Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Leaving San Francisco

We'd been on a number of cruises leaving SF Bay already, so we didn't take a lot of pictures. Tried to take a picture of the Point Bonitas Lighthouse in Marin Headlands but the digital zoom level required rendered the pictures too pixelated.

At least I did get one shot just after we sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge. You can see Angel Island in the background. Couple of interesting notes: Angel Island is a California State Park that allows you to go camping on it!


The Golden Gate Bridge received its name from the fact that it was a bridge across the Golden Gate Strait. This also led to the name of San Francisco's park, Golden Gate Park. We had family visiting who asked why it was called the Golden Gate Bridge since the bridge is red and not gold in color. I'd never really thought about it but guessed it might be because of the gold rush in 1849. As it turns out, that wasn't the correct answer. The Golden Strait was named by U.S. Army Captain John C. Fremont in 1846, two years before gold was discovered in California. He picked that name for the Golden Gate Strait because "it is a golden gate to trade with the Orient.”

Other little known facts about the Golden Gate Bridge

Click this link or one of the pictures above to see more pictures in the Leaving San Francisco photo album.