an Francisco Bay Area is regarded by many as the best place to
experience world-class food and wine in North America. The region's
culinary diversity, began with the California Gold Rush of 1849, when
more than 300,000 people from all over the world migrated to Northern
California to strike it rich. When the gold ran out, many of these
immigrants remained, using their earnings to start small farms, dairy
ranches, wineries, fisheries, and a myriad of restaurants that
served family recipes from around the world.
Present-day San Francisco offers a fascinating
historical landscape that pays hommage both
to the preservation of over 14,000 Victorian
buildings in key districts that survived the
ravages and fire damage of the 1906 earthquake
as well as a more modern skyline of striking skyscrapers.
Straddling the mouth of San Francisco Bay the unmistakeable
sweep of the Golden Gate bridge connects the metropolis to the rugged
northern shores of the bay, whilst the imposing prison island of Alcatraz, the
world’s most famous monument to incarceration, once housed famous convicts
like Al Capone and Robert “Birdman” Stroud who would have entertained elusive
glimpses of freedom across dangerous waters to downtown San Francisco.
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Golden Prospects
The “City on the Bay” and the great outdoors of Northern California
