On to San Francisco!

Our first view of the Golden Gate bridge.

We stayed in Oakland CA, for the composting conference that Steve was attending, but we were able to go into San Francisco for the afternoon. Driving and parking are such an issue, that we were strongly advised to take the BART across the bay, then use the streetcars to get around. After some initial trouble figuring out the subway maps, we got the hang of it and actually enjoyed the subway. I didn't figure out until after we rode it, that the subway actually goes under the San Francisco Bay. I knew it went underground, but for some reason I didn't think about it going under the water too. Duh!

We took the BART to the Ferry Building, then took a streetcar to Fisherman's Wharf. All of the piers are numbered and the most well known is probably Pier 39, which has many restaurants, shops, etc on it. We wandered around there for a while, then went down to Hyde Park Pier, which is owned by the National Park Service. We were able to tour this beautiful old ship. It was built in Ireland, and hauled people and good from England to California, then took wheat and other crops back. They were in the midst of a famine in Ireland, so the wheat and other crops were badly needed. This was before the Panama canal was built, so that was a long voyage indeed!

Later the ship was used to take goods to Alaska, and brought canned salmon back

The interior of the ship was nicely restored with crew quarters (tiny!), captain's quarters, mess area, and cargo. These are some goods they might have brought from England. There were all kinds of household items, books, clothing, practical items and some luxury items.