Tours of the Tales

Coit Tower, 1 Telegraph Hill Blvd (summit of Telegraph Hill)

Coit Tower is occasionally mentioned in Armistead Maupin’s books.  The first time was in Tales of the City:

As a trophy of his weekend tryst with Mary Ann in Mendocino, Beauchamp stole the brown and white polka-dot scarf Mary Ann wore that weekend.  He hid it in his underwear drawer.  Shortly after Beauchamp’s return from Mendocino, DeDe coyly remarked to him that she had recently spoken to Splinter Reilly.  She said that Splinter knew nothing about a Guardsmen event on Mount Tam (Beauchamp’s excuse for his absence during the weekend).  Knowing he had been busted, Beauchamp decided to walk their dog, Caesar, up to Coit Tower…afterhe removed Mary Ann’s scarf from his underwear drawer and planted it in the glove compartment of the Porsche for DeDe to find.

At one point in his life, Gabriel Noone (The Night Listener) lived just below Coit Tower on the Filbert Steps. More about this will be provided below in this tour.

Coit Tower is one of the most iconic landmarks in San Francisco.  It is worth a visit. 

There is a widely held myth that the design of the tower was inspired by the nozzle of a fire hose.  Another myth is that the design was inspired by the anatomy of a particularly fortunate male.  Enough said. 

Coit Tower