Golden Gate with Grandpa Gene

Your mom and I finally made good on our promise to take your Grandpa Gene into San Francisco for the day. His interest stems from his time in the Army, 40 years ago, when he was stationed in Fort Ord in Monterey, not too far south of the San Francisco area. Back then, he passed up a chance to hang out with some of the guys in the city and regrets missing what had been his only chance since then. He has a memory of flying out of the Bay Area and spying the large orange columns of the Golden Gate Bridge, and he's been determined to get back there.

Now that we live in Davis, it's a short trip and a straight shot to San Francisco from our place. 

Fisherman's Wharf was packed! Your grandpa was soaking up the atmosphere and marveling at the diversity in the city. 

We had lunch on Pier 39, overlooking part of the bay. 

We could see the planks where the sea lions rest and Alcatraz in the distance from our lunch spot. 

He really wants to check out Alcatraz, too, but we'd have to save that for another day. 

Adding to the bustle were all the different public transit systems, like this trolley along with the buses and the cable cars. Your grandpa was really taken with the overhanging electric wires which power the buses and trolleys in this town. He has something of an electrician's background and kept asking, "Now who would have thought of that?!" 

After lunch we drove around to show him some sights, and first was Chinatown. Your mom shot this gorgeous photo of all the Chinese lanterns hanging on Grant Street. 

Then we went to the top of Russian Hill and took the windy Lombard Street down to the bottom. 

The highlight, though, was the Golden Gate Bridge. After all these years your grandpa had finally gotten back to it. He was so thrilled he was actually clapping in the backseat of the car as we drove over it. 

Your mom and he walked a bit out there so he could get his hands on it. He told me later, "I actually touched it!" 

It's amazing the power that an experience like that can have on a person who's lived as much as your grandpa. It was the closing of an unfinished chapter of his life which has been decades in the making. 

Thoroughly worn out and beaming, we spent just a minute on the beach on the western side of the peninsula, where the fog was setting in. We had a quick bite and a drink at Beach Chalet. It was a relaxing end to a fulfilling day.