In August 2025, My family made a trip to the Bay area, and visited California's Great America, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, and San Fransisco. San Francisco was the last part of our trip, and we spent two days, on August 8th and 9th, 2025, in the city.

On the morning of August 8th, we would leave Vallejo, and begin our journey to San Francisco. We had a big day ahead of us, and we were very excited to see the many sights and sounds of San Fran, including the famous Golden Gate Bridge. We would have a smooth drive, only getting into traffic before they bay bridge. We got to our hotel around 11am, and dropped off our bags, and parked the car. We planned to walk around the city for the afternoon, as it was rather nice and sunny out. We would first hit up the famous Lombard Street, and it would take us about 10 minutes to walk there. We got there, and it was very interesting seeing such a curvy street. I enjoyed the many plants and the architecture of the area, and following we spent some time exploring the area around it. We would go to the Ghirardelli Chocolate Experience, and get lunch there. The Ghirardelli Chocolate Experience is a mixed use retail space, along with the chocolate shop. We would get lunch at Broad Street Oyster Company, which was really good. I had the pasta and it was pretty good. We would continue to walk around the area, seeing the beach and a little of Jefferson Street. We would take a break, to have a nap and do a little laundry, before our tour of Alcatraz.

We would go to Boundin to get some baked snacks before our early tour time the next morning, and we also had an early dinner. We would board our ferry to Alcatraz, and we would soon slip into the fog of the bay, turning our sunny day into a rather cloudy day. Alcatraz was cold, but seeing the prison in real life, and seeing how it was organized and how the island was a small community was interesting. I still think the fact people escaped, and then less than a year later they closed the prison is funny to me. We would spend about an hour or so on the island, before taking the ferry back to the mainland. I found it interesting, in retrospect, that the 10 minute ferry to alcatraz had a snack bar, while the Jet Express to Put-In-Bay, which is nearly 30 minutes long, lacked one.

After Alcatraz, we would head over to Pier 39, as a small detour before heading back to the hotel. I would go to ride the Carousel, which was a double decker carousel, featuring the different artworks of sites around the city. I would ride on the upper floor, and I would ride on a seal, only because it was not a horse, and I like unique animals on carousels. The cost of the Carousel was $9, and it was ok for the price. We would go home after our time at Pier 39.

The next morning, August 9th, we would wake up early for our tour of San Francisco. We would walk to the meeting spot, which was next to a farmers market. We would board the buss, and go around the city early in the morning, seeing different sites, including the Palace of Fine Arts, a lookout spot to see the golden gate bridge, and the Muir Woods National Monument. The Muir Woods were beautiful, filled with the tall redwoods. It felt like I was walking on Endor, seeing all the plant life. Before we left the Muir woods, we would stop and get a Hot Chocolate, as it was rather chilly deep in the woods. The coolest part of the woods was seeing the Banana Slugs. They are yellow, and I thought they were neat. Following, we would get lunch, and it was good. We had good views of the City, but we couldn't see the Golden Gate Bridge. On the way back to the beginning point, we would take a look at another lookout spot, and the bridge was still covered in fog. This was funny to me, as in 2021 at the Grand Tetons, I couldn't see the mountains because they were covered in fog and rain the entire time I was there. After our tour, we would go take a nap, as we were up early for the tour.

After our nap, we would go to Golden Gate Park, which if you don't know is a large park in San Francisco. I really only wanted to go as it appears in Star Trek 4, the Voyage Home. What I did not know, however, was that they had an antique carousel in the park. This Carousel was originally built in 1911, and would see service in amusement parks in Los Angeles, and Portland Oregon. It would be installed in the park in 1940, and has been here since. The cost to ride is $2.50, which is a very reasonable price to ride. I rode on a Cat, which I found to be most interesting as an animal choice. Afer riding the Carousel, we would walk around the park, seeing some of the artwork and other buildings in the park.

We would leave the park, and take a Waymo to dinner. If you don't know what a Waymo is, its a Self Driving taxi, which is really cool. My mom initially didn't like how it was about 10-15$ more expensive then an Uber, but after boarding the Waymo, she commented how nice and clean the car was. The fact that is was a safe ride as well, my mom commented how there could be times were she would prefer to spend the extra money for a Waymo. I liked how smooth it was at driving, and it got us to our dinner on time. Our dinner was at Original Joe's, and their Ravioli was AMAZING. We didn't have to wait too long for a table either, despite the dinner rush. I was thinking about the Ravioli for WEEKS after having it. After dinner, we would head back to our hotel, to get ready to fly home to Cleveland.

San Francisco is a really cool city to visit. I wish I had one more day, to try some of the asain food options the city had. I also wish the Golden Gate Bridge was not shrouded in fog the entire time, but I guess I will have to make a visit back in the future. I loved how walkable the city is, it really reminded me of Europe on how walkable it is. I really like to go back, just to see more of the city. I've attached some photos below from the trip.