The Great American Rail Trip- Leg 3

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Now a little recap of the 3rd leg of our journey- LA to San Jose. For the first time on this trip, our train was not delayed! We set off from LA Union Station around 10 and rolled in to San Jose around 8.

As a side note, California is currently building a high speed rail system that will connect LA and San Francisco in under 3 hours- quicker than driving by quite a bit!

Anyway, we stayed with my family in San Jose and had a lovely dinner with them- a much needed home-cooked meal. After hanging a bit with Zooey, their behemoth black lab, we went off to sleep.

Day 1-Alcatraz, Lombard Street, Chinatown, and Japantown 

I love San Francisco because unlike LA, it is very easy to explore without a car. There is a robust transit network, plus San Francisco is very dense and compact, which means that many things are within walking distance.

My aunt drove us to the San Jose Caltrain station, a commuter rail connecting San Jose, Palo Alto, and other communities to the south and west side of the San Francisco Bay with San Francisco itself. After a quick 1 hour ride we were in the heart of The City by the Bay and hopped on an awesome old streetcar to get to Fisherman's Wharf, where we hung out until it was time to hop on the ferry to Alcatraz.

Alcatraz has worn many hats in the history of the United States. Before it was the federal penitentiary harboring some of the country's most dangerous criminals, it was a strategic military fortification, protecting the Bay Area from potential invaders.

Alcatraz was also occupied by Native American Tribes in 1969 during the height of the Civil Rights Era in the Bay Area. Native Tribes peacefully took over the now abandoned island as a protest against controversial US government policies at the time. They occupied the island for 19 months, and the protestors were credited with significantly improving US-Native relations.

We got a free audio tour of Alcatraz, where criminals such as Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly were held. It was quite interesting as we got to learn about a few of the escape attempts that were made, see into the cells, and see the recreation area. Alcatraz is also a bird sanctuary filled with beautiful gardens and scenery.

After Alcatraz, we took a walk to the famous Lombard Street before hopping on the bus to Chinatown.

Chinatown is one of the largest Asian enclaves outside of Asia and if you dropped someone in the middle of Stockton Street, they might just think they're really in China. The streets are lined with Chinese-owned businesses, where the signs and menus are in both English and Chinese. It is a really interesting neighborhood- it gives an interesting glimpse into the life of Chinese immigrants.

After this, we went to Japantown to meet my cousin for dinner. We ate at a little restaurant where your food was delivered to you on little food trains, very fitting for our adventure. Then, we headed to the BART station, the heavy rail system of the Bay Area, and head back to San Jose.

Clipper Card and Transit in the Bay Area
The Bay Area is massive and has many large cities in close proximity to each other, including San Jose, Oakland, San Francisco, Fremont, Daly City, etc. Each of these cities have their own, separate transit systems, in addition to regional transit networks such as Caltrain and BART. If you are traveling around the Bay Area, it is very likely you are using multiple transit systems, which might make it hard to keep track of tickets, passes, etc.

Thankfully, there is the Clipper Card. The Clipper Card can be used on all transit systems in the Bay Area- one card covers all of the different transit systems, and all you have to do is tap your card to the reader- that's all! The money you need for Caltrain can also be used on MUNI- San Francisco's transit system.

Day 2: Golden Gate Bridge, Muir Woods, and Muir Beach
Our second day was our nature day. We hopped in the car and drove back up to San Francisco, crossing the famous Golden Gate Bridge before heading to Marin Headlands- the mountains and hills overlooking the Bay,  Pacific Ocean, and San Francisco. We drove up the windy roads to a vista point, which provided wonderful views.

We had a nice lunch at this little fish n chips spot in Sausalito before heading to Muir Woods.

Muir Woods is a little forest area where there are towering Redwoods and other beautiful scenery. We did a short 2 mile hike before heading off to the Muir Beach Overlook, which provided stunning views.
Now we are on the California Zephyr en route to Denver- another 30+ hours of much needed downtime. We are really starting to appreciate the train rides because of the downtime they provide.

Stay tuned for updates!

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