Living Our Dream

Death Valley Part III: Scotty's Castle

We left the Stovepipe Wells area and drove toward the northern end of Death Valley to visit Scotty's Castle. Scotty's Castle is a two-story Spanish-style villa built by millionaire Albert Johnson as a vacation home in the 1920's.

The next tour of the castle was scheduled to begin about 20 minutes after we arrived, so we had a few minutes to look around the grounds. The next photo shows the guest house.

 

And the next photo shows the stable.

On display in the stable are several old vehicles including the 1938 Dodge sedan that once belonged to Death Valley Scotty, for whom the house was named. We'll tell you all about Scotty shortly.

Margery even found a seat carved from solid stone.

When our tour began we entered the courtyard between the main house (left) and the annex, and sat on benches in a shady alcove at the far end on the right.

Our tour guide, who was really a ranger in period costume, was an excellent story teller. She began with a background and history of the people and events behind Scotty's Castle.

Scotty's Castle was built by Albert and Bessie Johnson. Albert Johnson was from a prominent, wealthy family in Ohio, and Bessie was the daughter of a wealthy fruit and nut rancher from California. Although he was trained as a civil engineer, Albert Johnson made his fortune in insurance. Albert Johnson married Bessie in 1896.

As a civil engineer Albert had an interest in mining. He also had a strong interest in the west and dreamed of being a cowboy. After successfully investing in a lead and zinc mine, Albert convinced his father to accompany him out west in 1899 to investigate other mining claims for further investment.

On that trip the train on which Albert and his father were riding was rear-ended by another train. Albert's father was killed, and Albert suffered a broken back. The doctors initially thought Albert would die; but when he didn't, the doctors told him he would be permanently paralyzed below the waist. Fortunately, Albert made a miraculous recovery and within 18 months was able to walk, albeit with a limp. He also had some other physical limitations. Following his recovery, Albert and Bessie moved to Chicago.

Albert Johnson was approached in 1904 by an intermediary for Walter Scott, a.k.a. Death Valley Scotty. Scotty was an interesting character. He was a cowboy, a prospector, a performer with Buffalo Bill's Wild West, and somewhat of a con man. He was known for having supposedly discovered a mysterious gold mine in Death Valley. He also was good at soliciting wealthy investors to "grubstake" his mining operation.

Albert Johnson and another man agreed to invest in Scotty's fictional mine. After a few years of receiving no return on his investment, Albert decided to visit Scotty's mine. Of course, Scotty had no mine, so he and his friends concocted a scheme to stage a mock bandit attack to scare off Albert. When Scotty's brother was accidentally shot in the fake robbery, Scotty had to call off the ruse.

Albert realized he had been duped; but he still he wanted to believe in the mine, and he continued to visit Scotty in Death Valley. By visiting Death Valley he could in some way fulfill his dream of being a cowboy. The hot, dry climate seemed to improve his health, and the experiences helped relieve the depression that resulted from his earlier accident. He eventually forgave Scotty for bilking him out of his money, and he and Scotty became friends. In fact, Albert continued to bankroll Scotty.

In 1915, Albert bought a ranch in Grapevine Canyon, which is a side canyon off Death Valley toward the northern end. The following year he built a small shack that he and Scotty used for camping. Eventually, Bessie became curious about Death Valley, and she began to accompany Albert on his winter trips.

Bessie, however, was appalled at having to sleep on the ground or in a dirty shack with snakes, scorpions and spiders. So in 1922, Albert Johnson began constructing what was to become Scotty's Castle.

After our history lesson, we entered the great room. Everything in the castle is original including the clothes still hanging in the closets!

The fireplaces at each end of the great room are surrounded by decorative ceramic tiles made in Spain.

And there is a massive chandelier hanging from the two-story, redwood ceiling.

