Pictures From My Trip to San Francisco in February, 1996

Back in late 1995 or early 1996, I got extremely lucky. At that point, I was a contributing writer for the school newspaper, "The Torch," at Bergen Community College. My articles had ranged on a number of topics, but one of the topics that I was one of the few to write on was sports. This was not immediately obvious to me, until one time, during one of the weekly meetings, they mentioned that they were going to a journalism conference in San Francisco, California, which was to be held late in February. There were only a limited number of openings available. There were six, to be precise, which included the faculty adviser. 

There was to be some discussion (in private) about who would be going. And so the officers, or editors, left the room, leaving everyone else to just sit there and wonder. A few minutes later, they came back, and the editor looked right at me, and asked if I would take on the title and responsibilities of sports editor. Immediately, this was exciting. First of all, it was an honor to be given that distinction. Also, I kind of figured that it would be my ticket to the San Francisco trip, to boot.

Indeed, that was what it translated to. By the end of that meeting, I had been named as one of the people going. This was very exciting! An all expenses paid trip to one of the most beautiful cities in the country, and possibly the world? Even if it would be only for a short (we were there for basically what amounted to an extended weekend, from late Thursday when we arrived, to Sunday night, when we took an overnight flight and arrived back early on Monday morning), it was to be my first ever trip out to the West Coast. And San Francisco, in particular, was a city that I had always wanted to visit.

I can still remember how excited I was in the weeks leading up to our departure. It was incredible, and I could hardly wait! When the day to leave finally came, it was amazing, still feeling like this could be too good to be true. But there we were, meeting, then going to the airport and boarding the plane. I do not remember the plane ride there so much, but I remember driving to San Francisco, our first glimpse of the city skyline.

We had breakfast at a coffee shop just below our hotel, and there were some strange people there, a weird vibe. The faculty advisor, who’s name was Harry, mused that all of the freaks come to San Francisco. I do not remember what hotel it was, and do not know yet enough about the city to tell anyone where it was. It did not have the best view of the city, but hey, we were in San Francisco! For Free!! So no complaints from me, trust me.

That first day, I believe that we all had to show up to the conference for the initial meeting, or speech, or initiation. But once the classes started, this woman Mia and I wound up having the rest of the day free. A day in San Francisco, which was what I had been dreaming of! Obviously, we were going to take advantage!

She wanted to go to Fisherman’s Wharf, and I was game. We did that, and it was amazing, of course. Fisherman’s Wharf is a touristy area right along San Francisco Bay. There were seals at one point, and even though I do not remember it, I managed to get pictures of them, something that I could not do when my son and I would go   

This is probably the best picture of me from that brief trip to San Francisco in February of 1996. I still have hair, was a lot lighter, and really enjoying myself. In the background is the Coit Tower, something that we saw from a distance, but did not specifically get to visit during this trip. My son and I would visit it in 2016, however. Also in the background are the famously hilly streets of San Francisco, as well as San Francisco Bay (to the left). Not sure where, precisely, this picture was taken. Possibly on top of Lombard Street, but I could be wrong. 

A picture of me during that free day. Not sure where this is, or why, specifically, we took it.  But I am glad to have it nevertheless. It was mild weather, and it is usually unthinkable to dress like this in norther New Jersey in late February. The sun is shining on what was then still more or less a reasonably full heard of hair. Ah, I miss those days!

One of the most famous views of San Francisco. This is a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge, of course. I am almost positive that this is a picture of it from outside of the city, more or less looking in, because the hills behind the bridge that you see from inside of the city are much more prominent and obvious. Luckily, this was a clear view, something that my son and I would not get on our trip to San Francisco in 2016, when there was a shroud of foggy cloud covering almost the entire time, and seemingly especially hanging over the bridge. 

One of my favorite pictures from the trip in 1996. The trip to San Francisco was the first time that I saw real palm trees, and this was the first trip to a warm weather city that I had ever been to. And right in the middle of what proved to be the record snowiest year for most of the East Coast! I loved this picture, with the city skyline behind the palm tree, which itself is surrounded by a bed of flowers and other greenery. Very nice! It seemed like I somehow ran into a lot more palm trees during that first visit then we saw on the second visit. But then again, that is likely because we went on the tour bus as a group, and they knew where to take tourists to give an impression!

Lombard Street, known as the "Most Crooked Street in the World," if memory serves correctly. I can barely see to make the determination, but I think this may be me in the picture, standing on top of the wall separating the street from the gardens. In fact, upon closer inspection, it seems to be my color sweater, and I remember doing this at the time. On the second trip with my son, I finally managed to do what I had wanted to do (but could not) during this trip, and drive down it. Beautiful and fun spot to visit! 

