south a ways (uphill) to Lombard Street to take another picture.

The San Francisco Cable Cars have their origins in the late 19th century, when the concept of the system was first proposed and the first lines built. Prior to the 1906 earthquake, competing systems were used on different lines, and both had to compete with the new electric trolleys. After the earthquake, the electric streetcars were quicker back in operation, and cheaper to run. By the end of World War II, the cable cars were seriously outmatched. Since that time, they have become less a commuter necessity and more of a tourist experience, and all the lines are now owned by the city and run by it.

Alcatraz (The View Down Hyde Street)

The cable cars are pulled by a cable running (at a constant 9.5 mph) below the street, held by a grip that extends from the car through a slit in the street surface, between the rails. All the cables are driven by a single powerhouse near Washington and Mason Streets, and there are four separate cables- one for each line and one for the Powell Street section common to two lines- almost 50,000 feet in all. To start and stop the movement of the car, the gripman closes and opens the grip around the cable (similar to the clutch of a conventional car). The grip's jaws exert a pressure of up to 30,000 pounds per square inch on the cable. Due to wear and tear, grips are replaced every three or four days. a grip has to be replaced after three days of usage.

Apart from the cable itself (which exerts a braking force when going downhill), the cable cars use three separate braking systems. One consists of metal brake shoes on the wheels, which the gripman operates via a pedal. There are also wooden brake blocks pressed against the track when the gripman pulls a lever; these also have to be replaced every few days. Finally, there is an emergency brake- a piece of steel suspended beneath the car- which can be wedged into the slot when the gripman pulls a level. This method is rarely used, as the steel bar usually has to be removed with a welding torch.

For all its complexity, the fare for a ride is cheap- only a quarter. Passengers jump on and off at scheduled stops, sitting inside on outside, outfacing benches. Everyone hangs on to one of the hand bars all along the cars. And I noticed some of the young an agile getting on and off when the car was actually in motion!

I noticed that I was just a block away from Lombard Street, and I saw a sign for the crooked section of it, so I walked west to see what it was like. I was not disappointed.

(F) At the Corner of Chestnut and Hyde I basically followed the cable car line up Hyde street, and at Chestnut Street turned to look east. That is not Alcatraz again; that island is north of me and Hyde Street points to it. Chestnut Street points eas to Treasure Island, another island in the Bay, but this one actually occupied. The Oakland Bay Bridge is actually two separate bridges that meet on Treasure Island.

(F) At the Top of The Crookedest Street in the World One more block south brought me to the top of the section of Lombard Street that tourists all come to see. It's nickname refers to the fact that in a one-block stretch, the street has eight hairpin turns. Unlike the rest of Lombard Street, which runs from the Presidio east across Telegraph Hill to the Embarcadero, this section is one-way.

So I know you can't tell much about what the street looks like from my photograph, but there really wasn't a good place to stand to get a picture that would really show you what it was like. If I could have gotten on a ladder (I am surprised that one of the homeowners at the top of the street hasn't set one out and rented it for a few seconds at a time) I could have taken an excellent picture.

"The Crookedest Street in the World"

But this is 2019 and thanks to Google Maps and the Internet (both of which were still 20 years in the future as I stood at the top of Lombard Street that day) I can show you an aerial view of the street, the yellow star marking my location.

Lombard Street is known for this one-block section whose design, first suggested by property owner Carl Henry and built in 1922, was intended to reduce the hill's natural 27 percent grade, which was too steep for most vehicles. The crooked block is perhaps 600 feet long, is one-way (downhill), and is paved with red bricks. The sign at the top recommends 5 mph. Today, I had the street pretty much to myself, but I'm told that some days the congestion and delays caused by the tourists who want to drive down the street causes big problems. (There have even been suggestions that visitors should have to reserve a time and pay a fee to drive down the street, but how that would work is anybody's guess.)