During the tour, our guide continued her story about the house and about interesting relationship between Albert Johnson and Scotty. Although the official name of Death Valley Ranch is carved over the door, the mansion has always been known as Scotty's Castle. Scotty was a flamboyant story teller. He had convinced everyone he had built the castle with gold from his mine. Scotty told everyone Mr. Johnson was his banker. Albert Johnson didn't seem to mind and allowed the stories to continue.

Albert even installed whimsical, prospector weathervanes in Scotty's honor.

Not only didn't Scotty's Castle belong to Scotty, it isn't a real castle either. Although elaborately decorated inside and designed to look like stone outside, the walls are stucco over a wooden frame.

Although Scotty had a room at the castle, he didn't sleep there. The Johnsons were devout believers and had too many rules for Scotty, like no drinking or smoking. Albert built a 5-room cabin for Scotty about 5 miles away on property known as Lower Vine Ranch. Scotty would go to the castle to help entertain guests with his outrageous stories. After dinner, he would retire to his room, which had a door to the outside. He would slip out and drive to his own cabin to spend the night, then he would return in the morning in time to change clothes (the housekeeping staff at the castle would do his laundry) and have breakfast. The next photo shows Scotty's room.

 

Scotty liked to cook, and the castle had a well equipped kitchen complete with more Spanish tile.

 

The kitchen even had a refrigeration unit installed in the icebox. The ranch had a spring that produced 300 gallons of water a minute, and Albert used some of the water to power a water wheel to generate electricity.

Albert built a library at the castle because he loved to read. However, Albert eventually converted the library into a dining room. Scotty would eat beforehand in the kitchen so he could sit in the corner and entertain guests with his stories while they dined.

Work on the castle slowed with the start of the Depression. In 1930, President Herbert Hoover named Death Valley a national monument, after which it was discovered the Johnsons had built their ranch on land that wasn't theirs due to an earlier surveying error. When that was discovered, all work on the castle ceased. In fact, in the first photo showing the outside of Scotty's Castle, the weedy patch below the wall in front of the house is the unfinished swimming pool.

After much negotiation, the government finally allowed the Johnsons purchase the land their house was sitting on in exchange for conducting tours of the house and renting out rooms to tourists. The annex on the opposite side of the courtyard from the main house is where the the guest rooms are located that were rented out. Rooms rented for $45 a night, which was a lot of money back in the 1930s; but guests didn't seem to mind because the rent included meals which also included Scotty's famous stories.

After the death of Bessie in 1943, Albert wasn't as interested in staying at the castle, and he attempted to sell it to the Government. The Johnsons had no heirs due to Albert's injuries. However, the United States was in WWII at the time and had no funds with which to purchase a castle. Albert created a charitable organization called the Gospel Foundation receive all his assets, to care for him until his death, and to care for his property after his death. Albert died in 1948, and the foundation continued to rent rooms afterward. The Government eventually bought the castle from the foundation in 1970.

Death Valley Scotty died in 1954 and is buried on the hill overlooking Scotty's Castle.

Albert and Scotty had a very unique friendship that lasted for 40+ years for such diverse backgrounds. Albert loved to read. Scotty's education ended when he left home when he was 11. However, Albert always wanted to be a cowboy, and Scotty always wanted to be rich. Through their friendship, they both were able to realize their dream.

When we left Scotty's Castle we had one more thing we wanted to see in the northern part of Death Valley. Ubehebe (YOU-bee-HEE-bee) Crater is located about 8 miles northwest of the castle. Ubehebe, which is the largest of several craters in Death Valley, is about 500 feet across and almost 800 feet deep. It was created by steam explosions that occurred when hot magma reached the water table. The entire area is covered by a layer of cinders up to 150 feet thick, most of which came from Ubehebe.

We left Ubehebe and drove back up Grapevine Canyon and through Grapevine Pass out of Death Valley. The road intersects with U. S. Route 95 about 30 miles north of the campground, so is was a fairly quick trip back to the motor home from there. We still have more to see in Death Valley, so look for our next post.

