Long, Strange Trip: San Francisco, CA

7/28

Our stay at Sonoma Coast Beach had been tainted by the winding roads, chronic car sickness, late arrival and disappointing beach. Things had gone much more smoothly than expected up until that point so this slight blip on the trip was of no concern and we accepted our situation graciously. All the same it was not a very difficult departure. After a breakfast of egg sandwiches again (go with what works) we were out in a flash around 8:00 A.M. It was a hotel day! No matter what the plans for the day were, the anticipation of a hotel stay brightened the outlook of even the biggest complainers (Paul). The drive to San Francisco was about 3 hours and thirty minutes including two stops along the way. Today, much like yesterday, we were greeted by our friends “the coast following California roads”. Maybe to some, it is a bright spot on the drive with fantastic views of fog shrouded cliff sides and jagged rocks peeking out from the Pacific but to our family its effect was much groaning, closed eyes and waves of nausea. You think we would have learned our lesson the day before. Muir Woods, the most famous of all California Redwoods Forests, named after environmentalist, nature lover and preserver John Muir is where we were headed. We had seen many Redwoods now and I would like to say I could now identify one and give someone some facts but we decided it would be a shame to pass by Muir Woods when we had a National Parks pass that got us in for free. Our first clue as to how famous this place actually was would be the sight of cars lined up for at least a mile along the side road leading into the park. It was a small parking area but it seemed it had filled up almost as soon as the park opened. The place was full of energy and people scurried around like ants, we got some advice on which trails to take and entered the bee hive. A large boardwalk offered a variety of views and branching off it were various trailheads. The beauty was undeniable it but it seemed more like a zoo than Wilderness. The trees were massive as expected but the throngs of people in the park deterred us from our original plans and after walking along the boardwalk for about thirty minutes we decided to head back and get on our way. Before that we had made a similarly short stop at Point Reyes National Sea Shore. We visited the visitor Center and did a small trail to Stinson Beach but didn’t do much more. Lunch would have to be eaten at the game. We were on somewhat of a tight schedule and bypassed some discussed stops in order to take showers, check in to the hotel and head to the Giants Vs. Cubs game at 1pm. We made it to our hotel around 12pm and struggled to have a quick turnaround. Our only hope of making it to the game on time was hinging on our parents understanding of the Bay area’s Train Car system. I’ll just say they didn’t have a good grasp of the situation. After getting on a cable car a short walk from our hotel and managing to get off at the right stop it was all confusion from there. We needed to get on the N line apparently, and my mother desperately ran around asking strangers, following directions until we were lost again, panicked and finally realizing the inevitable; we would have to walk the mile distance to the stadium. Considering how the past 24 hours had gone it was a minor inconvenience. The game was packed and our original seats were at the highest row in the whole stadium. It began to get very cold at the top as the seats were under the canopy and it was a windy section of the park. The family searched for sun bathed seats closer to the action around the fourth inning. This is when we got lunch. Finn, Paul and I got a chili dog, pizza and mini corn dogs, respectively. The food would not be my only purchase of the game though as I bought a very nice, (even my parents agreed) Negro League Baseball cap from the former San Francisco Seals. It is a good souvenir from the city. The game was a pitcher’s duel and it was an awesome feeling to be watching a game in San Francisco. The stadium had a great view of the bay and it was cool to see the Kayakers and boaters in McCovey Cove beyond right field. I had been rooting for the Cubs as they were the underdog and closer to home and they won a closely contested game 2-1. We walked two blocks after the game to a small restaurant called 21st Amendment, which was a brewpub that brewed its own beer and focused on the repeal of prohibition in their menu and their coasters. Dinner was wonderful but it seemed as though many Giants fans had the same idea as us and the place was jam packed. After heading back to the hotel and getting cleaned up we had a uneventful though rushed trip to the ferry port for our departure to the night tour of Alcatraz prison. It began with a boat ride across the bay over grey waters and under greyer skies. The wind picked up about halfway across and the boat driver assured us that all of us tourists who thought we would be in typical, sunny California were in for a big surprise. The island was in sight the whole trip but it was a surreal moment, one of many from this trip, when we pulled alongside the storied fort and prison. It had a history, a long, famous yet pained history filled with everything a good movie should include and in fact many movies have been made about the place. The one word that sticks in my mind after our visit is dreary. It is a dreary place and I could not imagine what young prisoners were thinking as they arrived at their new home for the first time. At first we had a brief history of the island and then had a very interesting self guided audio tour through the island focused mainly on the prison and its history. After the audio tour, we took in a presentation on one of our audio narrators, a former inmate. I wish that I could describe the whole visit in detail but I have written far too much already, I promise the day is almost over, thank you to all who have read up until this point. We headed back on the 8: 40 ferry and one event, the battle for Alcatraz remained stuck in my mind. It was a time when 6 prisoners staged a revolt, overpowering guards and holding hostages. In the end, grenades were dropped on the prison, 6 guards were killed, five shot in cold blood and five of the prisoners executed. I was filled with a morbid interest in the story and promised myself I would do more research at a later date. Once we got back, we entered a boardwalk type wooden walkway on Pier 39 (Fisherman’s Wharf) filled with stores and restaurants and the sounds of music, chatter and laughter. The place was alive at this time of night and we watched various street performers and bought some ice cream for the trip back to the hotel. It reminded me of my time in Louisiana and I wish I could have stayed all night. I loved the area and could not impress enough on my mom how much I wished we had an outside downtown/ mall type area in South Portland. With the whole family in good moods but exhausted from the busy day we headed home to go to sleep in our comfortable hotel and think about everything we had done that day.