Founded in the 1700’s by the Spanish, San Francisco continued to flourish from the California Gold Rush in the 1800’s. In 1906, a devastating earthquake hit, causing massive damage. And the quakes have not stopped since then. As native-born San Franciscans, we have lived through many of those earthquakes over the years, yet we have continued to live in the Bay Area despite that.
Today, we came into the city via the Amsterdam, going under the famous and most photographed bridge in the world – the Golden Gate Bridge. The bad news was that it was pretty foggy, so it was difficult to see a lot of it. Much was the same story with passing by Alcatraz Island, named for the pelicans that nest there. During the Civil War, the US Army used this island as a prison. It became a maximum security penitentiary in 1934, earning it the name of “The Rock”. Although there is no recorded history of anyone surviving an escape, this prison closed down in 1964, as it became too expensive to run. These days it is a really popular tourist destination.
We passed by all of the places we would walk to later in the day, then docked at Pier 27, the newest Cruise Terminal. Once we were alongside, we had to attend a mandatory immigration inspection shoreside. We had been given notices with a group letter on it, and an estimated time we would be called. Even though we would be called sometime between 8:45 to 9am, we decided to go to breakfast as usual, then go off closer to 9:30am. This would be a zero count, and no one would be allowed back onboard until 11:30am. So we planned on continuing with our outing for the day, and come back later in the afternoon. Many other guests used this time to take advantage of the free wifi in the cruise terminal.
We lined up to see the agent, and when he scanned our passports thoroughly, he looked up and said welcome home. Sure is a good feeling to be greeted this way, as these officials usually are not that friendly. We were free to go and make our way to Pier 35. There was an hour before we were to meet our youngest son for lunch at the Hard Rock Café, so we toured Pier 39. The best fun there is watching the massive sea lions perched on the floating platforms at the back end. They will sometimes fight with each other, sleep, or slither off the side to hunt fish. One thing for sure….they all stink.
We checked out all of the shops, especially the salt water taffy candy store, and the Ghirardelli Store. The clothing shops really had some good deals on t-shirts and souvenirs. But we had to chuckle when we spotted the very same round purse we bought in Bali, selling for $50. We saw a similar one in Cabo for $97. Bought in Bali? Try $10. Can’t blame them for trying
It was wonderful seeing our son, and spending some quality time together. Would have been great for our oldest son to join us, but he works quite a long distance from here, it would have been impossible. With traffic in and around the city, nothing is easy these days. Our time was short, but it was soon time to say goodbye.
We were on our way to Fisherman’s Wharf, and Ghirardelli Square, taking in the scenery along the way. For a Thursday afternoon, it was really busy, especially the restaurants along the wharf, where they were serving lobster, crab, and shrimp sandwiches. Round loaves of French bread were made into bowls for clam chowder. All types of fish and shellfish were on the menus, which the city is famous for. Highly allergic for one of us, we had stuck with the burgers instead. Dungeness crabs were being cooked in big steaming cauldrons, while the lobsters waited their turn in the pot.
The fishing fleet docks were next, where we were treated to a display of a very hungry sea lion ripping into the carcass of a halibut, tossed to him by the fisherman who just fileted it. The seagulls also fought for bits of the chewed up pile of bones, head and tail. Nothing is wasted. There were several boats available to take folks on ½ or full day fishing trips for salmon, squid, abalone, sand dabs, sole, bass, ling, rock cod, maceral, and halibut. Pier 45 houses up to 300 commercial fishing boats, which is the largest concentration of commercial fish processing and distributors of the West Coast. Also located here are the ships, USS Pampanito, a WWII restored submarine, and the SS Jeremiah O’Brien, a D-Day Liberty ship, both available to tour.
The main street, Jefferson St, has shop after shop of souvenirs, and some really good buys. One happened to be a reversible water-resistant lined jacket for $25. Having already packed our arctic jackets (who knows where?), buying one of these was a great idea, even if it will have to be worn home on the plane.
Coming out at Hyde Street Pier, we saw more ships from the past….namely, an 1888 square-rigged sailing ship, an 1895 lumber schooner, a 1907 steam tug Hercules, and an 1890 walking beam ferryboat, Eureka. Ranger-guided tours were available as this is the only floating National Park in America. So intriguing to visualize living in those centuries and actually sailing on one of these historic ships. Can’t imagine it was pleasant…..
From here, we made our way through Victorian Park, but not before seeing the Powel-Hyde Street Cable Car Turnaround. And no visit is complete without taking a ride on one of these icons. Actually, these cable cars have no engines. They are pulled by a steel cable embedded in the street. And that cable is always moving at 9.5 miles exactly. There are three Cable Car lines, which we recall riding frequently when we were kids, and even adults. More of a form of transportation in those days, now they are filled to capacity mainly with tourists. And with the risk of sounding “dated”, we paid 10 cents or used a transfer from a bus to ride them. It’s quite a bit more now we heard.
On the hillside, we went to Ghirardelli Square, full of specialty shops as well as the famous chocolate candy store. It was here that we found another bargain of the day…..pumpkin pie spice chocolates for 75% off. Yes, the date was soon to expire, but they will not last that long.
Down at the water’s edge, was the South End Rowing and Dolphin Clubs, another icon of the city. There were swimmers in the sheltered Aquatic Park, as cold as that water must be, they were having a race. Also here is the Maritime Museum, where the admission was free. A great place to explore if you have more time. A kids, we also recalled going out on Municipal Pier and fishing. One of us remembered buying hot French fries on the way to fish, a good way to stay warm on this windy long pier.
Time to head back, we took our time watching the busy shops and restaurants with all of the people enjoying the variety of food offered here. One such place was Boudin Bakery, where we watched an experienced baker creating loaves of French bread….specifically, sourdough bread. We did not know this, but the French baker, Isadore Boudin, created a tart and tasty loaf of bread that had that special crust with a chewy soft heart. His creation has stuck around ever since then. The secret? It was replacing the yeast with the bacteria from yogurt that made the sourdough rise. So all of the bakers save some of the “mother dough” to use the next day, and so the story goes. Just thinking about eating this bread, makes our mouths water.
With one stop at a local CVS for some supplies, we got back to the ship by 3:30pm, an hour before the all onboard time. That left a little time to work on photos before we went out to watch the sailing out of the scenic harbor. If we had more time, we would have made our way to the Ferry Building, but that was another long walk, so maybe next time.
Heading up to deck nine, we found many guests that were going to the Crow’s Nest instead of going outside. Even though the sun had peeked out briefly, it was still cold and the wind was picking up. By the time the lines were dropped, we weathered the sail out under the Golden Gate Bridge, glad we had bundled up, and one of us very happy to have bought the new SF jacket. The only disappointment was that Captain Eversen did not go around the backside of Alcatraz Island this time. On past cruises, it gave us a closer look at the prison that once stood there. Although it was still overcast, most of the bridge was visible as we sailed under it. This time we did not see any whales, like we did last year. The views of Ocean Beach, Seal Rock, the Cliffhouse, and the coastline of Marin county kept our interest until the ice cold winds and rough seas drove us back inside the ship.
Now we are headed towards Canada for the final two ports of this journey. The next time we will see San Francisco will be when we land at the airport on Monday.
Bill & Mary Ann
