From Wikipedia --
“It has been declared one of the modern Wonders of the World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The Frommers travel guide considers the Golden Gate Bridge ‘possibly the most beautiful, certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world’.”
“The bridge-opening celebration began on May 27, 1937 and lasted for one week. The day before vehicle traffic was allowed, 200,000 people crossed by foot and roller skate.”
And therein lies a personal tale. Vehicle traffic was allowed on May 28, and that must be the day (evening, actually) that I remember. I was not quite 7 years old, as my birthday is in June. That evening when my dad came home he suggested we all pile in our new Buick, and go for a ride across the newly opened Golden Gate Bridge. So after dinner, that is what we did. So did 90 gazillion other people.
By the time we reached the bridge, traffic was creeping along. My sister’s husband Mark was driving, and at one point my dad said he wanted to get out and and walk. He was in his bedroom slippers. There was no problem in his getting out of the car and onto the bridge sidewalk, and we continued to drive across the bridge. We then turned around to return to the city. Somewhere along the way we realized that pop was on the other side of the road -- even if we could see him! So Mark continued across the bridge and turned into Doyle Drive which has a couple of turnouts, where we stopped. Soon a highway patrolman on a motorcycle stopped to ask if we needed help. We explained the situation (I suppose my dad’s description was given, along with the bedroom slippers), and off went the cop. A while later, he comes back, with pop riding behind him. Pop looked pleased as punch, whether about the motorcycle ride, or the walk on the bridge, or both. Great memory!
Other fun --
SKELETON :
A bunch of bones with the person scraped off.
TOOTHACHE :
The pain that drives you to extraction.
TOMORROW :
One of the greatest labor saving devices of today.
YAWN :
An honest opinion openly expressed.
WRINKLES :
Something other people have. You have character lines.
We have close friends who decided to be part of the crowd when the 50th anniversary was being celebrated. Do you remember the reports? They closed it off to traffic and let a solid wall of people cover the road.
ReplyDeleteThe arch of the roadbed flattened out, and all these bajillion people swaying in the wind, hoping nothing worse would happen!
Don, send that story to any local papers that ask for stories of the day!
ReplyDeleteAlison, I've seen several accounts of people walking causing bridges to sway in unpredicted ways. I'd like to see more so if you know of anything off hand (IF/WHEN you get a chance!) let me, or Don know via link. Thanks.
What a great memorie! Thanks for sharing it with us :-}
ReplyDeletei love that story!
ReplyDelete