Domestic Expeditions
Lighthouses of San Francisco
print it out and mail it to us with your deposit.
Tour Registration Form
please call the office at 415-362-7255 or email us at jeff@uslhs.org
Dates
November 4th through November 7th, 2011
Itinerary
Fall is the perfect time to visit the San Francisco area. The fog is gone and the days are usually pleasant.
Friday, November 4
Our tour begins with a check-in at a San Francisco International Airport hotel followed by a traditional
Society welcome dinner. A free van service is available for those flying into the San Francisco Airport. Those members driving to the tour may leave their vehicle at the hotel for the duration of the tour.
Saturday, November 5
After breakfast at the hotel we board our coach for a trip through San Francisco and over the Golden
Gate Bridge to the Point Bonita Lighthouse where a National Park Ranger will conduct our tour. Point Bonita is located at the end of a long spit of land on the north side of the entrance to the Golden Gate. The site offers spectacular views back to the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco beyond as well as the rugged coast of California. The lighthouse was one of the first established on the west coast and the original second-order Fresnel lens it still operational in the lantern room. Leaving Point Bonita we travel back through the city and over the Bay Bridge to Oakland’s Jack London Square to visit the Society’s lightship LV 605 (RELIEF). The crew will probably sound the old diaphone fog horn sometime during the tour. We then travel a short five minutes to Quinn’s Lighthouse Restaurant for lunch. The building was the Oakland Harbor Lighthouse from 1903 until the early 1960s when it was barged to its present site. In the afternoon we’ll visit the Yerba Buena Lighthouse located mid-way across, and under, the Bay Bridge. The old duplex dwelling has been converted into the home of the Coast Guard Vice Admiral in charge of Coast Guard operations in the Pacific. The 1875 tower, basically unchanged, is a duplicate of the old West Point, NY tower (the only two of that design
constructed in the country). There is modest museum in the fog signal building. After the tour of the tower we’ll head into San Francisco for some free time and then the hotel for dinner and overnight.
Sunday, November 6
Breakfast at the hotel is followed by a ride down the 101 Hwy to Monterey. Once there the group will tour the Point Pinos Lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse on the Pacific still in operation with its original third-order Fresnel lens. The station is nicely interpreted. Then we travel a short distance to Monterey’s Fishermen’s Wharf for lunch on our own. After lunch we meet at the nearby Maritime Museum for a tour and to view the beautifully restored 1st order Fresnel lens from the Point Sur Light Station. On our way back to San Francisco we will divert and follow Highway 1 north up the coast and stop at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse for a photo op of the 115 ft. tall tower. The original first-order lens is still in the lantern room. The last lighthouse of the day will be Point Montara. The original 1875 Victorian old fog signal building and a 1960 era duplex are now a youth hostel. The small tower is still operational, but not open to the public. Then we return to the hotel for dinner and a good nights sleep.
Monday, November 7
After a nice breakfast at the hotel, we’re off to the San Francisco waterfront where we board our vessel for a fantastic three hour cruise of the San Francisco Bay. We’ll pass the lighthouses of Alcatraz, Fort Point, site of the Angel island lighthouse (only the 4,000 lb fog bell remains), Point Blunt and Yerba Buena Island. If the tides are with us we may be able to sail north to include the East Brother Island lighthouse and Point Bonita. The cruise is a wonderful way to see San Francisco and the surrounding cities. After the cruise our coach will take those flying out of San Francisco to the airport and then return to the hotel for members to retrieve their vehicles.
Double - $2,694
Single - $1,747
This tour will give people unfamiliar with the San Francisco Bay area a nice overview as well as a chance to visit and tour some famous historic lighthouses.
