Disclaimer: Marci did a great job summarizing the highlights of the first half of our summer vacation to California. I'm going to spend a "few" words talking about some of the other stuff we saw and experienced that didn't make the "highlight reel" (essentially, show off some of the other pictures I took). If you haven't read her account of the trip, I'd suggest reading it first.
Day 3: San Francisco:
The next day we ferried across the bay, to San Francisco (Pier 1). The ferry across the bay was really interesting as it was the morning commuter crowd. Nearly everybody was staring down at either a phone, tablet, e-reader, or book. I even saw somebody with a real-life printed newspaper (Ha!). I wonder if this is a new phenomena or if in the past people just stared at printed materials and still never spoke with their neighbors. (This was a stark contrast to the ferry to Alcatraz, it being an exclusively tourist ferry).
Once we were across the bay, we hopped on a street car (Not a Cable Car) to quickly take us along the piers to peir 33 where we were to catch the ferry to Alcatraz.
Side Note! The Street cars in San Fransico are really neat in that they are old restored street cars from around the US. When people think of San Fransisco Street Cars, they are probably thinking of the Cable Cars, which are mostly rolling death traps for tourists to ride. Seriously, they slam wooden wooden planks into the ground as their breaking system. The planks heat up and you can smell the wood burning when they are in use.
The Street cars were an odd mix of commuters and tourists. One family of tourists from overseas hopped on after us, but didn't have the exact change required to pay the fare. Fairly quickly, another passenger helped them make change and we were on our way. I wondered how often the locals see this happen and are just prepared to help, or if this was a more gracious individual.
Soon we made it to peir 33, hopped on the ferry and were on our way to Alcatraz. Some interesting facts about Alcatraz. (1) It is a
national park operated by the United States National Park Service, which means there were real life park rangers, guided tours, etc. (2) It was much more fun than I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, I though It would be fun, but the tour and the island was much more enjoyable than I anticipated, despite the crowds (approx 5,000 people visit Alcatraz each day).
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| Escaped Prisoners! |
Despite the crowds, I was still able to enjoy the tour and get some pictures of the cellhouse, island gardens, and the seagulls that were omnipresent on the island. It was as if the seagulls were still guarding the rock.
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| Cell Blocks |
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| Cafeteria (Aka, the most dangerous place on Alcatraz) |
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| Adult and Baby Seagull |
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| Flower from the Gardens |
After visiting Alcatraz we wandered around Peir 39 and fisherman's wharf, ducking in and out of shops as the rain grew and waned: it drizzled all day. Out original plan was to rent bicycles and ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, however, due to the weather we choose to walk to Lombard Street and explore the city on foot.
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| Van going down Lombard Street |
I knew that San Fransico was hilly, but I had no idea to what extent this was true! It would be quite a challenge to be a cyclist in that city.
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| I would hate to drive a manual transmission here! |
Day 4: More San Francisco, the California coast, and the Haunted Hotel.
After our day in San Fransico, it was time to head up the coast to visit the redwood forests. Before we left , we decided to visit the
Alamo Square Park, which is famous for it's view of San Francisco as well as being featured in the opening of the popular 90's television show Full House.
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| .....Everywhere you look.... |
We then drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and took the long way (read, got lost) to the scenic overlook. After taking in a pretty awesome view of the bridge we headed up the coast along
highway 1. If you like curvy/adventurous roads, then you must go drive
highway 1 out of San Francisco!
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| The wind, and improper timer settings, made this picture a winner. |
The drive was incredibly foggy and while this ruined most all the would be amazing views of the ocean, it added a surreal sense of being up in the middle of nowhere, which I found to be quite relaxing. A while later we stopped at a lighthouse but got there just minutes after it closed, we still got a decent view of it though.
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| Point Arena Lighthouse |
Eventually we made it to the quite coastal town of Westport, CA, well known for it's
yearly rubber ducky races, and checked into the Westport Hotel. We had a room facing the beach and were hoping to see an amazing sunset to finish out our day, however, the fog made for a less than stunning view. Instead of watching the sunset, we spent some time going over our plans for the rest of our trip and enjoying the hotel's sauna and massage chair.
We had the whole bed and breakfast to ourselves for the night, which was nice until things got creepy.
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| Boo! |
Up Next...
The Redwood Forests!!