San Francisco is famous for it's hilly roads. So this was perhaps the best of the pictures that I have remaining from that trip, showing that, as well as a very blurry view, admittedly, of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay.  As you can tell, we were blessed with accommodating weather during the trip. It was mild to warm, with temperatures ranging from 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit), even right in the middle of winter. Ironically, it would more or less be the same kind of weather and temperatures that my son and I would see when we visited in August of 2016, right in the middle of the summer. It was quite hot in the interior of the state, such as in Sacramento, where we had spent the first night prior to reaching San Francisco from Yosemite National Park. San Francisco is famous for having virtual springlike weather pretty much year round. I barely needed a light jacket with the sweater I was wearing during this trip, yet needed a thick poncho to keep warm during the trip in summer of 2016. 

Here is a less dignified picture of me during the trip. I was not even going to share it, but it was one of only three with me actually pictured. Below is the woman who I visited the city with on the Friday (I believe it was Friday) when we got basically the entire day free, and visited. We were the only two of the six who were off entirely (or almost entirely, we may have had to go to one early meeting) that first day. Her name was Mia (Lyons, I think?). She also made a silly pose, although I am not entirely sure that I ever actually got to give her a copy of this particular photograph. 

This was the only halfway decent quality picture of the Palace of the Fine Arts that I got back during that 1996 trip. It was one of the major destinations - perhaps the biggest destination - that I had specifically wanted to visit, but this was as close as any of us would ever get during that very short trip early in 1996. Not that I am complaining, because again, I was just thrilled beyond belief to be there, to get an opportunity to visit the city at all. But I wanted to snap this picture at least, even if the glare of the window kind of gets in the way. We were on a tour bus, coming back from the Golden Gate Bridge, where the bus had actually gotten in a minor accident, hitting a parked car during one of the fairly sharp turns. I felt bad for the driver. But I was glad to get this picture, even though when my son and I went to San Francisco, this was pretty much the first site that I went to, and took plenty of quality pictures (see below for the more recent pictures from the trip that my son and I took in the summer of 2016, more than two full decades after the 1996 trip). 

Seals are a very common site, apparently, on San Francisco Bay, including Fisherman's Wharf. This was something that I had not known about prior to that trip in February of 1996, and it came as a pleasant surprise. I had forgotten about these pictures, so seeing them again was a very pleasant surprise. Especially since, for whatever the reason, I could not seem to get any pictures of seals, or even of one dolphin that we saw swimming alongside our boat, many years later (20 years and change, to be precise) when I would take my son to the City by the Bay. 

The Golden Gates Bridge viewed from somewhere around Fisherman's Wharf

Entrance to Sutro Heights Park

The Pacific Ocean and Views From Around the Cliff House:

Seeing the Pacific Ocean was a real thrill! I had always wanted to see it, and again, the weather was accommodating. Pretty dramatic looking rocks jutting right along the Pacific coast here.

View of San Francisco City skyline, which was taken, I believe, from the Golden Gate Bridge:

San Francisco, 2016:

Palace of the Fine Arts, San Francisco

City Views From Coit Tower and Telegraph Hill:

Lombard Street:

San Francisco Bay:

Alcatraz Island. We did not get the tickets to actually visit it, because they were charging ridiculous prices, literally in the hundreds. But our boat trip took us fairly close, so we got some decent views, nevertheless.

The trip to San Francisco would not have felt complete without a trip on one of the famous cable cars. Here we are, in one of the indoor ones. Back in 1996, Mia and I had taken one of the more traditional ones, which looked a lot less like a subway than this one did. 

My son and I enjoying our visit to Golden Gate Bridge, which is obviously shrouded in fog, and thus barely visible (the towers, anyway). Yet, as the picture shows, it is still a bit sunny. Notoriously strange weather in San Francisco. 

This is definitely one of my personal favorite memories from both trips to San Francisco! What is it? This is corn chowder soup in bowls made of sourdough bread. God, I wish that they had that around here sometimes! It is really good, and the idea is that you eat some of the bread with it as you go along. I got it more out of curiosity than anything else during the trip in 1996. But by 2016, I definitely wanted to make a point of getting this. Both times, these were available from vendors on street corners in and around Fisherman's Wharf. My son enjoyed it, too. Perhaps a little too much, because he said that he felt too full. Maybe ten to twenty minutes after we drove out of the city, he told me to pull over, and most of this soup came out then. But trust me, this is a real San Francisco treat!