Labor Day the The City

Our tradition over Labor Day is usually going to Tahoe on Labor Day and hiking and exploring and/or biking. But we always get stuck in the traffic coming back from Burning Man and what should take is 90 minutes takes us 3 hours.. This year we decided to go the opposite direction and head the The City.

 

 

It was a BEAUTIFUL day!  It’s risky going to SF in the summer months because fog is the norm and it’s actually warmer and sunnier days during the Winter months.  Not today!  Temps in the low 70’s, slight breeze, no fog, it was an abnormal excellent day!

Our first stop was Golden Gate Park and the Japanese Tea Gardens, as we’ve never been.  We found out that there are over 70 FREE guided walking tours offered by locals around the city, and we picked one for the Gardens. 

Wow, this place is beautiful and hidden! You drive right by and don’t even notice.  We learned so much on the guided tour as well. EVERY single thing in this garden has a meaning. Every branch, every rock, every shadow even!  And the buildings and fences were all built without nails.  These photos are not touched up, or edited in any way! The colors were really this bright! These pics are straight from my phone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the wonderful gardens, walked around a bit before we went to one of the lakes in Golden Gate Park and rode the paddle boats.

 

 

Yep, the water really was that green! 

 

 

 

 

We saw some turtles sunning themselves and the kids wanted to bring one home for a pet.  Uh, no.

 

We found a little island with blackberries growing and there were tons of ripe ones. We couldn’t pass that up! They were yummy!

 

 

Then it was off to tour a working chocolate factory.

 

The Tcho Chocolate factory on Pier 17 is a gourmet chocolate maker. The stuff they sell isn’t in any store. It’s mail order and stores like Sprouts and Whole Foods. We got to taste 6 different kinds of chocolate and we learned how to savor and eat chocolate. You aren’t supposed to just bite it right away, especially with dark chocolate. The tannins in the chocolate are bitter and when you bite it, they are released all at once, which is why many people don’t like the taste of dark chocolate.  You are supposed to suck it slowly and let it melt on your tongue.  We did that and even the dark chocolate was good that way!

No photos were allowed inside, so you’ll just have to imagine us eating all that chocolate in our hair nets.

 

 

 

After that, it was off to Pier 39 where we walked to Pier 45 to the USS Pampanito Submarine where we had a tour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This sub patrolled the seas during WW2.  It was very tight quarters!  Even the beds were three high!  I don’t think any overweight people served on this sub!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then stopped into the Musee Mecanique which was on the same pier as the sub.  This “museum” is the largest collection of mechanical games from the beginning of the 20th century.  And the games all still work!  There are over 300 games and it’s fun to walk around  and play a few.

 

 

 

Then is was time to head for home.  And like the traffic earlier that morning, the traffic going home was almost non-existent!  We now know to go to San Fran on Labor Day for low crowds and low traffic! We had a great time and had a fun filled day! 

Time for Six Flags

Yep, time for Six Flags again.  We picked a weekday, and it was excellent weather – not too hot, but still warm enough for the water rides, and it was perfect crowd wise – very light crowds!  We went along with Adam and his family and had a great time.

We got there a few mins before they opened to rush over to Superman (the new coaster this year) because the crowds just get longer on this one. 

Standing in line, we were looking at what we were in for.

 

 

 

 

The first time we rode it was a little nerve racking since there are no shoulder harnesses – only a lap bar and a restraint around your shins.  We didn’t know what to expect and created a few screams from us.  It’s a very different experience and one that we had to repeat.  So we did. Our verdict? Two thumbs up!

 

The kids always love this “kiddie” ride that lets them spin the car as fast as they want. They have contests to see who can spin the fastest.  Hannah says that she has to put her head down so it doesn’t snap her neck back sometimes cuz it’s spinning so fast.  This time, they got off and were a little queezy and wondered why.  Really? You have to wonder why?

 

 

 

 

Of course the obligatory ride on Hammer Head is a must….

 

And everyone loves the Thrilla Gorilla!

 

 

And a surprise!  Two actually!  1)Voodoo was actually running today and even more of a surprise 2)Voodoo actually gave you a ride this time!  It appeared as they FINALLY got new software that actually made the car spin around more than once!  I mentioned this to the ride operator and she also confirmed that they changed the ride software this year.  I don’t think this ride has ever made it on our blog it’s been so lame all these years. It’s never been blog worthy except for this year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you spot Hannah and Jacob? Hint: They are not sitting next to each other

 

 

 

Boomerang was ridden….

 

As was Kong for the first time in several years. Usually that’s all we can take of this ride. It’s highly rated as one of the worst dangling coasters ever built it’s extremely rough and you WILL have a headache after riding it.  (And right next to it is one of the smoothest coasters ever – Medussa) I heard that Kong  got new seats and restraints this year, so we gave it try to see.

 

 

Nope. We’re good for another few years on this ride.

 

Gold Rush Days

 

Labor Day Weekend in Sacramento means one thing – Gold Rush Days in Old Sac. They cover up the normal cobblestone streets with dirt, have docents all dressed up, and have shoot out shows in the middle of the street.  It’s been a few years since we’ve gone, and the weather wasn’t too hot so we decided to go early in the day to beat the crowds and we went on Saturday, not actual Labor Day.

We parked in our secret (shhhh don’t tell anyone) FREE parking area that we found during the St Patty’s day parade and have parked there ever since when we go to Old Sac. It’s closer than even the $8 an hour parking!  It does require a 6.4 minute walk to Old Sac, crossing the Tower Bridge.  In all the years and times we’ve been to Old Sac, we’ve never seen the bridge go up.  As we were parking, Jacob said, “I wonder if the bridge ever goes up. We’ve never seen it working.”

As we started across the bridge, we looked down the river and saw the train bridge had opened and was letting a boat through, and the boat was heading our way.

 

 

 

Just then  we heard the loudest horn you’ve ever heard. It came from the top of the bridge we were crossing!  Then lights and bells on the bridge started to go off and gates closed across the bridge, closing it to traffic.  We proceeded walking past all the signs that say “GET BEYOND THIS GATE YOU HEAR THE WARNING BELLS” so we hurried to get beyond the gate.

Shortly after that, a gate closed blocking walking traffic as well.

Right next to us on the road, these HUGE steel pillars came up from the ground, just in case a car blew past the crossing arm. These would sure stop you!

 

And then the middle of the bridge started to rise!

 

 

 

 

When it was up all the way, the boat sailed calmly through, and then the bridge came back down again. 

 

We were so lucky to be there just at the right time!  It was very cool to watch it and be right there.

 

We then walked around Old Sac and watched some shoot-out old west shows, and heard an extremely loud cannon be shot that made our ears ring for about 15 minutes after it went off. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way back to the car, we found this very disguised geocache hidden in a hollowed out branch. Hannah was the one to find it, and she wanted to make sure I wrote down that it was the first cache she found by herself in “about 5 years” she said. She was very proud!

 

All Aboard!

We found out that the Steam Trains at a local park were free one Saturday afternoon, and it had been probably 2-3 years that we went, so it was time.  The train are 1/8 scale of the real thing, and the track is about 2 miles long winding around, through and over the park.  It’s a fun little ride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then went on a hike at the Maidu Indian place where we found some geocaches, and walked along the river skipping rocks.