China Camp & Golden Gate Bridge Fireworks

We are now on part two, day two of my Memorial Day weekend adventures. We started the day at China Camp, a state park up by San Rafael. Unfortunately, it is about to be shut down next month due to California state budget issues, so our visit was aptly timed. China Camp was a historic Chinese finishing town in the 1880s, but it has slowly died down to only one remaining resident. Today, China Camp Village houses the remnants of some of the stores and a small museum. Plus, there are plenty of hiking trails and a few campsites as well.

After visiting the historic village, we set off on another hike, though this one wasn’t 8 miles and it didn’t end in an amazing waterfall.

Instead, it ended in a turkey attack. We spotted a turkey on the trail from afar, and as I walked up to photograph it, it decided to charge toward me instead… we realized soon after that a bunch of baby turkeys were hiding in the shrubbery behind it. Luckily, we all walked away unscathed. Sorry turkey!

After a delightful meal at Sol Food in San Rafael, Dan and I headed toward Sausalito to see if we could stake out a viewing spot for the Golden Gate Bridge’s 75th anniversary fireworks. Unfortunately, they closed off all the roads to Fort Baker, our original intended destination. So after much circling, about an hour later, we finally made it over to the Marin headlands and found the perfect spot to camp out.

She sure looks pretty!

The show started off with a curtain of fireworks spewing from the entire length of the bridge. I think this was my favorite start of any fireworks show, ever.

Finally, we left the bridge looking like it had been struck with green lightning or maybe the X Men were back to destroy it again… well, looks pretty cool anyway. Happy Birthday, Golden Gate!

And that concludes our amazing two days of adventures. I really do love the Bay Area. So many incredible things can be found within an hour of San Francisco. I’m very thankful to be living here. On to the next adventure!