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by Caitlin Moriarity
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Anywhere
But Here
The Tour That Karma Bought Ever hear of “responsible travel”? It’s a term for a concept that seems a lot more complicated than it is. Companies are now offering special “responsible travel” packages that are supposed to be better for local economies and ecosystems. But really, “responsible travel” all distills down to a fairly simple and basic concept: Don’t be a jerk.
I feel that people should not be jerks on principle, but sometimes you also get rewarded for doing so. And with that I segue into this issue’s column.
My friend Holly came out to visit me in October. Naturally it was a good excuse to visit my favorite tourist trap, Fisherman’s Wharf.
Despite the picket line, there was no shortage of people taking the tour. |
The thing Holly wanted to do most was to take the Alcatraz tour, which I actually hadn’t done yet. So after taking the cable car down to the Wharf (WHEEEE!!!!), we started walking down to Pier 33, where we’d been told that the Alcatraz tours launched.
It was sunny but a little cool, but considering what Missouri weather at the end of October is like, neither of us were complaining.
As we got closer to where I figured the pier ought to be, I noticed a group of protesters marching, shouting, and waving signs. Holly asked, “Isn’t that where we’re supposed to go?”
I was pretty sure it was. To shamelessly crib from one of my favorite movies, I had a bad feeling about this.
As we got closer, we discovered that yes, the picketers were protesting the Alcatraz tour company for employing non-unionized workers. Holly and I walked around them and sat down on a nearby bench, where we both kind of stared at the ground for a while.
Finally, I burst out with, “Holly, I know this is your only day in town and that you really wanted to see Alcatraz and if that’s what you want to do I’ll support you because we’re friends but I REALLY don’t want to cross that picket line,” all in one big long rush.
“Oh thank GOD,” said Holly. “I can’t do it! I can’t screw those people over like that!”
We got up and started walking back to Fisherman’s Wharf, and when we walked past the picketers again, I shouted, “It worked! We’re not going on the tour because of you guys! Well done!”
A couple of the people smiled, but one guy detached from the crowd and started chatting with me.
“Really? That’s great! Hey, were you interested in going on a Bay Tour?” A Bay Tour is a 1-hour boat ride that takes you from Fisherman’s Wharf, does a loop under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz.
“Uh, sure we were thinking about it…” I wasn’t sure where he was going with this.
The Golden Gate bridge sure looks different from this angle! |
It turns out the guy, a fellow named DeSean (DeShawn?), worked for one of the Bay Tour companies and offered Holly and me a complimentary ride. We were floored. He called over to the Blue and Gold offices and left a message for one of his co-workers, and we thanked DeSean and headed over to the loading dock.
Holly and I gushed on our way over there. “Oh my god, can you believe this?” “No, this is so cool, a free tour!” “Paid for by KARMA!” That last was from Holly, who always has a great turn of phrase handy.
After a couple hiccups involving trying to track down the right person, we were personally escorted aboard the boat. I felt like a freaking VIP.
We got seats on benches on the top deck, but soon moved because the view was actually better on the middle deck. It was sunny but chilly at the Wharf, but in a great demonstration of the Bay Area’s nanoclimates, by the time we were on the water it was overcast and even chillier. The water was active but not quite choppy, and you could smell the fresh sea air.
Our “tour guide” was actually a cheese-tastic recording of a guy claiming to be Captain Nemo, but it actually contained a lot of good information. “Nemo” told us about, among other things, whales who get lost in the Bay, and Emperor Norton (look it up, it’s hilarious).
We chugged merrily out to the Golden Gate Bridge, where people looking over the edge started waving at us, and we waved back. (Happily no one chucked bricks down at us, but since we were a tour boat and not, in fact, a supervillain on a hover glider, that was to be expected.)
The boat swung around and started the return trip, with a nice, long, slow look at Alcatraz. The loudspeaker regaled us with tales of daring escape attempts from The Rock, and an attempt by Native Americans to annex the island under an obscure federal law. Honestly, I was pretty satisfied with this look at Alcatraz, although in the future I do hope to still get out there. Holly had a fun time, too, and besides, it’s incentive for her to visit again.
I should probably close this column off with something witty or a moral of some kind, but I got nothing. My journalism professors would be so ashamed.
See you next issue!
Caitlin Moriarity is a freelance editor
and writer who has been hooked on travel since a semester
studying abroad in college. You can read her other travel
writing at www.tropeofirony.com.
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