And apparently Peter brought the sun with him, as we had the most glorious weather for his entire visit! Monday through Thursday brought temperatures in the 80's - even on the coast! We were just delighted, and as you'll see in the pictures, made our outings even better!
Monday we went over the Golden Gate Bridge to visit the Point Bonito lighthouse at the opening of the golden gate, on the Marin headlands. We weren't able to go out to the lighthouse, as they are getting ready to replace the original suspension bridge to the lighthouse. We saw lots of cargo ships come through the golden gate, and got great shots of the bridge, too. We also visited the Coast Guard station in Sausalito, which might be Nathan's new home this next summer. Looks like it will be quite a different experience than Cordova!
We also visited Hyde Street Pier, which used to be the terminus of Hwy 101 before the Golden Gate bridge was built! The car ferry took cars from there to the other end of Hwy 101, across the bay. There are several old ships docked there, in various stages of refurbishment, and made in several countries. It's really interesting to tour them, and sort of strange to be on a ship that was build in the 1800's, and looking back at the SF skyline!
We had a picnic lunch at Chrissy field, then on the way home stopped at the Sutro Tower for amazing views of the city and surrounding areas.
On Tuesday we went to Sonoma, and did some wine tasting there. Sonoma is different than Napa - smaller, the town surrounds the town square, and is the northern most Spanish Mission. We had lunch there, toured the mission and some of the historic sites, and visited three wineries - Sebastiani, Buena Vista and Chateau St. Jean. It was a great day, and we got home in time to go out to dinner at the HMB Brewing Company, courtesy of Peter.
Wednesday we avoided the city as the celebration parade for the World Series Champion San Francisco Giants was taking place. A truly historic event, as the is the first time that San Francisco has won the series. Millions of people showed up - traffic was bad, as you can imagine, and public transit was packed! We decided to watch the event on the evening news!
So, we stayed on the peninsula. We spent some time in Half Moon Bay and had lunch at our favorite deli there. Then we went to San Carlos to the Hiller Air Museum - a museum devoted to the history of manned flight. I'd never been there before, and it was really interesting! Also lots of interactive things to do, including flight simulators! I crashed!! Several times.....
On Thursday we went back to San Francisco, and took a tour around the bay. The tour took us out under the bridge and around the back side of Alcatraz. The weather was glorious, and we were all in short sleeves the whole day. After the tour, we had lunch at the Boduin bakery and cafe - the home of sourdough bread! We had soup in bread bowls and it was wonderful! From there we wandered down to Pier 39 and browsed along Fisherman's Wharf.
Thursday night Peter was back on an airplane, for the next leg of his journey - all 16 hours of it!
It was a great visit, and we got to do lots of touristy stuff, which we love, and for some reason, never think to do on our own!
Thanks for visiting, Peter!
Picture perfect day in San Francisco
The Golden Gate bridge from the Sausalito side
This could possibly be Nathan's next post! How cool would that be?
And if it is, he'll be trading in his cutter for these little speedy boats!
Peter and the bridge, from the Marin Headlands
The Point Bonito lighthouse, with the suspension bridge in the foreground
The bridge and lighthouse
The ships moored at the Hyde Street Pier
Peter at the Hyde Street Pier
A square rigger!
This is the same square-rigger. There was a class of children on the ship that were going to be spending the night! I doubt that much sleep was had.
A steam-powered tug boat.
The Hyde Street Pier entrance to the car ferry, Eureka. Note the highway sign on the right.
Some of the cars on the ferry. They had a great display of old cars and trucks.
The passenger deck of the Eureka.
The Eureka from the front, where the cars would drive off on the Marin side.
San Francisco skyline from Sutro tower.
Peter at the Sutro tower.
Sunlight streaming through the forest at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve.
The front of the mission in Sonoma.
The courtyard of the mission.
Old, carved redwood barrels at Sebastiani Winery.
This was one HUGE barrel!
There were some amazing wood carvings at Sebastiani - this one portrays the winemakers calendar, with different tasks represented in each month.
Buena Vista Winery - barrels in the storage cave, built into the side of a mountain.
Fall color at Buena Vista.
Our last winery visit was Chateau St. Jean. There, the tasting room guy saw Lee's camera, and we had a photo shoot!
The grounds at Chateau St. Jean.
Chateau St. Jean, with the winery in the background.
This shot will be familiar - Peter at our lighthouse in Montara.
The ocean was at a full boil - huge, crashing waves!
Peter, pointing to the sign to London.
Half Moon Bay.
At the Hiller Air Museum
A shot from upstairs
This was fun! One of the interactive displays
Peter checking out all the controls
And I'm getting some great information
Lee as a Blue Angel pilot!
From a tiny cockpit to a huge one! This was the cockpit and upper deck of a Flying Tiger Boeing 747 100 series aircraft. We got to sit in the flight deck seats and ask questions of the actual (retired) airline captain seated behind us.
First Officer Peter Mason
Captain Pat!
The air intake of the 747 engine
Peter in the air intake
Our bay cruise on the Red and White Fleet. We were on the Harbor Prince
Getting ready to board
The cruise included headsets and a pre-recorded tour description. That's Alcatraz in the back ground
A beautiful day to cruise the bay!
Heading out to the bridge - you can see that Alcatraz has gotten small
Coming back in
Lee, Peter and the bridge
We thought this was a neat shot
5 comments:
What great shots, as usual, but were especially appreciative of the CG Station pictures! I hope, hope, hope that Nathan is stationed there next! Peter looks just like Andy : )
That was the single most epic blog post I have ever read. I am very appreciative of the Station Golden Gate photos and loved the photos of where you went to taste wine. One day I will take you and grandpa back there and we can all wine taste.
Ok, Nathan! That's a deal - we'll look forward to a trip to Sonoma and wine tasting with you!
Love you!
Great photos indeed! The weather really was fantastic! I agree with Cathi, Peter does look just like Andy..
Looks like the weather was in your favor what beautiful days you had. you are the busiest couple I know you should open a touring business. We enjoyed your visit with us looking forward to next year. Betty and John
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