San Francisco and Fishermen’s Wharf

The next stop of interest on our California trip was to San Francisco and more specifically Fishermen’s Wharf. Our travel to get there included going over several bridges, including the Golden Gate. Some of the others were just as fascinating in their structure and design.

Arriving in San Francisco, I didn’t realize how many skyscrapers it had. I knew it was a big city, but not in this sense. Downtown was as busy as any of the other cities you might go to.

We spent a fair deal of time trying to find parking at Fishermen’s Wharf, because of the fact that it is a crowded place in terms of both buildings and people. We were finally able to find a place to park and the first place that we headed was Ghirardelli Square, where the world famous chocolates originated. I was able to get a delicious mint chocolate shake from their ice cream shop. In  addition they had a place where you could watch a basic process of how the chocolate is made and what makes Ghirardelli chocolate better than the rest.

  After viewing the chocolate square, we started making  our way up the street to see some of the other unique things that are featured along the wharf. There were plenty of boats in the marinas, mostly available for tourists who wanted to go on tours or charter fishing. 

The amount of street vendors we saw was also amazing. They were everywhere. If you’ve ever wanted a SF T-shirt, there were multiple places to buy them for very little money. The area is a shopper’s dream with major stores and restaurants.

Our next stop was the Boudin Sourdough Bread factory. San Francisco is also known for its sourdough bread establishments. The most well known is Boudin. They have a big building down by the waterfront that features a cafe for eating various meals that make use of sourdough bread. There is also a tour that we went on. You get to see the history of the company, as well as the bakers working on making bread.  

Our last stop for the day as the town across the bay called Sausalito. There we purchased the some San Francisco souvenirs. We also drove across the Golden Gate Bridge to get there.

  

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Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

After driving through the Redwoods my family and I continued on our trek and headed down to the San Francisco area. We had several places that we planned on going to. Some were in San Francisco, and some were in surrounding cities.

For the duration of the stay we roomed in the city of Fairfield, at a hotel called Homewood Suites, one of the Hilton brand hotels. They offer both breakfast and dinner there, so it can be a bargain if you have a larger family.

Our first destination was a visit to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo. The park itself has been in the area for a while but hasn’t always been a Six Flags park. My parents have always known it as Marine World, which has been the name of the park until just a few years back. The theme for the park is Land, Water, and Air, as it features marine and land wildlife, as well as a variety of rides which are supposed to represent Air.

The marine portion of the park was sort of like a miniature version of SeaWorld in that they had water shows that you could watch. We were able to see dolphins, sea lions, tigers, and orcas. I don’t think that the shows are nearly as good as you would be able to see at SeaWorld, but they were still fun to watch.    

 

We were able to spend a whole entire day just at Discovery Kingdom. The rides were pretty fun too. There is one that is called something along the lines of Whitewater Rafting. It is similar to the Disney’s California Adventure’s Grizzly River Run. I got very soaked on that ride and it took me a few days to get my wallet completely dry. I also enjoyed riding a completely wooden roller coaster called Roar. It was pretty rickety, but you go extremely fast. It’s worth the stop if you are ever in the area.

A Roller Coast Named ROAR!

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A Walk Through the Redwoods

The last vacation of the summer got under way for my family recently. My parents served their church missions in Northern California, so they decided to take the time and take us back where they served, as well as a little bit south of the area.

So with that we took a drive along the U.S. Highway 101 from the southern Oregon border down through the northern part of California.

We were able to stop at the at several locations such as the Trees of Mystery and the Founder’s Grove. It is amazing sight to see the size of the California Redwoods, especially through the Avenue of the Giants. The Trees of Mystery is just off of the highway located in Klamath, California. It features several scenic trails (although there are many to try in the area), has a large gift shop, and looks like it can be the gathering place for some large events. They also feature a sky car that takes you through the treetops for an even larger breathtaking view. We didn’t actually ride it because of time and its cost, but we did go through the Indian museum that was there. It featured artifacts from different tribes and areas of North America.

Finally there were two large statues of Paul Bunyan and his trusty ox Abe. Paul is interactive too, meaning that he will answer in questions you might have, or just talk to you if your in the mood.  

After driving for almost a whole day we stopped for the night in Arcata/Eureka, two towns that my parents served in for awhile. Eureka is a town that is somewhat similar to Astoria in that the logging industry is prevalent and the weather is often times overcast. It is also a town right next ocean. One restaurant that is renowned the area is called the Samoa Cookhouse. Despite its name, they do not serve Samoan food there. The Cookhouse is claims to be the last logger style restaurant.

The food there is home style cooking, with enough for the appetite of the logger. There is no menu but rather a three-course meal, with the dishes served changing each day. We had fresh bread, salad, and beef soup to begin with. That was delicious as it was, but then we got the main meal which consisted of roast beef, pork steak, baked potatoes, and peas. The pork was slightly dry, but everything was delicious. Although the price is slightly high, it is worth it. I also forgot to mention that it is all you can eat.

On our way through we drove the Avenue of the Giants, an alternate highway that takes drivers into the heart of the Redwoods. Looking up into the canopy really shows the height and size of the trees.

  The last stop we had was through the legendary, world-famous Chandelier Drive-Thru Tree. There are several other drive-thru trees, but none are as good as the original. My family was able to get several pictures of the tree with us, including a few with our van in it. It was a tighter squeeze than we expected. I think it is also important to note that the tree is alive and well, and looks just as big and green as the rest of trees in the forest, if not bigger.

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