Angel Island

Ayala Bay is named for Lt. Juan de Ayala of the Royal Spanish Navy.  His ship sailed
into San Francisco Bay in 1775 and is thought to be the first ship to ever sail into the bay.
Ayala anchored at the island and christened it "Isla de los Angeles"

Alcatraz

Angel Island sits quietly in San Francisco Bay like the shy teenager at the party while glamorous and famous Alcatraz gets all the attention.  But take a little time and get to know her and you will see that she has much to offer in natural beauty and a rich and complex cultural history.  The island has been by turns an immigration station and a first stop in America for over a million immigrants from more than 80 countries, a civil war artillery camp, a "processing facility" for prisoners of war, a Nike missile base during the cold war, a quarantine station established to prevent plague, cholera and smallpox from spreading to the US, and, finally, became a California State Park in 1963. 

Facilities used to house immigrants and prisoners of war are open to the public
and interpretive displays tell poignant tales of their time at Angel Island.

Chinese people were specifically excluded from immigrating to the U.S. by the
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.  While many of the 175,000 Chinese that were
detained at Angel Island stayed for up to ninety days there were some who
were kept at the island for two years while their cases were reviewed.

Poetry written by Chinese detainees and carved into barrack's
walls provides a glimpse into their experiences at Angel Island.

From the civil war through the Cold War the  federal government had a presence on Angel Island
 that lasted for almost 100 years.  The Army finally abandoned the island in 1946
only to return again in 1954 to establish a Nike missile site.
The site became obsolete in 1962 and  the Army left the island.

Abandoned structures that were once part of Fort McDowell
can be seen at the island's East and West Garrisons.

One of the three army hospitals built on the island.

A perimeter road encircles the island and provides spectacular views of San Francisco Bay.

Boats from San Francisco and from Tiberon in Marin County run daily to Angel Island.

More information about visiting Angel Island is available from California State Parks. 

Mission Dolores

San Francisco's Mission Dolores

The formal name is Mission San Francisco de Asis, but it has been known as Mission Dolores since the first mass was held in 1776.  Named after a small stream nearby, Arroyo de Nuestra Senora de los Dolores, the mission was the sixth to be established of California's 21 Missions. Mission Dolores is unique in that it is almost completely intact as it was originally constructed. While buildings around it collapsed during San Francisco's 1906 earthquake, Mission Dolores' four foot thick adobe walls remained standing and unharmed. The original redwood logs supporting the roof remain in place to this day lashed together with rawhide.
  

The ceilings have been repainted over the years but they remain true to the
original Ohlone Indian designs which were painted with vegetable dyes.
The main alter was created in San Blas Mexico in 1796.

The side alters were also made in Mexico but installed much later in 1810.

The Mission's simple baptistry is still in use today.
Written records have been preserved for
Mission Dolores 28,000 baptisms.

Burials in the adjacent cemetery took place from the time of the Mission's
establishment until the 1890's. 

A sculpture of a contemplative Father Junipero Serra adds
to the peaceful feeling of the old cemetery.

The America's Cup

Oracle Team USA races across the finish line.

Auld Mug - America's Cup
perpetual trophy

Don't you just love it when the underdog makes an incredible recovery to come from behind and win?  That's what happened today in San Francisco when Oracle Team USA won the 34th America's Cup race. The week began with Emirates Team New Zealand ahead 8 to 1 and finished with Oracle's amazing comeback winning eight straight races to take the cup.  The competition has been on in San Francisco Bay for the past 19 days making it the longest cup race in the 162-year history of the event.  

Sounds like we're really fans of the sport doesn't it?  The truth is that we just happened to be in San Francisco house sitting and who could pass up the opportunity to see a world class sailing race?  We have to admit though that we were pretty jazzed by the whole event and happy that the US has retained the Auld Mug for another year.  

We actually didn't know much about the America's Cup and mistakenly assumed that the races were named for our country.  A little time on the internet clued us in to the real story. There was a yacht called the America and in 1851, in a major upset, she would win against the British to earn Britain's Royal Yacht Squadron's 100 Pound Cup.  The syndicate that owned the yacht America then donated the winning trophy to the New York Yacht Club under a stipulation that the trophy be a "perpetual challenge cup for friendly competition between nations" and the America's Cup was born.   

For the first time the America's Cup races are being held in San Francisco.

The race course stretched from the start near the Golden Gate bridge, traversing
San Francisco Bay and ending near downtown around Pier 27.

Coit Tower and ...

 the Transamerica building made for a dramatic backdrop.

Crowds stood about 8 deep at the ends of the pier and some folks opted for lounging in the sun
and watching it all on the big screens.

The media had the best seats in the house!

Team support boats, patrol boats and rescue boats made for a lot of traffic in
addition to the two team's racing boats.

Emirates Team New Zealand.

Oracle Team USA makes a sweeping turn after crossing the finish line.

The winning team.