Napa, CA Part II: Sightseeing

We came to Napa to see the beauty of California's Wine Country, but it seems the flowers grow there almost as well as the grapes. Almost all the wineries were lavishly landscaped. We also happened upon the nature center in the photo below just driving along the road and we stopped for a photo. The whole hillside was covered with flowers, decorative shrubs, and ornamental grasses.

 

Another thing we stopped to see was the Charles M. Schultz Museum located in nearby Santa Rosa about an hour northwest of Napa. Charles M. Schultz (1922 - 2000) was the cartoonist who drew the Peanuts comic strip. Margery's dad always liked the Peanuts comic strip, and that's probably the reason she is fond of it, too. In the next photo, Margery is scratching Snoopy's nose outside the museum.

Not to be left out, the photo below shows Paul making friends with Charlie Brown.



For years, many Peanuts fans flocked to see traveling exhibits of the original drawings for the cartoon strips. With the 50th anniversary of the Peanuts cartoon strip approaching in the late 1990s, several of Schultz's friends wanted a permanent place for fans to be able to view his original drawings. However, Charles Schultz didn't consider himself to be a "museum piece," so he resisted the idea. A local historian, Schultz's wife, and his attorney continued working on the idea of a museum, and Charles Schultz eventually become more enthusiastic. Unfortunately, he would pass away in 2000 before the museum could be completed. The museum opened in 2002.

The site chosen for the museum was in the area where Schultz lived, worked, and hung out for the last 30 years of his life - near his studio, his home, and next to the Redwood Empire Ice Arena, which Charles Schultz owned and visited every day.

The Peanuts syndicated cartoon strip first appeared in seven newspapers in 1950. Charles Schultz announced his retirement in 1999 for health reasons and passed away shortly thereafter. Although there are animated specials under development (the story lines are based on themes from the comic strips Schultz has drawn over the years), by Schultz's wishes no new Peanuts cartoon strips will ever be drawn. Cartoons still appear daily, but they are from the 17,897 strips already in existence.

Inside the museum, there are loads of original Peanuts drawings on display. These include not only the formal drawings that Charles Schultz inked for final publication, but also numerous pencil sketches that he drew as he worked out his ideas in preparation for the final drawings. At the end of the day, Schultz used to wad the sketches up and throw them away. His secretary would rescue them from the trash, take them home, and iron them flat again.

Photography isn't permitted in any of the areas were there is original art on display, but we were able to photograph this collage of Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown.  This was a common story line as Lucy would yank the football away every time at the last second, and poor Charlie Brown would end up flat on his back. 

The collage, which is at least 12 or 15 feet wide, is made up of ceramic tiles that are in the form of actual cartoon strips. The lines on the collage come from dark areas on the cartoon strips. The next photo shows a closeup of some of the tiles.



The museum also has a hands-on drawing area for kids of all ages. You can make an original drawing or color a pre-printed drawing. They post the drawings for a day or two, then take them down and save ALL of them in 3-ring binders. Margery is checking out some of the drawings in the photo below.



She's pointing out one that was particularly cute. In case you can't make it out, Snoopy is colored pink and Charlie Brown is saying, "I told you not to eat so much cotton candy!"



Another fun place we visited in the area was the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, CA, about 20 miles to the west of Napa. The visitor center is shown in the photo below.

 

There are factory tours, but, unfortunately, the factory is shut down the entire month of June for maintenance. It was also a Saturday when we were there, but they had tours anyway - even on the weekends. Since we entered a food preparation area, we had to wear mandatory head coverings, even though they were not in production. The photo below shows Margery making a fashion statement in her Jelly Belly hat.



Photography wasn't permitted in the factory, but there wasn't much to photograph anyway since they were not in operation. However, there were excellent videos documenting the process at various stops along the elevated walkway.

