A Golden Opportunity

A Golden opportunity

One of the main attractions for me if not the one thing I wanted to see in California was the Golden Gate Bridge. I had seen it on television, in magazine photos, on people’s walls hanging in frames and in numerous picturesque books for many years. Now I would finally get to see this man made wonder of the world with my own eyes. There was one problem when we got there however. Well other than the fact we had to pay five dollars at the toll booth was the infamous fog that covered the Bay area that day. The day after we left we contemplated going back to see the bridge in broad daylight. Weather permitting, we still decided to head toward Yosemite.
I’ll never forget the heavy fog that covered the city. Whenever I looked up at one of the hills I could see it rolling over the top like billowing smoke. Crossing the bridge wasn’t really an issue. There was some traffic considering the time of day and there were multitudes of people, especially at the visitor’s area. I can definitely say that over half of them were not only from out of state but also from out of stateside altogether. We stopped at the visitor’s center once we got to the other side. We got out and headed toward the bridge to take some photos.
I can’t forget to mention the temperature it was when we walked on the bridge. Everyone had heavy winter coats, many had hats and some even had gloves. So it sounds like December or January? No it was the beginning of August. That comes as a shock for me who had a euphoric image of a gorgeous, bright and sunny San Francisco year round. Thank goodness I went and had my expectations pulled down. Of course San Francisco was still beautiful with or without the sun in my opinion. Nevertheless the obvious white blast from my mouth wasn’t going to stop our travel ventures.
Once we were on the bridge we peered out into the foggy horizon of the San Francisco Bay. Alcatraz was barely visible but downtown was not to be seen that day. I still took some photos anyways because I didn’t want to come back and not have pictures of the one city I grew up catching glimpses of on nearly every media outlet. Looking up at the north tower was rather impressive considering that seventy five percent of it was blanketed in fog. I could almost say that it was intimidating to walk on the bridge. I can’t imagine seeing the bridge in it’s entirety on a clear day.
The last thing I did before we went back to the car was take a picture of the bay water underneath and some industrial buildings at the bottom. I wanted to do that to give people an idea of how high up we were even though one has to be there to experience it in it’s fullness. I believe the best camera(s) are your own eyes. I’ll never forget as I was standing there I could feel the bridge move up and down beneath my feet and even though I knew it was from the vehicles and all the constant movement on the bridge. All in all it was a terrific experience and I almost urge anyone who has a desire to travel to come and gaze upon what has been called a “modern marvel.” Hopefully next time it will be sunny and I can get a clear shot of the bridge. I’ll pray for sunny skies in November.