Visiting Ash and Heather in San Francisco

Hi Guys,

San Francisco 20 - 24 March 2011

(Latitude: 37 46’North   Longitude: 122 26’ West)

(Time -7 GMT)

We are up early this morning and after some photos on the beach at Waikiki we head for the airport at 11 am. We fly for 5 hours and after 3 hours time change we are in California. We are not pleased with the huge temperature change (28C/82F to 12C/58F) and the continuous rain that we learn has been going on for about a month but we are glad to be greeted by Ash and Heather at the San Jose airport. I will not detail the family time spent but it was wonderful to share the next 4 days with Ash and Heather as they work, go to college, take exams and take time out to ferry us around to the shops and we go out for evening meals. The weather is awful and gets progressively worst as we approach our return to the ship on Thursday 24^th. Ash drives us back to the ship in the pouring rain and comes aboard, an invitation we had planned from the Falklands. The second Captain kindly gave us permission and we had the opportunity to show Ash our cabin which he called claustrophobic and we took him to afternoon tea at 4 pm where he talked at length with Sam a 90 year old gentleman who was able to correct the lecturer about the D day landings. Ash was just blown away. We escorted him of the ship to the parking lot (see photo attached). Just a wonderful couple of days.

San Francisco in the rain

Roy & Sue Golden Gate Bridge

Ash saying goodbye

High Tea on the Aurora

San Francisco Harbor

The Laings at Margarita for dinner

Under the Golden Gate Bridge

I learn that Captain Cook did not visit San Francisco, discover it or come anywhere nearby and I find it very curious. At the turn of the 18^th century San Francisco was a place half way between the middle of nowhere. There was no Panama Canal, the approach by land took months from Chicago through hostile Indian Territory, it was a dog leg on the way to the orient round Cape Horn and Cook had not found any northwest passage. There was little reason to come to San Francisco as its trade was mainly in tallow and hides and the population was about 800.

In 1806 the Russians tried to claim the territory but it was the American war with Mexico in 1846 that lead to Captain Montgomery from the US Navy claiming the territory for the United States.

The discovery of gold in 1849 changed everything, the population increased but San Francisco remained still very isolated from other parts of America even with the Pony Express, until the advent of the Trans-Continental Railway in 1869. One curious fact about San Francisco Bay is that it is about 10 feet shallower these days due to the soil that was washed down from the Sierras during the gold rush.

There have been two terrible earthquakes in San Francisco in April 1906 and a more recent one in 1989. The “big one” in 1906 was followed by a serious fire which spread uncontrollably due to the breakdown of the water mains. Thousands of buildings were burnt to the ground and many lives lost. Reconstruction of the city began almost immediately.

The Great Depression of the thirties hit hard and boom time did not come again until, ironically, the outbreak of WWII due to the manufacture of ships and planes in California. And of course it is said that absolutely anything can be grown in sunny California.

San Francisco’s city population is 750,000, but the metropolitan area holds nearly 6 million. With over 19 million visitors a year, a great many hearts have been left in this vibrant, cosmopolitan city.