Jelly Belly was started in 1976, and Jelly Belly considers their jelly beans to be gourmet quality. They have 50 flavors, including some unusual ones like buttered popcorn (their number one seller), jalapeno, toasted marshmallow, A & W root beer, dark chocolate (new), and cream soda. Jelly Belly uses all natural flavorings where possible. The centers of Jelly Bellies are also flavored, not just the outer shell like most other jelly beans.

We learned it can take 7 to 21 days to make jelly beans. Jelly beans are made in several stages, and they must rest to "cure" for several days between each stage.

The jelly beans are checked at various stages throughout the production. At the end of production, the Jelly Bellies are inspected again for size. Jelly Bellies that don't measure up are called "belly flops" and are sold at a discount in the store in the visitor center.

There was also a gallery of mosaics in the factory depicting various famous people. These were made from thousands of Jelly Belly candies. We were able to get the photo below of the mosaic of Ronald Reagan because it was in the lobby. Ronald Reagan was a big fan of Jelly Bellies while he was governor of California, and he carried the tradition with him to the White House causing Jelly Belly sales to soar. Blueberry was a new flavor created for Ronald Reagan's inauguration so they would have a flavor that was blue in color. Three tons of red, white, and blue jelly beans were consumed during the inauguration festivities.



Jelly Belly makes several other types of candy beside jelly beans, including Sunkist Fruit Gems, which Paul LOVES! Even though he is on a low carb diet, he HAD to buy a few chocolate-covered, orange-flavored Sunkist Fruit Gems before we left. Yum!

There's still more to see in the Napa area, so check out our next post.

Napa, CA Part I: Wine Country

We left Sacramento and drove a little over an hour to the southwest to Napa, CA. In Napa, we stayed at Napa Valley Expo RV Park, which is another fairground campground. Napa Valley Expo RV Park is a very nice, full hookup campground that has been recently redone. There are 18 sites, most of which are pull-throughs, except the back row where we were, which are back-ins. The sites are decent width and are extra long. The pads are newly paved with grass between. The photo below shows our site at Napa Valley Expo.

 

The campground is fairly quiet, except for a little noise from local traffic on the two-lane road running past the campground into town. It was probably more noticeable since we were in the back row. Fortunately, traffic is almost non-existent at night, and there are no big trucks. You can also hear the Wine Train that runs through town a couple of times a day. The train doesn't run late at night and passes through town at about 5 miles an hour, so there are only a few short toots of the horn.

When we first arrived, we found out the weekly Napa Chef's Market was scheduled to kick off for the season that evening, so we headed downtown after dinner. There are cooking demonstrations every hour or so where chefs from local restaurants prepare dishes with free samples for the crowd. The photo below shows Chef Terry Letson and his assistant. The seats were all taken by the time we got there, so we didn't hang around to try to get a taste of the finished results.

 

In addition to the cooking demonstrations, the Chef's Market had a few crafts, a lot of food and wine booths, and a farmers' market. The photo below shows Margery checking out some of the delicious-looking fruits.

Of course, there was wine available for sampling and for purchase either by the glass or by the bottle. The gentleman in the photo below is explaining the virtues of the red wine sample he is offering.

 

Even though Paul doesn't drink alcohol and Margery only takes a few sips now and then, the reason we came to Napa is to see some of the beautiful wine country that the Napa and Sonoma Valleys are so famous for. The earliest wineries date back to the mid 1800s, and many of the original wineries still exist. The wineries struggled during prohibition and also because of an infestation of aphid-like insects, but they began to thrive again after WWII.

There are over 400 wineries located in Napa and Sonoma Valleys, and in the nearby Alexander, Dry Creek, and Russian River Valleys. The soil and climate make this area ideal for viticulture. Some of the biggest names in American wine are located here, and there are also many smaller "mom and pop" wineries as well.

You can tour wine country on your own or you can take a minibus or limo tour and let someone else drive - not a bad idea if you're planning to do a lot of tasting. We already mentioned the Wine Train where you can ride restored, vintage railroad cars through beautiful wine country while tasting wine from their onboard selection or while enjoying a gourmet meal in the dining car. They also have numerous theme tours such as a murder mystery, comedy night, and tasting seminars with area winemakers.

