On Location: San Francisco Cable Car Crawl

Armchair Explorer

For today's 'On Location' episode, we're exploring San Francisco in the most iconic way possible. San Francisco’s cable cars are not only the first in the world – invented here in 1873 – they are also the last. And though they travel at a mere 9.5mph, with the wind in your hair, the bells ringing and track rattling, it feels more like a roller coaster tour of the city than anything else on the road.

Join us for a whirlwind journey, recorded on location, celebrating 150 years and counting of San Francisco’s cable cars. As we travel, we’re going to stop off at the highlights along the line, revealing the story of the city from its Gold Rush roots to the creativity and diversity that defines it to this day.

We’ll meet Val Lupiz, a legendary ‘gripman’, or cable car operator, for a lesson on what it takes to drive an actual 150-year-old antique. We’ll find a hidden music studio above a gift shop in Chinatown, and listen to a performance of a GuZheng, a more than 2,000-year-old traditional Chinese instrument. We’ll eat fresh seafood in one of the oldest restaurants in Fisherman’s Wharf, drink Mai Tai’s during an indoor monsoon at the Tonga Room, listen to an impromptu poetry recital about cable cars, on the cable car itself, and lots more.

Recorded on-location, this audio adventure is designed to do more than just let you hear what it’s like to be there; it’s designed to let you feel what it’s like for real.

For more information on how you can explore San Francisco for yourself, visit sftravel.com.

Thank you to everyone who featured on this show:

- Val Lupiz, Cable Car Museum

- Gimmy Park Li, Wok Wiz Walking Tours

- Fang-Li (and students Katie and Catherine), Shangri-La Gifts

- Josh and Michelle, Fairmont Hotel and Tonga Room

- Tom Creedon, Scomas Restaurant

- James Morehead, Viewless Wings, Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast

This show was produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry. Find out about all our shows at armchair-productions.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices