The Wabe → The Roadtrip → The Roadtrip Reports → Year 3 → Roadtrip Report: 10 July 1998
A special treat today, kids. We're giving the Smogmobile a few days of well-deserved rest as we Roadtrip in San Francisco!
On the south shore of the San Francisco Bay lies the town of Alviso, a tiny community all but forgotten by Silicon Valley. Aside from having some good Mexican restaurants (if you know where to look), Alviso also houses the South Bay Yacht Club, which used to operate out of the local marina. Alas, keeping the marina dredged proved too expensive for Santa Clara county, making it the only landlocked marina of which we are aware.
Most people would get to Alviso directly off the 237. Not us. We had to cross the Bay first, via the San Mateo (92 East) bridge.
The San Mateo Bridge wins our vote for the stupidest bridge in existence. Halfway across in the eastward direction, the number of lanes drops from three to two, as if they expect some people to get off at this point. This causes no end of problems.
We here at the Smogmobile Research Labs have come up with some innovative ideas for widening the causeway, all involving the people responsible for this idiocy:
There's something very Zen about the Alviso Marina, from its weed-encrusted docks...
...to the rotting carcasses of abandoned boats moored for eternity.
Others rescued their boats and set up residence.
Parts of the Marina allow walking access. You can hike along the south edge of the San Francisco Bay for quite a distance.
Birds and other forms of wildlife are abundant.
Somewhere along the southern edge of the Bay is a ghost town left over from the California Gold Rush days. Unfortunately, to get to it you have to walk along an active railway. We decided not to search for it. But we did get to see another ghost town, on Monday.
Other thoughts on Alviso:
Last Modified: 2004/08/25 22:29:48 GMT
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