San Francisco's PIER 39, Fog Harbor Fish House, and the Balclutha

By Douglas V. Gibbs

My wife and I have always loved visiting San Francisco. Aside from the political madness of the inhabitants, The City is a fun tourist destination. However, when we go we always see the same thing, and we were always limited since we had young kids whenever we went. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but now that the children are grown up and have moved out to have families of their own, I was pretty sure this trip was going to be different.

We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge and stopped to marvel at the bay. Before the bridge, as we passed through Sausalito, I thought of my New Age worshipping, hard-left liberal cousin Tina who lives on the cliffs and has a balcony that overlooks the bay. We considered letting her know we were in the area, but changed our minds after we reminded ourselves of our last encounter. Tina is one of those relatives where it is best we just communicate by email. It's safer that way.

Usually, the fog blankets every nook and cranny of the bay during the dawn, but this morning the fog caressed the surrounding hills, the sky above us, and the bay's mouth to the ocean, but the interior of the bay remained visible at sea level, or at least while we were standing there, hand in hand, breathing in the cool, crisp air.

Presidio Heights never garnered our attention before, but this time we were convinced to stop to see the things we rarely looked at. Golden Gate Park put Central Park in New York to shame. As we passed through the Marina District, we stopped to do a little shopping, walk along the sea wall, and gaze at the Golden Gate Bridge. Then, we found parking near Fisherman's Wharf.

Okay, fine, even though we'd been to the wharf and Pier 39 before, we decided to spend some time there anyway.

The shops were a little different, the pier seemed to have been enlarged as well, but the view of the bay, and the Sea Lions on the docks, were unchanged. We rejected a trip to Alcatraz, having been over to the prison island a half dozen times before.

A myriad of restaurants dotted the pier. A few old favorites also lined the walk near Fisherman's Wharf - The Grotto being an old friend. Joe's Crab Shack, whose location in Oceanside is one of our favorites, filled the air with the aroma of seafood near the parking lot where ol' dependable lay in wait. On Pier 39 a bunch of new places called to us. Fog Harbor won our patronage.

The restaurant, as we understood, was established by the same family that created and developed PIER 39 over thirty years ago. The view of the bay is phenomenal, and the quality of the food was breath-taking. My wife and I jokes that we have nothing in common, and for the most part that is true. Nobody knows how we have been able to pull off this many years of marriage without killing each other. Well, one of the things we do have in common is we like to go out to eat, and we appreciate quality restaurants. We may be frugal on hotels, the cars we buy, and the shopping we partake in, but when it comes to restaurants we are firm believers you get what you pay for. Fog Harbor Fish House was a little pricey, but the quality was absolutely amazing.

We began with Clam Chowder, and with our travels to New England, New York, and the Oregon Coast, Virginia and I like to say we are quite the Clam Chowder connoisseurs. This Clam Chowder, however, was very different, and very good. It was the thickest Clam Chowder I think either of us ever had. After a spoonful, if you held the spoon sideways, no soup dripped off of the utensil. The clam meat was fresh, and each bite was delightful.

For dinner, my wife ordered a whole Dungeness Crab with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli. She was worried after such a thick cup of chowder she might not have room for the whole meal, but in the end it was the perfect amount. She was satisfied, but not stuffed.

I ordered Filet Mignon (Medium Rare) with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Spinach. The steak was incredible. It melted in my mouth, and carried a subtle flavor that made me sorry it was only eight ounces. The Garlic Mashed Potatoes were good, and unlike most places, the garlic was not too strong. My wife gave a thumbs up for her potatoes, too. Spinach is a difficult item to prepare properly. The window between over-cooked and not cooked enough is very small, and I have only eaten cooked spinach done just right a few times in my life. Once was by an Afgani family I knew back in the 80s who one time invited me over for a family get-together. The food was decorated with spices I was unfamiliar with, and the new flavors left me with a delightful memory. The spinach they served was seasoned, as well, and along with being cooked perfectly, the flavor was unlike any spinach I ever had before, or would ever have again. The second time was at a restaurant in Riverside which is no longer around, where the spinach leaves were firm, yet warm and enticing. The third time was at Fog Harbor. My only regret is that when it was all over, I only ate a little more than half of the leafy green delight, having reached my limit of stuffing my gut that day before all of the bites were complete. I finished the steak, and left a couple forkfuls of potatoes behind.

