San Francisco, California

Ms. DeBolt, one of our Psychology interns from Duquesne University, was going on a trip to San Francisco to see her fiance'.  She graciously took Flat Stanley with her! 

Their first stop was the famous Golden Gate Bridge.  The bridge was opened to traffic on May 28, 1937 after taking 4 years to be built.  It is unknown how many people worked together to build the Golden Gate Bridge as there were 10 different contractors who each had their own subcontractors, but sadly there were 11 fatalities during construction.  The bridge was built at a cost of $35 million.  To build the bridge today, it would cost over $1.2 billion.  In each tower, there are over 600,000 rivets!  The fabricated steel used in the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge was manufactured by Bethlehem Steel in plants in Trenton, New Jersey and Sparrows Point, Maryland and in plants in three Pennsylvania towns: Bethlehem, Pottstown, and Steelton. The steel was loaded, in sections, onto rail cars, taken to Philadelphia and shipped through the Panama Canal to San Francisco. The shipment of the steel was timed to coincide with the construction of the bridge.  The Golden Gate Bridge has a span of 4,200 feet.  It was once the world's longest suspension bridge, but now it ranks in at number 9.  The bridge was painted orange so that it blended in better with it's natural surroundings.  There is a toll you must pay to cross the bridge, with it currently being $6.  As of May 30, 2012 1,970,331,117 vehicles have crossed the Golden Gate Bridge (includes northbound and southbound) since opening to traffic on May 28, 1937.  

Stanley also stopped at a famous park in San Francisco called Alamo Square.  Across from Alamo Square are the "Sister Houses" or the "Painted Ladies".  These Victorian houses are used in many different movies, television shows, and many post cards.  You may remember seeing the Alamo Square & the Sister Houses on the opening credits of "Full House"!  

Stanley also went to a winery with Ms. DeBolt.  There are over 1,200 wineries in the state of California.  California accounts for 90% of the wine production in the United States!  The winery Stanley went to was called White Oak.  There are vineyards on the property to grow the grapes used in making the wine.  The "old vines" were planted in 1912.  The "new vines" were planted in 1936.  It was a neat tour to go on!  

Thank you, Ms. DeBolt for taking Flat Stanley across the country with you!  He had a great time!