San Francisco during SIP

San Francisco during SIP

Hello Friends! Well, I’m sad to say we cancelled all of our travel plans for this year. On our last trip, we flew back to California, only to hear that the entire state was shutting down due to the spread of the corona virus which was making its way around the world. That was March 16th, 2020, the season of Covid19.

We have been sheltering-in-place for ten weeks now, venturing out only to go to grocery stores for food. Never in our lifetime have we experienced our entire world going into lockdown, with over 40 million Americans now unemployed.

San Francisco Bay Area shuts down for Covid 19

With the arrival of the Memorial Day Holiday, governments and people are anxious to reopen the country. I was curious as to whether the San Francisco Bay Area residents were ready to don a mask and step out. Having not been out of my house myself for ten weeks now, I was wondering what it was like out in the streets of one of the biggest tourist cities in the US.

Where is the traffic on the Bay Bridge?

Governor Gavin Newsom has moved to Phase Two of reopening the State. With a population close to eight million in the SF Bay Area, people here are certainly not eager to get back out and proceed to life as we knew it. Based on the lack of cars and little to no sign of life on the streets, there is a silent hush over the normal landscape of this bustling city. The streets of San Francisco have never been this empty.

Powell Street without Cable Cars

Missing are the characteristic sounds of the clanging bells of the cable cars, the rumble of the cables running beneath the tracks. Gone is the all too familiar sound of the cable cars breaking to stop and load eager passengers, each longing to hang off the baseboards as they climb the steep hills of the city. Instead, there is a ghostly silence to the city.

It is eerily quiet with a minimum of traffic and noise; all things related to normal life having been silenced. It’s definitely strange as though life on the planet has disappeared and we are walking in an episode of the Twilight Zone.

Hyde Street to Fisherman’s Wharf

Fisherman’s Wharf has been open seven days a week for all of my life. To see the famous Fisherman’s Grotto, Alioto’s Restaurant, and the famed Dungeness crab stands all silenced and still is a moment in life that we have never seen.

Deserted Crab Stalls
Fisherman’s Wharf Landmark Sign
No crab fishing today
Empty crab stalls
Ghirardelli Square

We found one restaurant open to serve the few strollers who passed by, so we did our part to support the struggling businesses who have remained open during the shutdown.

One lone vendor open for business
No one going to Alcatraz today
SF’s finest protecting the wharf after the Pier 45 Fire
Downtown Market Street
A lone pedestrian walks Grant Avenue, Chinatown
My favorite bakery from childhood…I hope this is only temporary!!

To echo the sentiments of Famous Bimbos, we certainly hope San Francisco will rise again after Covid 19. It isn’t over yet, but wear your masks, social distance at least 6′, and stay strong and safe my friends!!

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Monie Thompson