My Adventure to San Francisco
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    • Dec 11, 2021

My Adventure to San Francisco

Destination: San Francisco, CA & surrounding cities

Date: November 2021

If you've never been to San Francisco, CA, it is home to the Golden Gate Bridge, the original set of "Full House", the world-famous island that's known to be the scariest maximum-security federal prison in all of the world; Alcatraz Island, and I got the chance to go see them all and more!!

Getting up for an early 8 am flight was tough, granted I haven't flown domestic or international after the arrival of covid. The process seemed to be the same but faster. This was before any holidays and an early morning flight so traffic in the airport may differ.

After a successful take-off, I found myself enjoying the Golden Time of flying. What's Golden Time? Well, in my opinion, that's the most rewarding part of flying; flying during the day and with the bonus of having a window seat. If you don't have seatmates who hate the window shade being up, then this is the perfect spot for you. Even if you only wanted to see the clouds, you'll have a mind blown experience. The furthest I've flown to California was to Los Angeles and then to San Jose. With those prior trips, I didn't fly during the Golden Time but rather at night so much wasn't seen. However, this trip gave me more than I expected. The below picture is my view from the sky. Not much editing was done to this picture due to how magnificent the area already appeared.

Getting to see the northern parts of California has truly been a blessing. In Dallas, we don't have mountains or beautiful open landscapes as I've seen in California. Cows, goats, chickens openly graze throughout the streets and pastures so peacefully. I must warn you the emotions and feelings are very overwhelming to first-time viewers.

I had an agenda set for me while in San Francisco and the first spot I wanted to see was a childhood memory of mine and possibly yours. The kids growing up in the late 80s and early 90s should remember this house from the picture below but if you don't recall, I went to the original set of "Full House" starring Bob Saget (Danny), John Stamos (Jesse), Dave Coulier (Joey), Candace Cameron Bure (DJ), Jodie Sweetin (Steph), the Olsen twins (Michelle) and so many others. This sitcom aided in a lot of our everyday childhood situations, as if we really had much compared to now.


"Whatever happened to predictability?

The milkman, the paperboy, evening TV.

You miss your old familiar friends

Waiting just around the bend


Everywhere you look (everywhere you go)

There's a heart (there's a heart)

A hand to hold onto.

Everywhere you look (everywhere you go)

There's a face

Of somebody who needs you.


When you're lost out there

and you're all alone,

A light is waiting to carry you home,

Everywhere you look."


The new owners of the property left before I could take a peek inside but hopefully, the next adventure to San Fran would allow for better scheduling.

 

My adventures continued and the next stop was The Golden Gate Bridge. I didn't know how huge this bridge was until I actually drove on it and later toured it. It was incredible! The bridge stands over 700 ft tall above the water, was made with over 80k miles of cables and spans 4,200 ft across. You'll have to see it to believe it.

Incredible isn't it! Imagine trying to gaze at this beautiful masterpiece while trying to stay in the narrow lanes of the highway. Absolutely breathtaking! Interestingly enough, the Golden Gate Bridge, in the 84 years of being built, only suffered 11 casualties and 10 surround one incident. In 1937, on February 17, ten men lost their lives when a section of scaffold carrying twelve men fell through the safety net. The safety net was able to save 19 workers who call themselves "the highway to hell" club but took the lives of the 10 other crewmen. (source)

 
ALCATRAZ ISLAND

Alcatraz sits on an island in the middle of the San Francisco Bay of California. The island we know today is most known for being a maximum-security prison for the worse of the worse. Names like Al Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, and the infamous prison escapee and train robber, Roy Gardner all were inmates at Alcatraz.

The Lore has it that before Alcatraz was a prison and military base, it was a place of spirituality and healing as by the Native Americans who reside in the lands. The Muwekma Ohlone natives visited the island to collect eggs and fish and even used it as a safe harbor during storms. After the island had been vacant for 6 years, Native Americans returned, seized the island, and claimed it as Indian Land. After the hype died down, it appeared the government removed the remaining natives and turned it into a National Park. (source)

 

San Francisco treated me like home and I am grateful to have experienced this amazing place. If you're ever in the Northern California bay area and just so happen to travel near San Francisco, take that rental and cruise through the city, you won't be disappointed. Take a look at the gallery below of amazing pictures taken while in San Fran.


Stay tuned for upcoming posts where I dive more into the different parts of San Francisco area that I ventured to.

 

If you're interested in purchasing any of the photos below for canvas art, head on over to our store, we have canvas art for sale and collectible items from this trip that you can purchase!

Any artwork from below can be used for canvas printing, please indicate at checkout your selection. We customize the canvas size and crop the picture exactly as you'd like it framed.


While I'm in your city, state, town, or country tell me what makes your area the best for food, travel, fun, and adventure!

In the comment section below, give me the next destinations ideas!!


Go out and enjoy the world and I'll see you on the next adventure!

Follow all my adventures on IG @iamLamarJohnson


All copyright reserved by Lamar Johnson - ©2021


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