Recently, I had the opportunity to add some extra days to a scheduled business trip to Seattle. Since the Fall Regional event was scheduled for the Saturday prior to my meeting, I decided to make a long weekend stop in the San Francisco Bay area. It worked out well, with work paying for most of my plane ticket. My plan was to fly out to SF on Thursday, spend the day Saturday lighthousing, make my way to Sacramento for the regional event on Saturday, and then do more lighthousing on Sunday before an evening flight to Seattle.

Flight out was great: on time and probably only 25% full – don't see that too much anymore! After going thru the very convoluted process to pick up my rental car (I think SFO has one of the worst systems anywhere), I headed for the Fisherman's Wharf area. Always enjoying a visit to Fort Point and it's neat little lighthouse I headed for there. When I arrived at the fort the fort was closed due to retrofitting of the Golden Gate Bridge. I understand the fort is open some on weekends, but that didn't help. I was also surprised to find a couple of soldiers complete with M-16s watching over the parking area.

Next stop was down by Fisherman's Wharf. Parking in the area is way too expensive and hard to find. Finally gave up and parked at Pier 39's parking garage, overpriced as it is. Plan was to do some walking, shopping and enjoying of the area, and then take one of the one hour Bay Cruises. The cruise was very nice, and a good way to see a bunch of Bay lighthouses: Alcatraz, Fort Point, Mile Rocks, Point Bonita, and Lime Rock. When we passed Crissy Field, there were a bunch of wind surfers out that afternoon, with several jumping the wake of the cruise boat.



Finished off the evening with dinner at the Hard Rock (so I could get 2 hours of overpriced parking validated . . .) Checked into the Travelodge By the Bay and called it a night. (“By” the Bay is the key here . . .)

Friday . . .

First order of business was to take the very first cruise out to Alcatraz (0930) for a visit and to get the old lighthouse passport validated Had found a place that would allow all day parking for only $5 if you were in by 10. Extra 2 blocks of walk wasn't a bad trade off for $20+ savings! The girl (I think) with the funky purple hairdo was an added bonus on the trip out. Had a great visit to Alcatraz and an interesting chat with one of the rangers. They have just renovated the guard tower by the boat dock. He hopes to see some other work get under way. The term escapes me, but they are having problem with the concrete expanding and breaking up. Seems that the rebar in the concrete is beginning to rust and when that happens it expands, forcing the concrete to break. Hopefully they will find a way to get that under control in the not-too-distant future.



Back on shore had to make a stop at Scan Trends in Ghiradelli Square. Had a short visit with Merete Bendtsen, the owner, and purchased my regional piece. This is a really neat shop, with lots of HL (and all sorts of other items) to choose from. About noon it was time to head for Point Reyes.

When we visited Point Reyes in April 2001, the rangers closed the stairs down to the light just as we were arriving. (They close them when the winds are at a sustained 40 mph.) Stopped in Mill Valley at the start of the “road” – Highway 1 - to get lunch: a Snickers bar and bottle of pop. Now, if you have never made this drive you are in for a definite experience! Can you say switchback? Can you say hairpin turns? I enjoy a good road course as much as the next guy, but this road can just wear you out physically. It just seems to go on and on. Took an hour and 45 minutes to make the less than 60-mile trip. I can pretty much assure you that a passenger, especially ones in the back seats, probably would not enjoy this road nearly as much as the driver! Expect an even longer drive with passengers. The sad part of the drive is that much of it has really great scenery, but you can't really enjoy it. I digress – back to the light…


The Point Reyes light tower by itself is nothing spectacular. What truly is spectacular is the entire setting. Once you get to the parking area you still have a pretty good 15 minute walk (fairly good uphill portion first) to get to the light station. There is housing out here that looks to still be used. The light was first lit on December 1, 1870, displaying a rotating first order lens in a 37 foot, 16 sided cast iron tower. It stood 294 feet above the water, and 275 below the rim of land above it. Originally there were 600 steps to the lighthouse and fog signal building a hundred feet below the light, but when the Coast Guard took over one of the improvements was a set of 300+ concrete stairs (can you imagine what the original steps were like???) Point Reyes is the foggiest light station in the US, and today was one of those days – fog just kept rolling in. The light was originally to be a cottage style house & tower built at the top of the point. However, lessons had been learned at Point Bonita and Point Loma about locating the light above the fog. The active light is a pair of rotating aero-beacons – nothing near the beauty of the Fresnel!


Ranger Steve Anastasia gave one of the best talks about not only his light, but also lighthouses in general and why it is so important to work to preserve these pieces of our history. While the lens assembly looks to be in great shape, Steve indicated the lampists who had recently surveyed the light station indicated that the Fresnel is approaching the end of its expected service life and will need to be restored. Cost? Estimated at $1 million or so to restore the lens and rehab the tower. (Interestingly, the tower is the only original light station building remaining.) The lens will be disassembled and taken to the top of the point for rehab. While it is out of the building, the tower (which is mostly lantern room) lantern room will also be worked on, with tower panels replaced as needed.


This is one of those lights that will surely end up on your short list of “favorite lighthouse visits”! After a brief stop at the gift shop to get a passport stamp (new passport since my last visit) and buy a few post cards, it was time to leave. By the time I left, you could not see the light from the top of the stairs.


Departing Point Reyes at 1545, my next stop was to be Oakland. Only one way back out of the National Seashore, and that is back through all the historic ranches (most owned by the NPS and leased out as they would have been 150 years ago). However, this time I stayed on Sir Francis Drake Blvd and headed east towards 101 and the I-580 bridge to Richmond. Started to pick up end-of-the-workday traffic, but not too bad. Arrived in Oakland about 1800, and went looking for Coast Guard Island.

Just down the street from Coast Guard Island is where I found LJ Quinn's Lighthouse Restaurant, where I had dinner. Why Lighthouse Restaurant? Well, this building was Oakland Harbor Lighthouse in its previous incarnation. After the station was disestablished in 1966, the lantern was shipped to Santa Cruz to be used on their faux light, and the building was barged 6 miles to the Oakland waterfront.


After a brief visit to the Lightship Relief it was time to check into the Best Western Inn at the Square.