Upon the recommendation of a friend, we opted to tour Sterling Vineyards. Sterling offers a unique experience with a ride on an aerial tram to the winery at the top of a hill. At the winery, you get panoramic views of the vineyards and surrounding areas. In addition, there is a self-guided tour of the wine-making facilities with tasting along the way. There is also a tasting room and wine shop at the end of the tour. Since we weren't as interested in tasting as we were in seeing the scenery, we chose to visit Sterling Vineyards because of the tram ride.

Sterling Vineyards is located about 25 miles up the Napa Valley in the town of Calistoga. The vineyard is celebrating their 40th anniversary this year.

The photo below shows the lower tram terminal and the attractive landscaping.

Below is a composite of some of the beautiful flowers we found in the gardens at Sterling Vineyards.

There is a charge of $20 for adults to ride the tram and to participate in wine tasting. We found an online coupon for $5 off (We love our satellite internet access!), so that made it a little more reasonable, especially since we weren't going to sample much wine. The next photo shows the tram car ahead of ours departing from the lower terminal.

 

We were next, and it only took a few minutes to get the top. The photo below shows Margery getting ready to enjoy the view as we took off for the top.

 

We went over a pond with a huge colony of water lilies.

 

At the top, Margery liked the sample of a not-too-dry sauvignon blanc they were pouring. The lovely view in the photo greeted us at the start of our tour of the wine-making area.

Fall is harvest time, and there isn't much going on at the wineries at this time of year. In spring, all the action is in the vineyards tending the vines. The vines had recently leafed out and small grapes are just started to form. The grapes in the photo below are less than a quarter inch in diameter.

Although the wine-making area was quiet, we still got to see the facilities from an elevated walkway where they had plaques explaining the process. First, the grapes are crushed. White grapes are then pressed, but red grapes go directly from the crusher to primary fermentation to undergo the first part of fermentation on the skins. Almost all grape juice used for wine is white, but red wine gets its color and bold, complex flavors from the skins.

From the crusher and/or press, the juice goes to the primary fermentation vats. Some wine, especially white wine, is fermented in stainless steel to preserve the light, fruity flavors.

 

Other wines, especially reds, are fermented in large oak vats to add complex flavors and to help soften any harshness.

Secondary fermentation takes place in oak barrels like the ones in the background of the photo above.

After fermentation and initial aging, the wine is bottled and aged for an additional period. Red wines are aged for a longer time than whites. Red wine that is aged properly will often continue to improve for many years after it's bottled.

From the wine-making process, the self-guided tour goes to the south terrace, which is shown in the photo below.

More wine tasting is available on the terrace. Margery sampled a second white wine, and we checked out the views. The next photo shows us on the south terrace.

 

And the next two photos show views of the surrounding vineyards.

 

From the terrace, we walked through the tasting rooms and the wine shop, then caught a tram back down to the parking area. After our visit to Sterling Vineyards, we went off in search of some new sightseeing adventures.

San Francisco Part III: Alcatraz

Alcatraz Island sits about a mile and a half north of the city of San Francisco in San Francisco Bay. The island was first discovered by the Spanish in 1775 and was named "La Isla de los Alcatraces" or The Island of the Pelicans. Alcatraz Island is commonly called just Alcatraz or sometimes The Rock.

Although Alcatraz Island has been the home of a lighthouse, a military fort, and a military prison, it is best known for the Federal prison which operated there from 1934 until 1963. The prison had, and still has, a mystique as being inescapable. The island is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and is operated by the National Park Service. Alcatraz Cruises is the concessionaire that operates the ferries to the island. The photo below shows the boat we took to Alcatraz.



