Alcatraz Island, Feb 17^th 2023

Break the rules and you go to prison, break the prison rules and you go to Alcatraz!

I had always been fascinated with Alcatraz Island since I watched the movie The Rock and its Hindi remake Qayamat (actually, I first watched Qayamat and then many years later watched The Rock). Nevertheless, I had been thinking about visiting it for quite some time, but my previous San Francisco (SFO) trips didn’t give me enough leeway. This time it was different though. The first booking we made after the flight tickets was that of ferry tickets to Alcatraz.

Alcatraz Island is a small island 1.25 miles off the coast of San Francisco. Popularly referred to as “The Rock”, it has been many things during its lifetime – started off as a military fortification, then lighthouse, then a federal penitentiary and now a recreation area. It borrows its name from archaic Spanish word for sea birds pelicans, alcatraz. The California gold rush in 1850s led to enormous wealth coming out of gold mines. This dramatically increased the ship traffic and population of San Francisco Bay. US annexed California after Mexican-American war ended and began the fortification of Alcatraz. During the US Civil War, US military built a lighthouse at Fort Alcatraz and was also used a prison for Confederate sympathizers. In 1934, the island was converted into a federal prison. The strong currents and cold-water temperature made the escape almost impossible (almost!) and it became one of the most notorious prisons of the US. Famous criminal Al Capone was kept at Alcatraz. By the 1960s, it was getting quite expensive to maintain the Alcatraz prison and was eventually closed in 1963, after serving as federal penitentiary for 29 years. Alcatraz came to the limelight again in1969 when a group of native Americans occupied Alcatraz for 19 months in the name of indigenous rights. In 1972, Alcatraz was transferred to Department of Interior to become part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. And it still is.

The day tours to Alcatraz ends at 4.30 PM. That’s when you get the last ferry back to SFO. But Alcatraz doesn’t shut its doors so early. Night tours start after 4.30. We returned to the bay around 4.45PM. After that we walked our way to pier 39, ate streetside donuts and crepes, and watched a beautiful sunset. The day ended with an early dinner of clam chowder in sourdough at Chowder Hut just off the street at Pier 39.

Note – Finding free parking at Pier 33 (where you take the ferry from) is quite difficult. So, either go early or be prepared to shell out $30 for a full day parking at nearby parking stations like SP+ parking.

Reno, Feb 18^th 2023

Next day, Feb 18^th, we drove to Reno which is almost 4 hours drive from SFO. The drive was fun. We chitchatted and played Contact. As we approached Reno, the temperature dropped below 0 and we saw roadside full of snow. Shalini was super excited as she was seeing snow for the first time. We stopped at a viewpoint where Anshu flew his drone over Donner Lake. We had an Airbnb booked at Sparks which is small town adjacent to Reno. In my opinion, there isn’t much exciting to do in Reno besides casino. So, we didn’t waste much time and headed to casino as the sun set. We went to El Dorado casino and parked there. El Dorado is internally linked to Silver Legacy and Circus Circus casinos. We were unable to find any blackjack table with a minimum bet of less than $10; all tables were at least $25. The blackjack return was also 6 to 5. It was a bit expensive for us. So, we headed to Silver Legacy but saw the same thing there as well. Eventually, we played blackjack at the Silver Legacy against the computer, not actual human. It was a novelty for us, but I must say, it was not a bad experience. Anshu and Sneh sat on craps table while Shalini and I sat on blackjack table. We did manage to double our investment but then lost all of it 😊. We were at Silver Legacy till 8 PM – gaining some, losing many. After that we headed to Circus Circus through the alleyway that joins them. Circus Circus was a different place altogether. Besides the casino, it has an entire floor dedicated to carnival games. There was a thick crowd with hundreds of kids and adults trying their luck at different game stations. We also played a few. The camel race was particularly a lot of fun where I got quite close to win. On our way back, we picked up dinner from Burger King and played Splendor.

Lake Tahoe, Feb 19^th 2023

The day started with a sumptuous breakfast at D’licious Cafe. The drive from Reno to Lake Tahoe is amazingly beautiful. Although I have driven in snow at ski resorts in Washington, the view here was slightly different. In Washington you will see lots of coniferous trees in the mountains. Given that Reno is a mountainous desert, the vista was much wider and more exposed. There was a vast expanse of snow-covered rolling mountains just off the road.

