Final Days in San Francisco

Slowly but surely, each of the family members started leaving for home.  We all realized the holidays were coming to an end, but there were still some fun activities that we squeezed in the last few days we were there.

Cameron and Jaxon wanted one last tour of "the city," so they invited George and me to tag along.  What a great time we had!

Although we couldn't get off for a tour on Alcatraz because of all the tickets gone weeks ago, we did the next best thing--we took a boat ride which took us all around the harbor which included getting up very close to Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.  

The tour included headphones which coincided exactly with what you were seeing on both sides.  It made it so interesting.

It was a beautiful day, but pretty cool out there on the water. 

Passing by Pier 39, the Trans-American Building (the triangular shaped building), Telegraph Hill, and Coit Tower.

There's our favorite--Ghirardelli Square

Heading toward Golden Gate Bridge.

This is how they keep the bridge painted and in good repair.  The little box on the left goes along tracks which carry the men inside who do the work.

International Orange was selected as the color of the bridge because it provided visibility in the fog for passing ships and also because it was a color that fit in naturally to the bridge’s setting and the surrounding land area.

We passed a little island filled with birds and sea lions.

After turning around, we now were headed for Alcatraz.

This small island was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison (1868), and a federal prison from 1933 until 1963.



Alcatraz is located a mile and a half off-shore from San Francisco.

You can see why another name for Alcatraz is "The Rock."

In addition to the prison cells, the island also provided housing for the Bureau of Prisons staff and their families.

At the very top, you can see the Alcatraz cellhouse, lighthouse, and Warden's House which was burned out during the 1969-71 Native American occupation.

Beginning in November 1969, the island was occupied for more than 19 months by a group of Native Americans who were making many demands for the many treaties broken by the US government and for the lands which were taken from so many tribes.  You can still see reminders of that time by this sign.

After the 19 months of occupation, excess unused lands in other parts of the country were given to many tribes.  In 1972, Alcatraz became a national recreation area and received designation as a National Historic Landmark in 1986.

A sign warning those thinking about helping prisoners escape, that they will face imprisonment themselves! 

Alcatraz was designed to hold prisoners who continuously caused trouble at other federal prisons and during the 29 years in use, the jail housed some of the most notorious criminals in American history, such as Al Capone, Robert Franklin Stroud (the Birdman of Alcatraz), George "Machine Gun" Kelly, James "Whitey" Bulger, and Alvin "Creepy" Karpis (who served more time at Alcatraz than any other inmate.) 

During its 29 years of operation, the penitentiary claimed that no prisoner successfully escaped.  A total of 36 prisoners made 14 escape attempts, two men trying twice; 23 were caught, six were shot and killed during their escape, two drowned, and five are listed as "missing and presumed drowned".

Opposite the Golden Gate Bridge is the San Francisco-Oakland Bridge

The bridge consists of two sections of roughly equal length; the older western section connects downtown San Francisco to Yerba Buena Island and the newer eastern section connects the island to Oakland.

Here we are at the end of our tour--we really enjoyed it and learned so much!

The fun thing about walking down at the wharfs is you never know what you might see!

No visit is complete without seeing all the sea lions basking in the sun.

Before we left John and Alison's house, we were instructed to bring home the donuts!  The little stand where they make them always has a line even though this little machine pumps them out as quickly as they drop in the oil on one side, are flipped over on the other, and drop out onto a table where they are quickly scooped up for the next anxious customer!

Those donuts, along with some hot chocolate, made a perfect treat.  We had to make sure we could bring home plenty to the family.  (Actually, we had one more bucket, too!)

You can see how well people heed this sign!

After getting back into our car, we decided to drive down the most famous street in San Francisco--Lombard Street.  There were actually police officers directing traffic to get there because there were so many cars wanting to do this, but it was certainly worth the wait.

Look at that view!

And you just continue to weave back and forth until you are at the bottom.

Can you just imagine living in one of these houses and having cars just outside your door at all times of the day and night?

View from the bottom looking up.

Lombard is the only street that weaves back and forth, but so many of the others are so steep, you can't imagine how they even were able to construct anything on something so steep.

We next drove up to Telegraph Hill.  It was just starting to get dark, and the view was spectacular!

The hill owes its name to a a windmill-like structure erected in September 1849, for the purpose of signaling to the rest of the city the nature of the ships entering the Golden Gate.  With its raiseable arms, the telegraph operator let people know the type of cargo being carried by the ship so that someone wouldn't pay too high of a price for an item which would soon drop with the added cargo in the city. 

From there, we went to Coit Tower, built in 1933 using Lillie Hitchcock Coit's money (which was one-third of her estate) to beautify the city. 

There is a story that claims that the tower was designed to resemble a fire hose nozzle due to Coit's fondness for the San Francisco firefighters of the day, but the resemblance is coincidental.  Through her youth and adulthood Lillie was recognized as an honorary firefighter and is today the matron saint of San Francisco firefighters.

 

Inside the Tower are fantastic murals, but since it was not open, we weren't able to see them.

View from the Coit Tower parking area.

After we got home, it was time to take Kent and Natalie and their family to the BART station for their flight home. 

The next day, we were back at the BART station taking Amy for her trip home.  Oh, my!  Now everyone was gone except George and me!

We went back to a very quiet house.  But, George and I still had a few more days of great fun with the Wildes!

On New Year's Eve, John and Alison took us to a wonderful place for Chinese food. 

Absolutely the best!

Bracken came straight from work at Best Buy.  His boss is so sad that he is leaving soon because he offered him a full-time position and absolutely loved him!  Not only was he so dependable and such a hard worker, he was almost daily the top seller.  Way to go, Bracken!  But, of course, you aren't going to talk Bracken out of going on that mission for anything!

We thought this was so appropriate when Bracken opened his fortune cookie:

The next day, we went over to the church where Tyson was playing in a little tournament. 

Bracken was such a great, big brother playing with Preston.

Preston was loving it! 

With all the boys gone, Preston solicited someone else to come and play with him--his Grandpa George!

Preston laughed and laughed when his grandpa had to stop for a breather!

Preston is such a great little sport and definitely a basketball fan all the way!

It was so pleasant to just sit outside in their beautiful seating area.  No matter where Grandpa went, Roscoe and Roxie thought they needed to be there, too!

One final special memory of our time with the Wildes:  Preston absolutely loved Grandpa George's drink and usually drank more of it than Grandpa did.  He kept asking him how he made it and as per usual, Grandpa said he didn't share the recipe with anyone.  But finally after numerous requests, Grandpa told him to go get a paper and he would tell him how to do it.

So here is the recipe for "Grampo favorit sekrit drignt."  It took quite some time for this to be written, so Grandpa said he would help write it.  There it is!!!  Fifteen steps--with so many fractions and percentages--I highly doubt Grandpa's secret will still be known to Preston, but if you look closely, you could probably do it!  Now I am definitely in trouble for sharing this!  Hah!

Then, it was time for us to leave.  There were tears as we hugged Bracken, especially, good-bye.  Two whole years--but we just couldn't be any prouder grandparents!  Best wishes, Bracken!  We love you so much!

And to John and Alison and their family--definitely a time together that we will never forget!  You all were so willing to make us all feel so comfortable with so much great food, great surroundings, and great fun!  THANKS so much for all you did!