San Francisco & Berkley, California, USA

Wayne Dunlap Famous Cable Car San Francisco California
Wayne on a Famous Cable Car 
- San Francisco, California
Fisherman's Wharf San Francisco California USA
Fisherman's Wharf 
- San Francisco, California, USA
Alcatraz Island San Francisco California USA
Alcatraz - San Francisco, California, USA
Alioto's Restaurant Fisherman's Wharf California
Alioto's Restaurant 
on Fisherman's Wharf
- San Francisco, California, USA
Bushman San Francisco California USA
Bushman of San Francisco 
- California, USA
Boudin Sourdough Bread Factory San Francisco California
Boudin Sourdough Bread Factory
- San Francisco, California, USA
Captain Jack Street Performer Pier 39 San Francisco California
Street Performer on Pier 39
- San Francisco, California, USA
Barking Seals Pier 39 San Francisco California USA
Barking Seals on Pier 39 
- San Francisco, California, USA
Tasting Olive Oil at Farmers' Market San Francisco California
Alden & Pat Tasting Olive Oil 
at Farmers' Market
- San Francisco, California, USA
Waverly Street China Town San Francisco California
Waverly Street in China Town
- San Francisco, California, USA
E&O Trading Company Restaurant San Francisco California
E&O Trading Company Restaurant
- San Francisco, California, USA

San Francisco & Berkley, California, USA (8/14-16/2009&10/2/2012) - One of our favorite cities in the world is San Francisco.

Mark Twain said that he never spend a colder winter as the summer he spent in San Francisco. Well, that was certainly not true for us – we must have brought the Southern California sunshine with us.

San Francisco is a major city in California, the centerpiece of the San Francisco Bay Area, well-known for its liberal community, hilly terrain, Victorian architecture, scenic beauty, summer fog, and great ethnic and cultural diversity. 

These are only a few of the aspects of the city that make San Francisco one of the most visited cities in the world - and one of our favorites!

We attended a beautiful family wedding at the Presidio Park during perfect weather. Our son, Alden, joined us. What a delight it was to spend time with him!! He has become an amazing nice young man. 

The three of us visited San Francisco's Saturday Farmers’ Market on the Embarcadero - the largest Farmers' market we have ever seen. We tasted locally grown fruits, cheeses, olive oils, and special truffle salt (Alden and Wayne were not so excited about the last one). Yummy on the rest.

We also visited San Francisco's China Town and a wonderful southeast Asian fusion restaurant, E&O Trading Company, that our friend told us about. 

Of course, we road a Cable Car and played in Fisherman’s Wharf (see photos) where we had clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl, watched the famous Boudin sourdough bread being made, and enjoyed street performers. In addition, we watched the ‘barking’ seals at Pier 39. Even the San Francisco “bushman” found us (see photos).

On previous trips we visited other great places in San Francisco including Golden Gate Park, Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, and North Beach.
Wayne Dunlap Suther Gate University of California Berkley
Wayne at Suther Gate 
at the University of California, Berkley
Pier 39 Fisherman's Wharf San Francisco California
Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf
- San Francisco, California

I was excited about my first visit to the great University of California, Berkley across the bay. Because of finances (lack of) I had to pass on an opportunity to go to school there in 1969. In 1969, it was the Summer of Love and time of student activism changing society ending the Vietnam War and reducing other government control of our lives. 

When we visited UC Berkley in 2012, young co-eds dressed in condom customs were trying to pass out free condoms with few takers (guess less love happening now) and we were approached to support more government through food stamps. Like the Dylan song says... The Times, They Are a-Changin – appropriate then in 1969 and also now 43 years later.

Lots of history... The Spanish founded the first European settlement in 1776 as a mission community. Upon independence from Spain in 1821, the area became part of Mexico. 

In 1846, the U.S. claimed California. Over the next couple of years, California officially became part of the U.S. following the Mexican-American War. With the California Gold Rush of 1848, San Francisco began to explode in population. Waves of immigrants came to the city to seek their fortunes, including large numbers of Chinese immigrants, forming one of the largest Chinese populations outside of Asia.

The devastating 1906 earthquake shook San Francisco and a resulting fire leveled much of the city. Officials at the time immediately set out on a plan to rebuild the city, with new parks, boulevards, the current civic center complex, and landmarks such as the Coit Tower atop Telegraph Hill.

In 1915, San Francisco hosted the Panama-Pacific Exposition (where the Palace of Fine Arts complex is currently located) to showcase the completely rebuilt city.
During the Great Depression of the 1930's, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge were built. Alcatraz Prison was also build, which would hold some of the most notorious criminals of the era.

San Francisco became a center of counterculture and the hippie movement, contributing to San Francisco's liberal outlook. San Francisco also became a center for homosexuals leading to the development of gay neighborhoods like the Castro.










Click on these links to see our other 12 blog posts on beautiful California:
 




 
 
 
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4 comments:

  1. quite a very interesting post i ever read about San Fransisco and most of all i like history part of the post...Very nicely written.

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  2. Nice blog containing good travel tips i really like the tips it will be useful at the time of travel.

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  3. wow… super pics of California ,the images on this post are breathtaking.. just beautiful! you’ve just added California to my next visit spot thanks for sharing!

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  4. Great blog. All posts have something to learn. Your work is very good and i appreciate you and hopping for some more informative posts. California Travel Tips

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