Northern California revealed itself to me in varying guises. From the chic urbanity of San Francisco with its neatly wrought hill side mansions, world-class restaurants and enticing stores to the quaint, quiet country side of Napa Valley; from the historic Spanish mission plazas of Sonoma to the intelligentsia swarming the steps of Berkeley’s most famous buildings; from the creepy cellular jail at Alcatraz to the astounding natural beauty of the redwood forests at Muir; from the raucous beach front attractions of Santa Cruz to the awesome coastal wonders of the Pacific Coast Highway at Monterrey Bay, I felt as if I had traveled through many countries without having left a single state.
It was with the greatest sadness that I boarded my flight to return home to Connecticut, only to find that the flight offered another multitude of wonders. From my window seat, at take off, I had the most splendid view of the Bay Area. In the distance, I saw the red lines of the stately Golden Gate Bridge, flanked on the opposite end by the graceful lines of the longer, lovelier Bay Bridge. Downtown San Francsico rose up to greet me, its skyscrapers presenting themselves in a different perspective as I recognized the landmark buildings from the air. As the aircraft skimmed over Monterrey Bay, just a little further south, I saw the coast settlements of Pebble Beach and Santa Cruz, then further south Carmel-By- The Sea. Then, suddenly, veering sharply north, the plane began its ascent passing over the great expanse of Lake Tahoe that lay shimmering like a glass mirror below me. From that point onwards, it seemed that every time I stuck my head outside the window, we were flying over a great body of water. In Utah, we flew right over the Great Salt Lake, so that I saw Salt Lake City lying sprawlingly below me. Much further east, we flew directly over Lake Erie in Pennsylvania and I realized why those bodies of water are called the Great Lakes. Indeed they are enormous and no stretch of the imagination can quite conjure a sense of their vastness or magnitude. Then, night fell over the continental United States and I had to end my rumination of the fascinating and varied geography that makes up this great nation. Indeed, as I flew from sea to shining sea, I realized how grand is this nation, how diverse, how completely awe-inspiring. It is travel that truly opens up one’s horizons, not just broadening them, as the old cliché goes, but deepening them. My visit to Northern California certainly did all this for me and more.
To read about my adventures within the varied terrain of Northern California, please clink on the links below.