(G) Looking Down Washington Street to the Bay Bridge I continued walking south along Hyde Street for a ways, and then kept jogging to the east, aiming for the top of Nob Hill. At Washington Street, I had a great view down the hill past the Transamerica Tower to the Oakland Bay Bridge in the distance.

(H) Looking Down Clay Street to the Transamerica Tower When I cross Clay Street, I had another good view looking down Nob Hill towards the financial district. We have an excellent view of the Transamerica Tower here.

Once again, I find an interesting coincidence to point out- one that wouldn't be apparent to me until many years later. When I took the picture above, I was standing at the intersection of Jones and Clay Streets- Jones running north-south and Clay running east-west. One block east of Jones Street is Taylor Street- a street that runs across the top of Nob Hill and right by Grace Cathedral. So I am one block west of Taylor and Clay- the very intersection at which, it would turn out, I stay for a time. You'll learn the full story a little later in this album, but my future friend Greg Grosh was living there at the moment, although I did not yet know him nor he know me. Just an interesting coincidence, I think now.

(J) At the Intersection of Taylor and California on Nob Hill

Here are my last two pictures of San Francisco (at least from this trip). In the picture at right, I have come across Nob Hill in front of Grace Cathedral, and am looking east down California back towards the Hyatt. The Bank of America building is the tall one in the center. And below is one last picture looking towards the Transamerica Pyramid with the Oakland Bay Bridge in the distance.

(H) Looking East Towards Oakland from Nob Hill

Riding on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)

I have, of course, ridden on the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) elevated and subway lines many, many times (actually the only subway or elevated train I've been on). I've long heard about the relatively new BART system here in the Bay Area, so I was looking forward to seeing what it was like.

The Embarcadero BART Station

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a public transportation system serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The heavy rail elevated and subway system connects San Francisco and Oakland with urban and suburban areas in Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Mateo counties. BART serves some 30 stations along four routes on 75 miles of rapid transit lines. Ridership has been slow to build since the full system was opened earlier this year, which accounts for the fact that you won't see many people in the pictures I took during my mid-afternoon rides on the system. But estimates are that by the end of the year, 100-150,000 weekday passengers will be using the system, making the system the fourth busiest in the country (after New York City, Chicago, and Boston.

I was looking forward to seeing how BART differed from the CTA, although one difference was already obvious- the downtown San Francisco stations I'd already peeked into were much, much more modern than those in Chicago.

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

I took another picture just below ground in the Embarcadero Station, paid my fare (about a dollar, if I recall correctly) and then went down to the train platform. I thought I would take the first train that came, and it turned out to be a southbound train heading down the peninsula to its final stop in Daly City. (The pictures I took before the train departed are at right.) The interior of the cars was pleasant enough; certainly a lot more plush and a lot newer that almost all of the CTA cars. I understand that BART tries to run trains often enough so that everyone will get a seat, although as you can see, I am definitely not riding the train at a peak time.

From the Embarcadero South to Daly City

I am not familiar enough with San Francisco to know just where the BART train came up from underground and became an aboveground line, although I recall it being at least three or four stops. The last station I recall seeing belowground was Balboa Park, and the first station aboveground- Daly City- turned out to be as far as the train currently went (although I could see more track heading south).

At left is an aerial view of the north end of the San Francisco Peninsula, and the BART line is marked on it. (You see three different colors, but the aerial view of from 2019, and by then there were multiple lines using the same track in places.)

The stations, of course, are all new and, contrary to the CTA (and, I am told, Boston and New York), the cars and stations are clean, neat and computer-controlled. Tickets are purchased from machines, and can be bought in any desired amount. As trips are made, the automatic turnstiles subtract the cost of the trip taken from the value of the ticket and, when the value reaches zero, the machine just keeps the ticket. There are normally personnel at each station, mostly for information.

At the Daly City Station

Since this was the last station, the train I was on went a short way further down the tracks to be switched over to the other side for the trip back north. So I had a chance to get off and take a couple more pictures around the Daly City station.

This picture looks west towards the Pacific. The major street is John Daly Boulevard.

