San Francisco, Part 2

The Golden Gate Bridge emerging from the trees.

     After exploring Land's End and catching lunch at the Seal Rock Inn, we headed towards the Golden Gate Bridge to view it up close. We drove by some pretty amazing houses to get there and stopped at a lookout along the way. Once at the bridge, I learned a few things very quickly. The bridge is a lot longer than it looks in the pictures, you have to pay to drive on the bridge, and it is a huge tourist attraction, complete with gift shops and cafe. We decided that a walk on the bridge would do us more good than a quick drive, traffic, and tolls. As soon as we got close to the bridge entrance I noticed Alcatraz on the river, and we could also see Downtown San Francisco and the Bay Bridge. Since it's such a long bridge, it was breezy and slightly rainy, and we were running short on time, we decided to just walk to the halfway point and back. It was a cool experience, but not the most pleasant. The traffic was extremely noisy and the bridge wobbled underneath our feet, which made me kind of uneasy at first. I started thinking about earthquakes and how this would be a poor place to be if a big one hit, but I got over it as we kept walking.
     The views were amazing. And it was surreal to see the architecture of the bridge up close. There were signs noting the directors of the building of the bridge with many years, names, and dates. I learned that construction of the bridge began in 1933 and was completed in 1937. Beneath us was an old fort that I would love to explore sometime. And one of the neatest parts for me were the locks fastened on the bridge gates with names of couples engraved on them. How romantic to lock your love forever on the Golden gate Bridge!

Alcatraz through the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge.

David, Adele, and Me on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Locks of Love.

     Afterward, we drove through Golden Gate Park on our way to Haight Street. I didn't understand what was so exciting about it until I experienced it. Haight and Ashberry, or as my brother Patrick referred to it, Hashberry, was definitely an experience. It had some crazy hippie shops and a lot of eccentric people.

Every day is Halloween in the store Loved to Death.

Adele as a Hippie!

Random legs sticking out of a storefront window.

After buying a few souvenirs, we drove to Uncle Tom's house to pick him up along with Indy and go out to dinner. We went to the Beach Chalet right along the coast of Ocean Beach. We had a great dinner and sampled the restaurant's brews. Across from the restaurant, there were people lighting bonfires and fireworks on the beach, which made very nice entertainment. Eric didn't make it to San Francisco after work so we took him some dessert, but not before we paused for some pictures with Uncle Tom.