After a nice, sunny day for our bus and walking tour of the city on Saturday, we were blessed with another sunny day on Sunday for our tour of Alcatraz. Although it was quite windy, we enjoyed the sun and the sights as we crossed the bay on the ferry.



The next photo is a view of Alcatraz as we approached.



As we reached the island, we were greeted by the sign in the next photo.



The photo below shows the view as we were docking. The tall structure is the lighthouse, which was built in 1853 and first lit in 1854. It was the first lighthouse on the Pacific coast. The building directly below the lighthouse is what remains of the warden's house. In the foreground is the military barracks, which later became apartments for the prison employees and their families.

 

After the 1848 treaty that ended the Mexican-American War and with the discovery of gold in California, the United States began looking at the Alcatraz Island as a possible location for gun batteries to protect San Francisco Bay. In 1853, construction of the lighthouse was started, and the Corps of Engineers began fortifying the island. Howitzers, like the one shown in the photo below were among the guns defending San Francisco against attackers who never came.

During the Civil War, there were so many advancements in armaments that the guns at Alcatraz rapidly became obsolete. Because of its isolated location, the military decided Alcatraz was better suited to detention rather than defense. A brick jailhouse was built in 1867, and Alcatraz was designated a long-term military detention facility.

Work on a three-story, concrete cellhouse began in 1909. This structure still dominates the island today. In 1934, Alcatraz became a Federal prison, and the cellhouse was updated. It wasn't the most dangerous criminals who were housed there - just the ones that were likely to be the greatest escape risk. The prison has housed such men as Al Capone, Robert Stroud (the Birdman of Alcatraz), and George "Machine Gun" Kelly.

We watched an excellent movie on Alcatraz in the barracks building, after which we began our trek up the hill. It is about a quarter-mile walk and a climb of 130 feet from the dock to the cellhouse at the top of the hill. The building on the right is the remnants of the social hall that originally built as a post exchange and an officers' club in 1910 when the island was being used by the military. When Alcatraz became a Federal prison, the building was converted to a social hall for use by the employees and their families.

 

The next photo is another view of the social hall. It had a gymnasium, bowling alley, dance floor, and soda fountain.

We think of the tough inmates in their cells, but never realized the people who worked at the prison as guards and maintenance workers also had families who lived on the island. The workers' families rarely, if ever, even saw the prisoners.

Another surprise was the number of flowers on the island. Many of the plants are descendants of those originally planted by workers' families. Some plants survived for decades on their own after the prison closed. The Garden Conservancy has been working with the Park Service to restore the beauty of the gardens on Alcatraz Island. In the photo below, you can see some of the flowers in front of what was the military chapel. It's doubtful the chapel was used for religious services during the time Alcatraz was a Federal prison.

There were also quite a few of these calla lilies on our way up the hill.

 

The gardens in the next photo have been planted in the foundations of former employee housing.

In addition to the gardens, the Island is a popular nesting site for several species of birds including snowy egrets. cormorants, and gulls. We saw quite a few gulls like the ones in the photo below sitting on nests. In fact, a couple of areas were closed to the public because of nesting.

When the main cellhouse was completed in 1912, it was the largest reinforced-concrete building in the world. There is an audio tour of the cellhouse that, in addition to narration, also includes voices of actual former prisoners and guards. The audio tour takes about 45 minutes and was informative, but it seemed a little long. The tour includes various cells blocks, the prison kitchen, the visitation area, the dining room, and the warden's office. The photo below shows a typical three-high row of cells.

 

And the next photo shows the inside of one of the cells. Pretty grim.

 

From the top of the hill where the cellhouse is located, there is an excellent view of San Francisco. The sun was at just the right angle so you can see some streets running up some of the famous hills.

 

The fact that San Francisco was so close, but was yet out of reach was one thing that made imprisonment at Alcatraz difficult. On clear, quiet evenings, the prisoners could sometimes hear laughter and music drifting across the bay. Alcatraz was also cool and damp much of the time. Life was also hard, because Alcatraz was a no-nonsense prison with rules that were strictly enforced.

