Fog, History, and the Golden Gate: A Full Day in San Francisco

San Fransisco, CA

Today with The Grand Western Tour, we gave San Francisco the full day it deserves, and it did not disappoint.

We kicked things off with a morning trip to Alcatraz, taking a ferry across the bay to tour the old prison complex. It was such a strange and striking feeling to see the city in the distance, draped in fog, right up against the crumbling buildings of the island. We listened to an audio tour filled with interviews from former inmates and guards, learning all about the history of this maximum security prison.

One of the most powerful parts of the visit was an exhibit on the history of Indigenous protest and the 19 month occupation of the island in the 1960s. It shined a light on the long history of broken treaties and stolen land between the U.S. government and Indigenous people, and gave us all a lot to think about. We also got to explore the island’s incredible gardens, once cared for by a select few inmates, and spotted seagulls and cormorants nesting all across the rocks.

After lunch, it was time to take on the Golden Gate Bridge. It was super windy, and we got whipped around a bit as we made our way across all 1.7 miles of it, but we snapped some great pictures and made it to the other side. From there, we headed to Sausalito for some free time to explore. A few of the students, Tee, Berly, West, and Henry, found a piano in the park and played some tunes, and a few pairs of matching sushi socks may have come home with us too.

We finished the day back at Fisherman’s Wharf, splitting into counselor groups for dinner, before one last stop at Trader Joe’s to grab snacks for tomorrow’s drive to Pismo Beach. What a way to soak up the city!