The Travelling Celts

Sunset Cruise

by Michael Cameron

San Francisco was founded on June 29, 1776, when colonists from Spain established Presidio of San Francisco at the Golden Gate and Mission San Francisco de Asís a few miles away, all named for St. Francis of Assisi. The California Gold Rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time. San Francisco became a consolidated city-county in 1856. It's status as the West Coast's largest city peaked between 1870 and 1900, when around 25% of California's population resided in the city proper

Sometimes the best times are things you don't plan for. As we drove into San Francisco near the end of our holiday Denise booked a sun set cruise in San Francisco Bay. We dropped of the R.V. and made our way to our hotel. Quickly settled in, and then off to find where the cruise boat sailed from. Once on board we were treated to some blues/jazz as the boat rounded Alcatraz, and then sailed under the San Francisco bridge. The sun was beginning to set, and what a sight it was, especially as a lone pelican flew by. The photographs barely do it justice.

San Francisco itself was, well, nuts. The hills were really steep, and it was a real effort to walk them. Thank heavens for the cable cars. The people were ever so friendly and we spotted a number of eccentrics. At one point our tram swept away a badly parked vehicle, our driver moved on as if nothing had happened. There are not many places we would go back to (so many places to see) but oh my, San Francisco is one of them.

Click the links below for the San Francisco photos and/or videos