Brock's Adventures Day 6: The Bridges and gardens

The following day we decided that it was time to go on a hunt for the Golden Gate Bridge. When we first arrived in the city of San Francisco the entire vicinity was engulfed in fog and mist, which made it very hard to locate the Golden Gate (despite the fact that it was one of the most notable pieces of American architecture). It was funny though at first because when we first drove into San Francisco we came across the bay bridge and followed it into Oakland. Most of my family immediately assumed that it was the Golden Gate Bridge that we had crossed. “Oh, that has to be it” my brothers exclaimed. “I mean, how many bridges are there in San Francisco? That was a bridge, and it was in San Francisco. Therefore, we just crossed the Golden Gate Bridge!” I on the other hand insisted that it wasn’t the Golden Gate Bridge on accounts that it wasn’t bright red and because it had many more supportive beams. If you’ve ever visited San Francisco or if you live in it, then you know what I’m talking about. The Bay Bridge is steely and gray, and it has multiple beams jutting out from its surface. The Golden Gate Bridge however, is red and occupied by two massive beams on the far ends of the bridge’s encompass. Still, despite my reasoning, I was shot down by just about everyone else in the car. “Maybe they took the red paint off and colored it gray so that terrorists couldn’t find it” someone offered. “Those terrorists will smash into any national monument they can, and I’m sure they’d want to destroy the Golden Gate if they got the chance to.” Quietly, I deferred on the matter and let it rest. Besides, the second we were bombarded with a street vender selling t-shirts and post-cards, they’d get an idea of what the Golden Gate looked like. Sure enough, before visiting Alcatraz I collected numerous post cards with pictures of the Golden Gate on them, promptly displaying them before one and all in my party as irrefutable evidence that we had, in fact, crossed the Bay Bridge, not the Golden Gate.

That’s why our second day in the city of San Francisco ended up becoming nothing more then a glorified search party fumbling through the fog in order to find an unmistakable landmark. Eventually, we found it. After following the guidance of a map (which is a wondrous device when put to use) we found the Golden Gate Bridge. I’m glad we found it too, because it was truly an experience for everyone in the car to behold. Alcatraz had been my own personal destination. The Golden Gate Bridge on the other hand was something we all wanted to see, and it was a brilliant sight indeed. The city was still under the fog’s siege, making the bridge look very mysterious and confounding. In fact, it reminded me of that part in the Incredible Hulk where the military chases Bruce Banner to San Francisco. The Hulk, trying to escape their jets and helicopters, clings on to the beam of the bridge, lurking above the fog. I actually managed to pull a fast one on my younger brother Parker by saying, “Look! There’s the Hulk” and pointing wildly into the air.
After we drove through the bridge we were led into Marion County (which is pretty much owned by writer and director George Lucas) where we had lunch. At lunch we decided to go and visit the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco as well as its renowned Japanese Tea Garden. Hence, we left the green and lush Marion County and stumbled into the equally green and lush Japanese Tea Gardens. I’m glad I got to see that too, because a lot of the foliage and plant life were natives to Japan. They even had ponds set up around the garden with stepping-stones for you to cross on. At one point we came to a bridge that curved so sharply, we had to climb across it as opposed to walking.
After seeing the gardens we enjoyed some nice hot green tea in the peaceful atmosphere. Ultimately, it ended up being the most peaceful day of the entire trip…bridges and all.