This shot looks east, past some of the hotels north of the airport, across the bay (which you can't see) and to the hills above Oakland.

On the way back to the Emarcadero station, while we were still aboveground, I tried to take a picture of the control cabin for the train, but I needed my flash attachment- which I didn't have with me. One interesting thing I thought about was that, at least for tourists, there's a way to "game" the system. If all you want to do is ride around all day, then the thing to do is to finally get off at the closest station to the one you started at. That way, the machines might think you just went a short distance and deduct only a small amount from your card. But maybe they are more sophisticated, and can judge by the time encoded in the ticket (which looks like a little paper credit card) that you've been riding for a while. Or maybe for the few train addicts that would think to simply ride all day, doing all the programming necessary to charge them for the privilege just isn't worth it.

From the Embarcadero North to Concord

I still had more time when I got back to the Embarcadero Station, so I decided to see what the East Bay (the cities on the east side of San Francisco Bay). BART service is available there, running from Oakland north to Richmond and Concord, and south almost to San Jose. Much of the southern trackage was not in service in 1974, though, and I am not sure that the service to Richmond was either. But Concord service was running, and I wanted to see what that part of the Bay Area looked like.

At right is a very high-level aerial view of the East Bay area. You can see the city of San Francisco in the lower left, and the little yellow line segment there represents the part of BART I just rode on down to Daly City.

On the east side of the Bay, the yellow lines represent the BART lines that existed, in whole or in part, at the time of my visit to San Francisco. I am not sure how far BART went to Richmond (hence the question mark), nor am I sure how far south it went through Oakland.

But I know for a fact that BART went to Concord, as I have pictures of that station below, and would have had no reason (and no way) to get there other than to ride on BART.

But now a question has arisen. Between the two pictures taken at Daly City above, and the pictures coming up below that were obviously taken from the train on the way to Concord and at the Concord Station, there is a picture that seems out of place.

The Picture in Question

Looking at the aerial view above, right, you can see that this picture is obviously taken aboveground, and just as obviously from the Oakland Bay Bridge. You can tell that it looks directly west, for you can see Coit Tower and one of the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge, as well as part of Marin County. For me to have a view like this, you can see that I would necessarily be on the Oakland Bay Bridge. (I couldn't have been in Oakland, because then the Bay Bridge would itself have been in the picture.)

But I am riding BART today, and BART utilizes the Transbay Tube (an underwater tunnel) to carry its tracks from the City of San Francisco to the East Bay. So what am I doing on the Oakland Bay Bridge? I did some investigation, and discovered that the Transbay Tube didn't open until September, about five months from now, and so BART trains could not be going through it this afternoon. (In the years since, when I returned to San Francisco often, I did actually take BART through that tunnel, and it was an interesting experience.)

The only conclusion I can come to is that between the time that the BART sections on the Peninsula and over in the East Bay opened and the time the Transbay Tube was opened (the better part of 24 months), riders who wanted to get from the East Bay to the City had to be taken across the Oakland Bay Bridge on buses or some other BART-supplied vehicles. (At first I thought that there might have been rail tracks on the bridge that BART might be using, but I discovered that while the Bay Bridge did have such tracks at one time, they were removed many years ago.)

So that's my theory about this picture. I have just called BART in San Francisco, asking to speak to someone familiar with the history of the system, and I've sent them the picture itself. When and if I hear back, I will add the response to this page. But I'm assuming that BART is taking me across the Bay Bridge to the nearest station on the east side, and that I was able to get on a train heading to Concord. After we got over the hills behind Berkeley, the scenery was much more country than city:

NOTE:
The folks I called at BART HQ in San Francisco apparently had to look around for somebody who'd been there long enough to know the answer to my question, as I got a call back about two hours later from a gentleman who no longer worked for BART but was a retiree. He explained that I was indeed quite right about how I had to get across the Bay. He explained that the system was always slated to travel under the Bay to Oakland, and that, in fact, by late 1973 the tunnel was already built and the track already laid. But there had been control problems during testing; the system that ran the trains (which actually have no operators) could not reliably detect a dead train on the tracks in the tunnel section so, for safety reasons, opening of that section was been delayed (and, as I discovered, it was delayed until all the problems were ironed out in September). So for the time being, riders crossing the Bay had to follow signs in the two stations at either end of the tube to waiting buses, which ferried them in both directions across the Oakland Bay Bridge.

