A time-lapse drive through San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge to the picturesque seaside town of Sausalito, CA.
Tag Archives: san francisco
SF Ocean Beach Gulls
A moment of zen along Ocean Beach, in San Francisco, CA. Seagulls rest along the sea wall overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
SF Ocean Beach
On an ideal day along Ocean Beach in San Francisco, CA. In the distance, on the right of the screen, is the famous Cliff House restaurant.
Lets Glow BART Anime Festival
The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is the subway system that runs through San Francisco, Oakland, and now to San Jose. They recently adopted an anime mascot character called Baylee and her three associates. On September 6, 2025 BART hosted its first Anime and arts festival, named “Lets Glow” at their Warm Springs station near Freemont, CA.
The event was free to attend. I drove in and utlized the ample free parking. I arrived before the official start time of 4:00pm, there were already over 300 attendees and more arriving via the regular BART trains to the station.
They distrubeted event passports that could get stamped at various sections of the event. There was an Itasha row with fun anime and video game graphics modified cars. There were huge crowds around the Artist Alley where local aftists sold their art and merch. There was exceptionally long line to buy BART Anime themed merch.
Lets Glow had probably 10 times more folks than the BART organizers anticipated. It was a fun taste for anime lovers but not much to do and see. Future events would do better to have a headline guest or guests like voice-over artists or J-POP bands.
SF Great Highway Last Drive
My last drive on the Great Highway before they permanently closed it in March 2025. In 2024, a slim majority of San Francisco voters, approved Proposition K, closing the Great Highway to convert it into a public walkway and park. The majority of local neighbors voted against the closure.
SF Twin Peaks Panorama
Twin Peaks is a hill above downtown San Francisco that offers a panoramic view of San Francisco Bay, Downtown San Francisco, and the Golden Gate Bridge. This is a popular spot with locals and tourists. But if you are a visitor, be warned that car thieves are known to frequent the area, so don’t leave anything valuable in your car.
Alcatraz Prison
Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary is one of San Francisco’s most infamous and most visited tourist attractions. Yet, in all the years I’ve lived in San Francisco or visited San Francisco, I’d never gone to Alcatraz. Until now.
After it was closed in 1963 Alcatraz became a museum administered by the National Parks Service. The only way to visit island is via a commercial ferry service from Pier 33 near San Francisco’s Fishermans Wharf district. Entry to the Prison’s various museums and audio tour are included with the ferry ticket price.
The ferry has a snack bar and food for sale but no food or beverages are available on Alcatraz island. No food or drink is allowed to be consumed within the Prison museum but you can consume food and drinks onboard the ferry or at the dock waiting area on the island. In front of the Pier 33 entrance, there are numerous street food vendors vending sausages and hot dogs.
Arriving on the island, we disembarked on the dock which has restroom facilities, information displays, and a gift shop. There are Park Service Rangers who give talks at various times and locations on the island. Visitors can choose to follow these rangers or explore on their own. I and the majority of visitors chose the later.
Walking up the main road from the dock up to the prison, you pass through administration buildings, staff barracks, and facilities, some of which date from when Alcatraz was a coastal fort. Civil War era coastal battery canons are on display in various parts of the park. It is a reasonable walk uphill to the prison but those with disabilities can take a free tram up to the prison.
The prison’s former laundry building has been converted into a museum hall containing an exhibit on the 1969 occupation of the island by Nativist protestors. Their protest graffiti is still present (or reproduced) throughout the park on signage and on the island water tower.
In a morbid reminder, on the walk up to the former Maximum Security Federal Penitentiary, all visitors must pass the prison’s Morgue, a small building just outside of the main prison complex. Entering the prison, all visitors enter a large intake room where everyone is issued a complimentary headset and a digital audio player to listen to an Audio Tour.
The audio tour was well-produced and informative. It was narrated by guards and former prisoners of Alcatraz who gave personal insights as to life in the prison. Sound effects and ambient sounds created an immersive experience. The only issue was a poor user interface and faulty equipment maintenance that didn’t allow me to reliably pause, rewind and forward sections of the audio.
The prison interior was creepy and oppressive in a way that only old run-down brutalist 20th-century buildings. I knew prison cells were small but the 5ft x 5ft cells looked even smaller in real life. Most of the cells were closed to the public except for “The Hole”, the isolation cells in D-block where rule violators were sent as punishment.
The most unsettling part of the whole prison tour was at the end: the gift shop. The large gift shop was filled with Alcatraz logo wear, replica eating utensils, and table wear. Why anybody would want to make another human’s incarceration, even if that human was a criminal, something to “enjoy” in their home is disturbing.
House of Air
House of Air is the only trampoline park in San Francisco, CA. This venue is located in Golden Gate Bridge National Park, across highway 101 from the Presidio National Park. It is housed in a renovated aircraft hanger at Crissy Field, a former US Army Air Corp airstrip.
House of Air is a local favorite for kids parties, team-building, and the occasional snow boarder who wants to hone their aerial skills during the summer. It’s only 15 minutes west of Fisherman’s Wharf by car but tourists tend to pass by Crissy Field in favor of the Golden Gate Bridge next door.
As a local party venue, the House of Air is typical of other trampoline parks around the country. There are a number of tables located on the ground floor and on a 2nd floor terrace. Families can reserve tables as part of a party package for a 2-hour block of time, which includes access for kids and adults to use specific zones in the facility. There is a cafe that serves food to order and decent pizza (typical amusement park quality).
There is a large main area with dozens of connected trampolines. A small-kids only zone. And a trampoline dodge-ball arena. For advanced acrobats, about a 1/3 of the facility is dedicated to a training area for on-site instruction. The training facility has a locker room and showers.
House of Air also has two large private party rooms which overlook the training center. While more expensive than the table rentals, it is worth it for larger parties or for adult parties to be away from the clamor of the numerous kids parties on the main floor.
Unlike modern venues, House of Air does not have air conditioning. As a former airplane hanger, the front doors the building completely opens the front of the building up. The facility relies on San Francisco’s usually mild to clammy weather. So on some rare summer days, it can get uncomfortably warm and muggy inside.
By advised that parking throughout the Golden Gate Bridge and Presidio National Park is rarely free. So look for parking vending machines to pay for a toll tag to place on your dashboard before entering the House of Air or taking a stroll around Crissy Field.
For more information: https://houseofair.com/