There were 14 attempts at prison breaks, but the penitentiary maintained none was ever successful. The most violent attempt was made in 1946 when six prisoners tried to escape. After the attempt went awry, a three-day battle ensued in which two guards and three prisoners were killed before the remaining inmates were subdued.

One of the best-known escape attempts occurred in 1962. Three inmates carried out an intricate escape plan that may have been up to a year in the making. The men dug through moisture-damaged concrete in the back of their cells using make-shift tools. They used the music hour in the evenings to hide the sounds of digging, and they used false walls and the dim lighting in their cells to hide their progress. They enlarged the vent openings and climbed to freedom through the ventilation system. They were never found and were presumed to have drowned, but no one really knows for sure. It's only a mile and a half to San Francisco, but the water is cold and there are treacherous currents.

From the cellhouse, we headed back on down the hill. We stopped for a photo with a guard tower in the background.

The prison was closed in 1963 because of high maintenance costs. The years of damp, salt air had taken their toll. There was also a new emphasis on rehabilitation rather than punishment, and Alcatraz didn't fit in with rehabilitation very well.

There are still two prisoners living who were transferred to other facilities upon the closing of Alcatraz. Both are now in their 80's. One will be eligible for parole in 2013 and is currently incarcerated in Ohio. The other is in a prison in Minnesota. He's eligible for release in 2075. We think their move to other prisons was a step up in their quality of life.

In 1969, the abandoned prison was taken over by a group of Native Americans from a number of different tribes who wanted educational, ecological, and cultural centers to be built on the island. The occupation lasted 18 months, during which time the warden's house, the social hall, and several other buildings were damaged by fire. The Indians never got permanent possession of the island, but a new policy of self-determination was established. They also got publicity and awareness of many Native American issues.

We caught the next ferry back to San Francisco and headed back to the motor home. It was a busy, but interesting visit San Francisco and the surrounding area.

San Francisco Part II: Walking Tour

In our last post, we talked about the guided tour we took of San Francisco aboard a double-decker bus. The tour had hop-off, hop-on privileges, and we did take advantage of that to see some of the sights in more detail on foot.

Pier 39 along the waterfront is one of California's most popular tourist stops, so we hopped off the bus there to see what it was all about. The Aquarium of the Bay, which is supposed to be one of the top aquariums in the country, is located at Pier 39. We didn't have enough time to visit the aquarium, but we did walk down the pier. The pier has seafood restaurants, arcades, and the usual tourist shops. Like other areas of the cool, central California coast, they had a lot of sweat shirts and jackets and a only a small selection of T-shirts. The next photo shows a view of Pier 39 from the upper deck.

 

There was also an unusual two-story merry-go-round.

From the end of Pier 39, we got a good view of Alcatraz. We'll tell you more about Alcatraz in out next post.

On the western side of Pier 39 are a number of docks where the California sea lions hang out. You could hear them barking from pretty far away.

 

The sea lions, which are native to the Pacific coast, just started showing up at Pier 39 after an earthquake in 1989. At first, there were just a few, but the numbers grew to about 300 within a few months. During the winter, the population grows to as many as 600. The Marine Mammal Center, a marine mammal rescue organization, asked Pier 39 to allow the sea lions to stay. Pier 39 management agreed, and turned the docks on the west side over to the animals. It has been a win-win situation. The sea lions get a place to hang out, and they also help attract tourists like us to Pier 39.

The way to tell sea lions from seals is that sea lions have ear flaps, but seals do not. Male sea lions can reach 850 pounds, while full-grown females are only about 300 pounds.

We hopped off the tour bus again at the stop for Fisherman's Wharf, which is similar to Pier 39 except there seemed to be more high-end restaurants.

Since we had already walked the length of Pier 39, we passed by Fisherman's Wharf and walked west toward Ghirardelli Square.