Just East of the Berkeley Hills

Scenery North of Orinda

I remember stopping at a few stations before finally arrving at Concord- then the last station on the line. Again, the train had to be shifted to the other track, so I got off while that process was going on and took a group of pictures. These are all at the station in Concord, California:

I headed back, but got off to make a detour to a place I'd often heard about but never visited- the University of California at Berkeley.

Walking Around the University of California- Berkeley

I suppose that most folks have heard of The University of California at Berkeley (usually just called "Berkeley"), particularly if they lived through the Vietnam era, when the campus was a hotbed of protests directed at the US involvement in that conflict. I'd seen the Berkeley campus innumerable times on the news beginning at Davidson and continuing right up to the present, so since I was going right through the Berkeley BART Station, I thought I'd get off and have a look around.

The Campus of UC Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public research university founded in 1868; it serves as the flagship campus of the ten campuses of the University of California. Berkeley has since grown to a student population of some 25,000 pursuing approximately 350 undergraduate and graduate degree programs covering numerous disciplines.

In 1930, Ernest Lawrence invented the cyclotron at Berkeley, based on which UC Berkeley researchers along with Berkeley Lab have discovered or co-discovered 16 chemical elements of the periodic table– more than any other university in the world. During the 1940s, Berkeley physicist J. R. Oppenheimer, the "Father of the Atomic Bomb," led the Manhattan project to create the first atomic bomb. In the 1960s, Berkeley was particularly noted for the Free Speech Movement as well as the Anti-Vietnam War Movement led by its students.

The Berkeley campus encompasses approximately 1,250 acres, though the "central campus" occupies only the low-lying western 200 acres of this area. Of the remaining acres, approximately 200 acres are occupied by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; other facilities above the main campus include the Lawrence Hall of Science and several research units, notably the Space Sciences Laboratory, the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute. There is a relatively undeveloped 800-acre ecological preserve, where the University of California Botanical Garden is located.

The Campus of UC Berkeley

What is considered the historic campus today was the result of the 1898 "International Competition for the Phoebe Hearst Architectural Plan for the University of California," funded by William Randolph Hearst's mother and initially held in the Belgian city of Antwerp; eleven finalists were judged again in San Francisco in 1899.

The winner was Frenchman Émile Bénard, however he refused to personally supervise the implementation of his plan and the task was subsequently given to architecture professor John Galen Howard. Howard designed over twenty buildings, which set the tone for the campus up until its expansion in the 1950s and 1960s.

The structures forming the "classical core" of the campus were built in the Beaux-Arts Classical style, and include the 307-foot Sather Tower (nicknamed "the Campanile" after its architectural inspiration, St Mark's Campanile in Venice), the tallest university clock tower in the United States. Numerous campus buildings, including South Hall (the oldest university building in California) are California Historical Landmarks and/or are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In the 1950s and 1960s, newer buildings were constructed in a very modern style- or whatever was considered to be modern at the time. You can see some of these newer buildings in the picture at right.

Sproul Plaza is a major center of student activity here at Berkeley. It is divided into two sections: Upper Sproul and Lower Sproul. They are separated by 12 vertical feet and a set of stairs. Sproul Plaza as well as Sproul Hall are named for former University of California president Robert Gordon Sproul. The Plaza was designed by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin in 1962.

It is Sproul Plaza that I remember seeing frequently on news reports of anti-war demonstrations in the late 1960s and early 1970s; the area has long been a gathering place for demonstrations of all kinds, and pretty much a free-speech zone where anyone with a cause or a grievance (many of them involving the university itself) can find an audience.

