End-of-the-Year San Francisco Trip

June 10-13, 2007

 

Sunday, June 10

We visited the newly re-opened DeYoung Museum and caught the last day of fashion designer Vivian Westwood’s highly acclaimed special exhibit.  Grade-level groups accompanied by a teacher toured the museum on their own.  Among the different permanent exhibits, students toured the excellent American art galleries, along with the African and Oceanic rooms and others.  Students went to the top of the tower for a panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean, San Francisco Bay, and the City.  Later, after watching roller skaters dancing to music in closed-off Golden Gate Park, we checked into the Fort Mason Youth Hostel, which was a wonderful facility to enjoy our stay in San Francisco.  We enjoyed an authentic Hunan Chinese dinner at Chef Jia’s with the Lower School eating first, followed by the Upper School.  Back at the youth hostel, students enjoyed board games and arm wrestling in the spacious living room.

 

              

     

     

 

Monday, June 11

The day began with a bus tour of the city with the first stop being Grace Cathedral to see the authentic copies of The Gates of Paradise, doors crafted by Lorenzo Ghiberti in Florence in the 14th Century.  From there, we traveled through the Castro District to Twin Towers for a magnificent view of the city on a warm, clear morning.  Then, it was off to a grade-level walking tour of the Haight-Ashbury District.  After the Haight, we walked across the Golden Gate Bridge.  The buses later dropped us off near Chinatown for the rest of the afternoon.  Students were grouped in advance by the faculty into six “walking groups” with the goal of visiting a number of destinations, including Chinatown, North Beach (Little Italy), Coit Tower (hoping also to see the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill and some groups did), and the Liberty Ship Jeremiah O’Brien.  That evening, we had a pizza party at the hostel before going to see the San Francisco Giants play the Toronto Blue Jays. We watched Barry Bonds hit homerun Number 747, helping the Giants win 4 to 3!

 

                             

                           

         

   

     

             

     

                               

     

                                       

 

Tuesday, June 12

We visited the San Francisco Exploratorium to experience the many hands-on scientific exhibits.  After the Exploratorium, we split into two groups to travel over the Bay Bridge, one to visit the USS Hornet, a World War II era aircraft carrier that also picked up the crew of the first Moon Landing in July 1969.  The other group visited the national Lawrence Berkeley Lab to see the Advanced Light Facility and the Cyclotron.  Later, some students chose to spend “free time” in small groups shopping at Union Square; others kicked back at the hostel, playing board games and bocce ball on the lawn.  For dinner, we all dined together in an elegant banquet room at the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club in North Beach.  Students got to play basketball after dinner.  For dessert, the Senate arranged for a special cake to honor departing teacher Ryan Biornstad, who will begin his medical studies in August.  The school had an emotional and heartfelt “last fire” appreciations session in the banquet room.

 

                            

                            

     

     

     

                                             

 

Wednesday, June 13

We checked out of the youth hostel at 8:30 A.M. and soon afterward boarded the Alcatraz Cruises ferry shuttle to Alcatraz Island.  The students toured The Rock with an audio tour to tell the history of the famous federal penitentiary.  We had a safe bus ride back to Santa Barbara, arriving early at 7:30 P.M.