On our way, we passed The Cannery, which was built in 1907 by Del Monte. It was once the largest peach cannery in the world. Today, it is a marketplace with restaurants, shops, and entertainment.

 

We also passed Hyde Street Cable Car line. This car was heading to the turnaround at the end of the line.

At the end of Hyde Street is the Hyde Street Pier, which was where the ferry to Sausalito docked prior to the building of the Golden Gate Bridge. Today, the Hyde Street Pier is the Maritime National Historic Park where several historic ships are docked. The large sailing ship in the photo below is the steel-hulled, square-rigged Balclutha, launched in 1886. The smaller boat with the white smokestack is the 1914 paddle-wheel tug Eppleton Hall. Not shown in the photo is the Eureka, which was one of the ferries that ran the route from Sausalito to San Farncisco. Built in 1890, she was originally used by the railroad to ferry rail cars across the bay, but she was rebuilt in 1923 as a passenger and auto ferry.

 

It was a rather long walk from the tour bus stop, but we finally made it to Ghirardelli Square. Domingo Ghirardelli was a chocolate maker; and in 1893, he bought an entire city block in San Francisco to build the headquarters of Ghirardelli Chocolate Company. The company has since been bought out and the headquarters moved to a new location. Developers converted the old Ghirardelli buildings to a retail and restaurant complex in the early 1960s. We wanted to go there because the Ghirardelli Soda Fountain serves world famous ice cream sundaes. We shared a dark-chocolate, hot fudge sundae. Margery got to take the first bite. Yum!

 

After our sundae, we walked back to Fisherman's Wharf, caught another tour bus, and continued the guided tour that we wrote about in our last post. When we got to the end of the bus tour back at Union Square, we picked up our walking tour again and strolled several blocks to Chinatown.

San Francisco's Chinatown is the oldest and largest Chinese community outside Asia. Many Chinese came to America from the 1850s to the early 1900s to work for large companies and, most notably, to work on the Transcontinental Railroad. The area of Chinatown was one location in San Francisco people of Chinese decent were permitted to live at that time.

We walked down what seemed to be the main street of Chinatown and were amazed at the number of people out on a Saturday afternoon.

 

The vegetable markets seemed to be particularly busy.

 

We had heard about Mee Mee Bakery where they made fortune cookies, and we finally found it. We were kind of hungry, so we bought a bag of seconds (cookies that were broken or that didn't close up properly) to munch on.

From the bakery, we were able to take some less-crowded side streets back to Union Square where we parked. Some of the streets were very picturesque. Notice the Chinese-style lamp posts along the street and the lanterns hanging overhead.

There were little eateries along the streets in Chinatown, but we couldn't read the signs to see what it was they were serving because all the signs were in Chinese. There are some restaurants that cater more to tourists; but when Margery checked restaurant reviews, nothing stood out.

We walked back to the car and headed back toward the motor home. We were hungry after our long day of touring San Francisco, and our walk through Chinatown made us hungry for Chinese food. Margery had seen some favorable reviews for Golden Chopsticks Restaurant in Pleasanton a little north of the fairgrounds where we were staying, so we stopped there on our way back.

We both love General Tso's chicken, and we hardly ever get anything else at a Chinese restaurant. General Tso's chicken is usually made from relatively large chunks of chicken that are battered and deep fried before adding them to the spicy sauce. At Golden Chopsticks, the chicken was cut into bite-size pieces and it was sauteed rather than battered and deep fried. It made the dish much lighter, and it still had the slightly sweet, spicy flavor we love. The chicken was very attractively served surrounded by tender-crisp broccoli. Dinners ran around $10 to $14, but we were easily able to share an order of spring rolls, one dinner, plus one order of fried rice chock full of finely-diced, fresh vegetables, and still have plenty to eat for around $20. The photo below shows Margery serving herself some fried rice.

 

In our next post, we'll tell you about our last day in the San Francisco area and our tour of Alcatraz.