After takeoff over Foster City, a planned community incorporated in 1971 where some of the biggest players in Silicon Valley reside (Oracle, Siebel, Crossroads, Macromedia), we’ll fly north over San Francisco Airport for a bird’s-eye view of the international airport, which opened in 1927 and became the home of the PanAm China Clipper. Its beautiful new international terminal, completed in 2000, is the largest building in the world built on “base-isolators” to insulate against earthquake. In 2005, SFO transported about 27 million passengers, 65,000 metric tons of mail, and more than 486,000 metric tons of cargo.

As we pass the San Bruno hills on the left, you’ll see Candlestick Park (now billed as Monster Park for the cable company, but due to return permanently to its original name in 2008) to the right, where the 1989 World Series was underway when the Loma Prieta Earthquake struck. Although the Giants no longer play here, having moved to SBC Park several years ago, Candlestick Park is famous for many things, including:

• 1960 1st baseball ever thrown out by Richard Nixon on 12 April 1960.
• 1961 During the 1961 All Stars game Giants' Stu Miller was blown off the pitcher’s mound.
• 1963 During NY Mets batting practice, a gust of wind picked up the entire batting cage and dropped it 60’ away on the pitcher’s mound.
• 1966 Beatles performed their last live concert there on 29 Aug 1966.
• 1971-72 Stadium was enclosed during the winter of 1971-72, which decreased the wind significantly.
• 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake (17 Oct 1989) struck minutes before Game 3 of the World Series; delayed the series for 10 days while the structural soundness of the stadium was checked.

After you pass the San Bruno hills, you’ll turn your attention toward San Francisco itself, the second most densely populated city in the US after New York, home to about 750,000 people in a square 7 miles by 7 miles.

As we come into the city, you’ll get a great view of the new PacBell Park, where both the Giants and the 49ers play. The new ballpark has extended an economic boom in this neighborhood—SOMA (South of Market)/Bayshore—that began in the late 1990s during the rise of the dotcoms, many of which had offices here.

Off to the right, enjoy a view of the Oakland Bay Bridge, with a new bridge under construction beside it—those cranes had to be shipped in one piece, and getting them under the Golden Gate Bridge is its own interesting story. Both the Golden Gate Bridge further west and the Oakland-Bay Bridge were WPA (Works Progress Administration) projects during the 1930s.

Just below you’ll see Alcatraz, the famous prison, which—long before its prison days—was a fort built just after the Gold Rush designed to protect the riches of California. In its day, it was the most powerful of all Pacific Coast defenses. Past Alcatraz is Angel Island, now a state park, which was the west-coast entry for immigrants in the early 20th century, sometimes called the “Ellis Island of the Pacific.” Across the Bay to the north lies Sausalito, and towering above it is Mount Tamalpais.

Right away you’ll spot the famous Transamerica Pyramid (opened in 1972) and the Bank of America tower, both in the heart of the City’s financial district. Behind them Coit Tower graces Telegraph Hill.

The flat landfill of the Marina rises several hundred feet into Pacific Heights, one of San Francisco’s toniest neighborhoods. The grassy area along the Marina, today part of the park system, was originally Chrissy Airfield from 1921-1974. The wooded areas to the west are part of San Francisco’s famous city parks, Golden Gate Park being the largest and most famous. At the entrance to the Presidio sits the Palace of Fine Arts, the only extant structure from the grand buildings of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, held in 1915.

In the center of the City, Sutro Tower sits atop Twin Peaks, which with Mount Davidson (look for the large white cross) are the two highest points in San Francisco (a little over 900’).

The western side of the City, known as the Richmond (north of the Park) and the Sunset (south of the Park) slopes gently downhill to beautiful beaches. San Francisco State University, part of the California State University system, and the University of California at San Francisco Hospital complex are very visible occupants of the Sunset. As you pass down Ocean Beach, you leave San Francisco for Pacifica, a sleepy, foggy village tucked between the southern edge of the city and Montara Mountain that rises to the south.

If the day is pleasant, you’ll continue past Point Pedro to Half Moon Bay, where a famous surfing competition takes place annually. Half Moon Bay retains much of its rural village feel, protected from the City’s encroachment by geography.

After crossing the coastal hills over Crystal Springs Reservoir—which is the San Andreas Fault—you’ll return to San Carlos Airport via a beautiful, wide view of the San Francisco Bay.