After the meal we walked up the road to the Hyde Street Pier, an attraction we never visited before. The pier was once an extension of Highway 101. Before the bridges were built, ferries carried cars across the bay to the awaiting northern end of the 101.

We paid five bucks each and walked aboard a couple of historic ships. The Steam Tug Hercules closed at 12:30 and we were there about 2:00 in the afternoon, so we settled for the other two ships.

The first vessel we stepped aboard was the Eureka. This 1890 Steam Ferryboat was among those that carried passengers and cars across the bay before the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge. A wooden hulled, side wheel paddle steamboat, the vessel could carry over two thousand passengers. We were able to visit a number of the compartments, as well as spending time reading information about the boat in the large passenger area.

The other ship was the Balclutha, which was renamed at one time "The Star of Alaska." It's sister ship, The Star of India, is in San Diego, and still takes cruises, but now for dinner guests. The Balclutha and the Star of India are the last of the vast fleet of ships used by the Alaska Packers Association.

Built in Wales in 1886, Balclutha was created specifically for trans-oceanic trade in mind.  She set sail for the first time in 1887, taking 140 days to get from Great Britain to San Francisco. The vessel brought coal to The West, which was cheaper to import from Britain than it was to ship from America's East Coast. California Wheat was then sent back on the ship, back to Britain. She made one round-trip voyage a year, carrying usually coal and wheat, but also at times, in addition to her main cargo, items like Scotch Whiskey, pottery, iron, and tin. The trip between Britain and San Francisco was not Balclutha's only adventures, for she also, for example, made trips to New Zealand for wool and tallow, rounding Cape Horn 17 times in 13 years.

Near the turn of the century the vessel began carrying lumber between Washington and Australia.  She did this as a part of the Hawaiian Registry. Balclutha is the last ship to fly the flag of the Hawaiian Kingdom. In 1901 a special act of the United States Congress admitted the ship to the American registry, changing the career of the ship once again, but this time so that the vessel could engage in "coastwise" trade between American ports.

After an accident in 1904 that left the crew and their lifeboats stranded on a shore, and the Balclutha run aground and listing, a firm bought the ship for the small price of $500, and then spent a few years getting her back to top-notch sea-worthiness. The Balclutha was then renamed The Star of Alaska, and began shipping canned salmon, among other things, for the Alaska Packers Association.

In her new career, the 1886 steel-hulled square-rigger sailed up the West Coast from Alameda, California, carrying supplies and cannery workers, to Alaska. At her new home in Alaska, anchored out in Chignik Bay, she waited for her cargo, and once she was packed with cases of canned salmon, Star of Alaska began the 2,400-mile voyage back to San Francisco Bay. A fast ship, she once was challenged to a race, and won easily.

In 1911, the poop deck was extended to house Italian and Scandinavian fishermen. Later, additional bunks were added in the ‘tween deck for Chinese cannery workers. As Balclutha, the ship carried a crew of twenty-six men; on Star of Alaska, over 200 men made the trip north.

The Star of Alaska was the final Alaska Packers Association ship to sail, being the only sailing ship the Packers sent north in 1930. After that, she retired. . . as a cargo vessel.

After a short Hollywood career appearing in Mutiny on the Bounty, and another renaming (Pacific Queen), in 1954 the San Francisco Maritime Museum purchased the old vessel and restored her. She was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985, under her original name, Balclutha.

A little more walking, and a quick gander at a few new places, we began the long journey back to the car. We passed a wax museum at one point, but when we saw a smiling Barack Obama looking out at us, it convinced us we really didn't want to check it out.

In the late afternoon we had to make a decision. Should we shoot across to Interstate 5 for a straight shot home, or should we take a more scenic route down the 101? We decided upon the 101, and also on visiting Monterey, where our craziest adventure waited for us, yet!

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary