Golden Gate Getaway

Last weekend we ventured away from Moorpark and embarked on a brief road trip up the coast to San Francisco.

My daughter, Kaila, had been learning about California at school, so this short adventure would be both an educational field trip and a family getaway. With the impending debut of our new baby, this would probably be the last time I would be able to travel for a while.

I remember taking a cross-country trip with my family as a child, and it really allowed me to take what I had learned in school and in books and create real life images to go along with my lessons. Plus, it’s a real treat to be able to take my daughter to experience the different architecture, people, and culture of San Francisco.

Although an unwelcome June rain greeted us, we braved the elements and still had fun on our Bay Area excursion.

The highlight of the trip would be when we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. Kaila has read about the iconic bridge in books, and seeing it in person left her mouth agape. Kaila’s reaction was that it was much bigger than she had imagined it to be.

Rather than staying at a traditional hotel, we opted for a charming bed and breakfast at a Victorian mansion, circa 1872, located within the Mission District of San Francisco. We were delighted with the delicious breakfast spread in the mornings, and we were in walking distance from lots of delicious eateries and shops.

We did fall into the usual tourist traps of the area but bringing a child to the Bay for the first time sort of requires it. Of course, we had to indulge in some clam chowder served in a San Francisco sourdough bread bowl. After our wharf-side lunch, we visited the barking sea lions that hang out at Pier 39.

I’ve written about Kaila’s fascination with lighthouses in the past, and I planned to take her to visit some northern lights along the way, including one of the last 12 remaining lightships in the United States, the Relief, docked in Oakland. On the second day we took the Bay Bridge over to Oakland to see the Relief docked in Jack London Square. Inclement weather didn’t allow for an onboard tour, but we were able to get a glimpse at the part ship, part lighthouse vessel. We also had a look at the Alcatraz Island lighthouse the day before, and on our drive back home we stopped at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse along Pacific Coast Highway on the central coast near Santa Cruz. Kaila was in lighthouse heaven.

Unfortunately the cable cars were not running due to maintenance work. Kaila is already talking about our next trip back up there, and I promised the first thing we would do when we come back is to take a cable car ride.

Family vacations, whether short weekend jaunts or long summer trips can be exhausting. Yet the memories made and the time shared together is worth the effort and gas money.