I enjoyed walking around the campus for a little while. I've only been out of college for six years now, so walking around among the students (and many of the graduate students were older than me) was still something familiar. I also enjoyed the fact that just across the street from the campus entrance nearest the BART station I found a Baskin-Robbins store.

NOTE:
Much of the narrative on this album page was actually written in 1974/1975 as I organized my slides, although this note was written when I undertook a project to convert many of my slides to easier-to-view prints and put them in albums. I found it interesting that I had mentioned Baskin-Robbins in 1975, because in subsequent years I would become quite involved with that chain of ice cream parlors. If you are going through this album chronologically, then you can look forward to the stories involving my "Baskin-Robbins Odyssey" that culminated in my receiving a "Golden Scoop Award" from the company.

I had some sessions to attend at the conference at three, so I headed on back to the Hyatt. I'd enjoyed riding on the BART system; after so many trips on the CTA, BART seemed positively futuristic. On the way back, I took this picture the Berkeley Station.

At the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero

The User Group Meeting I'd come to San Francisco to attend was held at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco- one of a small group of similarly-designed hotels within the larger Hyatt Hotel chain. The hotels in this category are all designed in the same interior style, and the trademark is a multi-story interior lobby and signature glass elevators.

Here in San Francisco, the Hyatt Regency is located at the foot of Market Street and The Embarcadero in the financial district, and is a part of the Embarcadero Center development by Trammell Crow, David Rockefeller, and John Portman. This same group of developers were also responsible for Hyatt Regency hotels in other cities- notably the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta.

That hotel, designed by Portman, was the first of the group to feature the multi-story atrium/glass elevator design that would become "standard" (where feasible) for other hotels in the group.

The San Francisco Chronicle's architecture critic John King has described the 1973 building as a "temple of hermetic urbanism" in a "self-contained sci-fi" style- "still visually dazzling, in a futuristic sort of way." At the top of the hotel is the Equinox, a rooftop revolving restaurant. The atrium (shown in the picture at left that I took from one of the glass elevators), holds the Guinness world record for the largest hotel lobby, with a length of 325 feet, a width of 160 feet and a height of 175 feet (15 stories).

I have to admit that this was the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in. I haven't stayed in much other than motels before. I did stay at the Sanno Hotel in Tokyo on R&R, but it was a military hotel and very plain. Since returning from Korea, I have only traveled to visit family and friends, and so had no occasion to stay in so nice a place. But the Bank was paying my expenses, and this was the conference hotel, so it was nice to see how the other half lives.

Check-in Process at the Hyatt Regency (Mouseover Image for Video Controls)

At left is a movie that begins with a shot of the hotel taken from the north side (California Street). The movie will show you around the lobby of the Hyatt Regency, and also the check-in process, as a random guest approaches the Registration desk, gets his room key, and is taken up to his floor in the glass elevators.

I wasn't all the way at the top of the hotel; I think my room was on the seventh or eighth floor. I did have something of a view, though, looking northeast towards the approaches to the Oakland Bay Bridge.

The User Group Meeting- A Personal Note

The Cullinane Corporation User Group Meeting turned out to be one of the two or three seminal events of my entire life- and I am looking back from the early part of the 21st century as I say this. Of these three seminal events (and by that I mean the events that had the biggest effect on the direction my life would take), one had already occurred; it turned out to be the first day I introduced myself to the IBM 1620 computer in Chambers basement at Davidson College in 1965. It was on that day that I first became aware that I had an affinity for computer technology- specifically, the programming end.

Looking back, I can see that the second seminal event actually had two parts to it- the first of which led quickly to the second. The first part of this second event was my transfer into the EDP-Audit section at Continental Bank, for, if that event had not occurred last year, I would not have been at this conference where the second part of the event took place.

I might just say here that the third event is still in the future- but not very far. It will occur in 1979 in, of all places, Daharan, Saudi Arabia. But that event has nothing to do with the first two, so I'll leave you to learn about it on the photo album page for that trip.

So what was this second, seminal event? Well, here I have to tell a bit of a story.