We wanted to go to Adventure Mountain in Lake Tahoe for snowtubing, but we were a bit late. It was already 1 PM by the time we entered Lake Tahoe. So, we decided to go to Tahoe Snowmobiles instead. It is just opposite off Bally’s.  The snow tube rental was $50 per tube for 1 hour. Funnily, we were among the few adults who were snowtubing along with the kids. But who cares, it was fun 😊. Initially Shalini was reluctant but as her fears dissipated, she started enjoying it.

By the time we were done, it was 3.30 PM. From there we headed to Emerald Bat State Park. Emerald Bay was carved by a receding glacier about ten thousand years ago. It is 3 miles long and 1 mile wide. Around the 1860s, it was called Eagle Bay because bald eagles flew around there. Later, because of its crystal blue water, it was renamed to Emerald Bay. We took some pics there and then started our return journey to San Francisco.

Golden Gate bridge and Muir Woods, Feb 20^th 2023

It was Shalini’s first trip to SFO and it wouldn’t be complete without the customary visit to Golden Gate Bridge.

Why is Golden Gate Bridge called golden?

While we were driving towards Golden Gate bridge, Anshu (or was it Sneh?) asked this question – why is this bridge named as such? I didn’t know! I was coming to SFO the third time, but I never cared to read about it. But anyway, better late than never. Golden Gate Bridge is named so because it is built over Golden Gate strait. The obvious question is – why is Golden Gate strait named as such? Golden Gate is the strait that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. On August 5, 1775, Juan de Ayala and the crew of his ship, San Carlos, became the first Europeans to cross this strait. From that day until 1840s, this strait was called “Boca del Puerto de San Francisco” (“Mouth of the Port of San Francisco”). California governor John Fremont called this strait “Chrysopylae” which means “Golden Gate” in greek. Many believe that thinking of Fremont could also have been influenced the by the fact that there was a gold rush in California at that time and this strait was the only entry to the San Franciso Bay, hence the name Golden Gate.

Golden Gate Bridge is a 1-mile-long suspension bridge that connects the northern tip of San Francisco Bay to the Marin County. Its construction started in 1933 and was completed in 1937. We were very lucky that day to have a clear view of Golden Gate bridge. The area is quite infamous for its notorious fog that shrouds the bridge, especially during the summer. Heat generated in the interiors of California causes the air to rise up, creating a low pressure that pulls in the cool, moist air from over the Pacific Ocean. The Golden Gate strait is a huge break in the hills of the California Coastal Range allowing a persistent stream of dense fog to the enter the bay.

Last time when I was at Golden Gate, I had viewed the bridge from its southern end (SFO end). But this time, we crossed the bridge and viewed it from Marin Headlands. In fact, there are 2 view points on the northern side – one is just the first exit off the northern end of the bridge, and the other one is Golden gate view point. The drive up to this view point was also beautiful.

Muir Woods National Monument

After clicking multiple pictures in the backdrop of Golden Gate Bridge, we headed to Muir Woods National Monument which is a home to ancient redwood trees. As California grew in the early 20^th century, logging industry cut most of the redwood trees except the ones at Redwood Canyon. William Kent noticed this and bought 611 acres of this land to preserve this redwood forest. In 1907, a water company planned to build a dam on Redwood creek thereby flooding the valley. So, William Kent sold this land to the federal government. Theodore Roosevelt, the then president, turned it into national monument by signing Antiquities Act. This monument was named after John Muir who was a well-renowned environmentalist and a dear friend of William Kent.

I learnt a very interesting fact here – how the age of a tree is calculated. Basically, every year tree creates a new layer around its trunk. This layer is thicker if the year had good rainfall as tree got enough nutrients. In the dry season, the layer is thin. So, if you take cross-section of a tree trunk you can see these rings and use it calculate the age of the tree. We saw a tree there that was 1021 years old.

Redwood trees have something called burls. These burls are made up of thousands of bud cells that are accumulated on the tree trunk. Most of these remain dormant as long as the parent tree is healthy, but each bud cell is fully capable of producing a full redwood tree in itself. That’s why even when the parent tree dies, the burls in its vast root system sprouts new redwood trees around it- creating a family of redwood trees.

Around 4PM, we headed to Sausalito which a touristy town overlooking the bay. Its waterfront boasts of amazing view of Alcatraz, Golden Gate bridge, Bay Bridge and San Francisco skyline. We had boba tea and ice cream there. The day ended with a delicious Burmese dinner at Mingalaba.

It was a short and sweet trip with lots of new places, board games, fun, and beer!