Coit Tower - San Francisco, CA

March 9, 2012

The third stop on my 30th birthday tour of San Francisco was Coit Tower. I've been wanting to visit the tower ever since my senior prom when my brother told me that after his prom his limo driver took his group up to the top of Telegraph Hill. The tower wasn't open at the time, but the view is still pretty great. Unfortunately for me, our limo driver wouldn't take us up there, even though he owed us some time for being late picking us up.  We had to instead settle for going home the long way by going over the Golden Gate Bridge, which was pretty cool as well, especially since I had never driven over it before.

My brother was totally right, the views from the parking lot are pretty incredible, but we decided to pay the $10 (or  however much it is - my friends paid for me as part of my birthday gift) and ride the very cramped old elevator to the top. The cost is totally worth it in my opinion. You get the full 360-degree view of the city - The Golden Gate, the Bay Bridge, the Transamerica Building, Alcatraz, the Ferry Building - you get it all...if there's no fog. Fortunately, we were lucky enough to be in the city on one of those rare days when you can see all the way across the Bay. And the tower itself is such an interesting structure. It was built in 1933 as a monument in honor of Lillian Hitchcock Coit, who was an eccentric wealthy socialite and honorary volunteer firefighter for the City. The top is open, but safety glass has been installed in all the windows. The number of people allowed at the top is regulated, thank goodness, but it can still get a little cramped. But most people were pretty nice about taking in the view and then moving back so others could see as well.