I checked in on Sunday afternoon, and the first official event was the welcome party that John Cullinane put on that very evening, and which I of course attended. I ran into Ted Hollander there, and he introduced me to some of the Cullinane employees from Boston who'd also come out for the conference. I found all of them to be extremely cordial and quite interesting. Ted and I had talked before the conference, and he had asked me to come prepared to do a 15-minute presentation to the General Session on Monday afternoon regarding one specific program I'd written at the Bank that he thought the rest of the attendees would be interested in (many of them being bank auditors as well). I'd made a small handout and prepared a couple of overhead transparencies for the projector, so I was all set.

The Monday afternoon session began and it presently came time for some of the attendees to make their presentations. Ted had lined up four of them, and they were supposed to be about fifteen minutes (although the session had two hours on the schedule). When we started, there were two presenters ahead of me (a fourth, apparently, had bowed out), and while they gave decent presentations, they got no real response from the audience- polite applause yes, but no discussion ensued. I know this may sound self-serving, but it was pretty obvious that neither of them were really comfortable on a stage in front of a 150 people. Then it was my turn, and perhaps you can see where this story is going.

First, I surprised the group with actual handouts and visual aids; this involved them much more. Second, I didn't speak from notes (since I'd practiced beforehand). Third, I didn't stand behind the lectern, but walked around. I did all this because I discovered, in the space of a few minutes, that while I thought I was a fairly shy, retiring sort (and actually was, in small groups), I was something completely different in front of a large group. "Fear of public speaking"? Not me, as it turned out; I loved it. In a few minutes, I was in a groove, and the audience responded. They started asking questions, and very quickly we got down into the nitty-gritty of the program; it became more of an animated discussion than a lecture.

Some time into the discussion, I realized I'd gone way over time, and I looked down to find John Cullinane to see if he wanted me to wind things up. On the contrary; he suggested that we take a short break and then continue, as things were going so well. We all continued for the rest of the afternoon, and one other auditor even came up to the stage and showed and idea he'd just had based on the work we'd done at Continental. Everyone seemed pleased, and I got a number of requests from the other auditors to send them some prinouts of the programs we'd done to supplement the notes they'd taken.

That afternoon was just great- at least from my point of view. I'd found something I really liked to do- speak to groups of people- and I had a chance to experience the rush that performers must get after doing their thing. The one thing I wasn't happy about was that this would be such a short-lived thing; I would soon return to the Bank and once again be working in a small group. And, eventually, I'd be rotated out of EDP-Audit and into something I probably wouldn't like as much. But I enjoyed the feeling while I could.

All that changed at Monday evening's cocktail party. I was very gratified when a few of the auditors came and thanked me again for the ideas we'd shared that afternoon. I also found out that evening that in addition to current users, John had invited some prospective clients from the Bay Area to attend the User Meeting, and one of them told Ted and I that based on what he'd seen during the afternoon, he was recommending that his own bank license the software.

Towards the end of the gathering, John Cullinane and Ted asked me if we could have dinner together, and I was happy to oblige. At that dinner, John again thanked me for making the presentation sessions such a success, and then dropped his little bombshell. Culinane Corporation was expanding, and putting an emphasis on the EDP-Auditor program. Ted was taking the lead on installing the software and training Auditors to use it, but there was more work than he could handle. John needed another person with audit experience to do that work, and he wanted me to work for him and do it.

What ran through my mind right then were two conflicting thoughts. On the one hand, I'd be able to continue to do two things I clearly enjoyed- work with computers and conduct classes. That work promised to be continually changing and interesting, the exact opposite of the routine work the Bank offered. But the Bank did offer security; being a hierarchical organization like the military, one could map our a clear path upward and an eventual fairly comfortable retirement (even if between now and then there would be a lot of fairly boring work).

