We had no real intention to get stuck into San Francisco at all when we went there, but now I look forward to going back again. We just thought of it as a good place to start our trip. We hoped to land there, rest a little, then pick up our camper van and then set off to drive half way across America.
We arrive in San Francisco in the middle of the afternoon, and it was raining. We live in Scotland, and rain is a part of our natural environment, so it didn’t bother us at all, it did, however, help us to feel very quickly, at home. Thanks to him indoors, who is not quite Bear GrylIs but is a practical sort of bloke, insisting that we take good rain jackets with us “just in case,” we were immediately cosy and dry.
We had requested that our travel agent book us a hotel in Nob Hill to be sure that we had a decent place to stay, but the hotel they booked us was, in fact, half way between the Tenderloin and Nob Hill so ‘Tendernob’ if you like. It was the sort of district that was at that intersection of where the trendy end of town meets the just slightly rougher part.
A tour guide later explained to us that the Tenderloin got its name because of the vice and crime of the 20’s and 30’s and the ensuing police corruption. Police would either solicit or be offered bribes, and it was considered to be like winning a ‘golden ticket’ to be assigned to work in that area, just because it was so lucrative. This assignment meant they could change from eating Chuck Steak to Tenderloin hence the nickname. To be fair, our guide also gave us another explanation to do with prostitution which we won’t go into.
The Tenderloin is, however, is still a more gritty and down to earth part of town and so rain jackets and boots helped us blend in, better than shorts and Google Maps ever would. In fact, we were at one point engaged in conversation by a woman in a sandwich shop who quickly apologised for disturbing us as she thought we were San Franciscan. We spent a couple of nights bouncing around the area undercover so to speak, and it got to feeling very familiar very quickly but that could be because being born in Glasgow, I just love the energy of cities.
One thing in San Francisco firmly in our plans was to see Alcatraz. Months before we left the UK, him-indoors was so super excited about going to visit Alcatraz that he booked us an early bird tour for the one full day that we had to explore. I kept it to myself for the fear of killing one teeny bit of the joy he was getting about going there, but I genuinely couldn’t think of anything bleaker to do on holiday than visit a prison on a rock. So as we set off that morning for our trip across the water, arm in arm, smiling, laughing and reading posters, etc., he had marching band music in his head, and I had a sort of dirge playing in mine. I have always, though, been a fan of a boat trip. I love a nice ferry, so the minute we were on the water, I immediately brightened up. By the time we pulled into the Alcatraz dock, I was closer now to ‘pavement café accordion’ type music in my head.
When we stepped onto the island, and it really is a beautiful island, not a barren rock, I was struck immediately by all of the greenery and the amazing view you got of the city looking back over across the bay. For me, the trip would have been worth it for that view alone. I got hijacked thinking of how it must have been to be a prisoner, looking at the lights of the city every night and hearing the sounds drifting across the bay. I think it must have been unbearable.
We were greeted by a ranger by the dock area because Alcatraz Island is a national park. As such, it was his job to give us a talk on the lay of the land and the do’s and don’ts of being within any American National Park, all of which boiled down to, leave only footprints and take only memories. After our orientation, we were free to roa
m the Island.
The prison which had dominated the landscape and my thoughts before I set foot on the island, was actually only a small part of my experience. Every hour or so a volunteer gardener or grounds keeper sets off from the dock and leads a tour around the island giving talks about the unique plant and wildlife. The gardens and views they offered in all directions are stunning.
There was a botanical archaeological garden dig going on when we visited. Their goal was to peel back the layers of the past flora and fauna to try and discover what the people who had previously occupied the Island had grown there, and also how they used the space. When we did eventually get to the prison he had mellowed a little, and I had picked up a lot, and so we both had ‘singer-songwriter, guitar player’ type music in our heads.
What struck me immediately how small the actual prison was and the proximity of prisoners and guards to each other. Having worked previously with two prisons in Scotland as a consultant, I had an awareness of the psychology of the relationship between prisoners an
d guards and immediately knew that this intimate space would have blurred those lines greatly, and could also have amplifying situations too. I could feel the level of tension and alertness that they all must have operated in and didn’t expect to experience this space in this way. The guided tour is hosted by a headset and recorder device and after the first 5 minutes I was entranced, because very cleverly, they had used actual Alcatraz prisoners and long since retired guards to tell the story, each from their own unique perspective. We literally bought the T-shirt and got the boat back after three amazing and diverse hours.
I suggest as soon as you possibly can, you arrange to go on a tour of the city. If I were you, I wouldn’t aim for the hop on hop off tourist type busses, as some reviews said that you can ‘hop off’ and then find that it’s hours before you can ‘hop on’ again at some of its’ destinations. If it’s a bus you want, I recommend you use the local network. Seriously, it goes to most places, and one ticket lets you ride set routes for the full day and all for literally around 2 dollars.
We only had one night and so decided a guided ‘highlights’ tour would be better for us, and so we went on-line to find the outfit that I had read about in the Guardian’s guide to San Francisco before I left. There was an article about a guy who had given up his career and city job to be a tour guide and take people around the San Francisco in a VW campervan. I found his listing deeply buried in the Viator site under ‘Vantogo.’ So we booked a slot and then after dinner we hopped on the local bus to Union Square, and there were picked up by Erik in his van Lillie. His van can take up to 6 people (there were just 4 of us on our trip) and has a cooler box in the back, full of beer and wine.
To accompany the trip, Erik plays a brilliant tongue in cheek soundtrack. So for example; ‘Pink Floyd’s Money’ plays as you enter the financial district, while ‘deedle leedle dee deedle leet dee dee’ tinkles out as you enter Chinatown. Erik informed us that Chinatown shuts between 9- 10 at night by the way, because the average age of the population who own the shops etc. is around 60-70).
Our guide was Erik, the owner, and I left believing that he has probably forgotten more about that city and its history than most people will ever know. He linking the past, present, and future with amazing knowledge and facts. As a trainer who has had to deliver the same course again and again for class after class, I know how much passion you need to have for your subject if you are going to keep it as fresh and engaging as he did.
We went around the different districts learning a lot about these areas and the historical characters and events that shaped them. The highlight for me was the bar where Jack Kerouac sat everyday writing his book ‘On the Road’ it was conveniently next door to the publishing house. Before this trip, and having been only to the Warf and the town center, we naively thought that we had an outlying understanding of the city and how it was laid out. We had only scratched the surface and had no idea of how much of it there was to explore. After that trip in the van, we now want to go back again and explore more of what we didn’t get around to experiencing.
One thing striking about the homes and architecture in some parts of the city was how greatly it differed from home to home not even street to street. This eclectic mix came about after the great earthquake. When everyone got the insurance payouts after the quake, they all built houses that suited their individual taste and needs. The fire after the earthquake is also responsible for the large aging Chinese population because a lot of the Chinese who had been drafted in to help build the railroad claimed citizenship at this time stating that their paperwork had been destroyed in the fire.
We set off the next day to go up the Californian coast wishing that we had at least 5 more days there to go to the different districts, eat the food and soak up the culture. A goal for 2018.
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