Memories of the Red and White in my Past

When I lived in San Francisco as a kid, I didn't have any money at all. I used to go down to Fisherman's Wharf to shine shoes in those days when tennis shoes still were a new item. It was also different back then at Pier 43-1/2. The little office of the tour boat company had a ramp and still is there, but back then during the very few days I went to school, I'd be out there at Fisherman's Wharf and run up that ramp which lead to a observation area where I could look out over the piers and boats, toward Alcatraz Island and beyond.....

Those were indeed the Days!

I never had money to ride those tour boats, and eventually, I had moved out of the City I called home. The very few days when I was in my City by the Bay as an adult, one of the very first things I did each and every special time I returned to my City, I'd go down to Fisherman's Wharf to buy a steamed crab, ask them to crack it so I wouldn't cut my fingers bloody later. Then I'd jump on a Cable Car and head to my parents' home which was quite a distance away. 

That poor steamed crab didn't even last 10mins on the cable car ride home!

I didn't return to my City till the late 2000s to live permanently, and what a surprise! Most buildings and streets I remembered well. I felt I never lived my youth in those early days of hippie of the City, and I was busy doing stuff. I was a lost soul and never quite content with my Life....

The City had changed but in reality, like any other place I had lived since departing my City, everything is different but in reality, it hasn't changed at all. Many of the buildings were the same. Now able to drive around, the one way streets with synched traffic lights were still one way and synched. But I really wanted to see the one place that was special to me, and I immediately went to Fisherman's Wharf...

There it was at Pier 43-1/2: The little ticket office of the Red and White Fleet. The huge boat was still above spinning around, and the ramp was still there but now roped off.

At least now I was able to afford a ride on their Red and White tour boats, and finally could get pictures of my City from a viewpoint I couldn't even think of getting when I was that young kid before.

I've heard the company CEO has retired. I'll miss him....  and wish him and his Family well.

If I ever get back to the City, of course I'll stop by. It's something of my childhood that I miss immensely and will never forget!