Then John named the salary he'd be willing to pay. That's when I first learned that while you can be successful in any line of work, if you want to earn a lot of money quickly, you absolutely have to be in data processing. I don't know how often you've gotten a 60% raise, but that's what John's proposed salary was. I asked right away whether I would have to move to Boston, where the corporation was headquartered. John said that he would prefer I stayed in Chicago; I would be working all over the country, and being in Boston, way at one end of it, would actually be detrimental, as just about every weekly trip I would be taking would be a long one. Better I stay in Chicago, with a great airport and flights to everywhere. That was the other thing, though. John was upfront in that the job would involve a great deal of travel; I would be in a different place just about every week, and if I were a homebody, and enamored of a daily routine, this wouldn't be the job for me.

It took me all of sixty seconds to make my decision. Normally I over-analyze things, but this time I didn't hesitate. The job had everything I wanted, and nothing I didn't. Plus, I'd get to see the country (and, as it turned out, a good deal of the world) while doing it- and all expenses paid. So I agreed, and we shook hands on my acceptance. John asked me how soon I could start, and I suggested May 15th. That way, I'd have time to give the Bank proper notice and make sure my replacement was up to speed.

That was the second seminal event. So many good things flowed from it that in retrospect its importance really can't be overstated. The money was great, and I was able to save a great deal of it. The travel was wonderful (and you will see album pages from now on with photographs taken in the interesting places I visited). And the people were fantastic- particularly two of them. One that I would meet just a few months into my tenure was another new employee from Boston- Tony Hirsch. He and I traveled together a good deal, and would become lifelong friends. The second person wouldn't come into my life until next year, at another User Week, and he would be another new employee- Greg Grosh. As it would turn out, Greg would have more influence on my professional career than anyone else. I would eventually follow him from Cullinane, to Improved System Technologies, and to Data Junction (a company he founded with the help of a close friend of his and, to a lesser extent, myself). When that last company was sold to a larger software firm, I followed Greg one more time- into retirement.

I might also mention that Greg lived in San Francisco, and I think I mentioned above that I'd actually walked right by his apartment building this week, but of course I had no way of knowing. It was because Greg lived here, and because we would both eventually be involved in a project for Cullinane to write some new software, that I would eventually spend a great deal of time in San Francisco. Although I would never move here, it would come to feel like a second home.

Returning to Chicago

The User Week ended at noon on Wednesday, and I caught an early afternoon flight back to Chicago. I was certainly returning in a situation I had not anticipated but to which I was looking forward. A week after I returned, I would give my notice at the Bank, and I spent some of the flight writing that letter and planning how to transfer responsibility for my section to someone else. I also took pictures on the way, until it got too dark to do so.

We have just taken off to the south from San Francisco International, and are making turn back to the east over the southern part of the Bay. You can see Marin County and barely the Golden Gate in the distance.

We have made our turn, now, and are heading northeast over to Oakland. You can better see the Golden Gate now, and Marin County on the far side of it, and you also have a good view of downtown San Francisco. Note also the Oakland Bay Bridge at right and Candlestick Park in the lower left.

As we crossed the Bay, I got a better view of downtown San Francisco. You can also pick out Alcatraz and the Oakland Bay Bridge. The first span goes from the Peninsula to Treasure Island, and the second continues to Oakland.

This is Oakland. We are looking north towards Richmond, and UC Berkeley is the green area in the mid-upper right. Concord is out of the picture to the upper right. Downtown Oakland, a large city itself, is in the lower right.

Oakland, California

Interstate 580, Across the Mountains East of Oakland

Our flight path is taking us over Yosemite National Park, which is the valley in the center of the picture. I've never been there, but I would look forward to seeing it.

This is Mono Lake, which, along with the small town of Lee Vining, is at the east entrance to Yosemite. There's no snow here, as we'll be flying over desert for a ways.

I took some more pictures on the way back after I ate the meal, but it was already getting dark and all you could see was snow in the mountains anyway, so I won't include those pictures here. This was certainly an eventful trip, and a new chapter in my life is about to open up.

You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.

	April 27-28, 1974: At the O'Brian's in Indianapolis
	Return to Index for 1974