Afternoon: Check in and registration at 3 PM. Reception and orientation to follow.

Dinner: Dinner will be in the hotel restaurant.

Lodging: Hotel Carlton

Meals Included: Dinner

Join a private motor coach field trip exploring San Francisco. Cross the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and return to the city by ferry.

Breakfast: A full American breakfast is served in the hotel restaurant. In addition to good standard breakfast fare, there are also some interesting egg dishes that reflect the Yemeni roots of the Chef. You will receive a voucher for each morning's breakfast.

Morning: Enjoy a slide illustrated lecture by James Dalesandro, a college professor, writer and filmmaker. His command of factual details is only exceeded by his entertaining and engaging lecture style peppered with fascinating anecdotes about the characters that made San Francisco the city that it is. Learn about the tumultuous history of the San Francisco Bay area.

Lunch: Experience some of San Francisco's ethnic diversity with a delicious lunch of Thai cuisine in a little restaurant around the corner form the hotel.

Afternoon: This afternoon board a privately chartered motor coach along with your guide to explore San Francisco. The city is a patchwork of neighborhoods and the focus of this field trip is to see several of these distinct areas. Also drive to the highest hill in the city for a panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean, the bay, the city and the beautiful Marin Headlands across the Golden Gate. Drive through Golden Gate Park and cross the Golden Gate Bridge on the way to colorful Sausalito. Ferry tickets are provided for you to return to the city by boat for another prospective of the region.

Dinner: Group dinner will be at a local restaurant.

Evening: Return to the hotel where James Dalesandro will make another presentation. The lecture will cover San Francisco's devastation and rebuilding after the 1906 earthquake and fire, as well as the rapid growth of the various neighborhoods and architecture that developed around this time in history. Also see a screening of his historic film about this period called, The Damnedest, Finest Ruins

Lodging: Hotel Carlton

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Walk with your guide through the Barbary Coast, where San Francisco began. Walk through the exotic narrow alleyways of Chinatown and explore the colorful markets. Take a ferry to Alcatraz Island and tour the cell block of America's most famous prison.

Note: The walk is leisurely and almost entirely on flat ground. There are occasional opportunities to sit.

Breakfast: A full American breakfast is served in the hotel restaurant. In addition to good standard breakfast fare, there are also some interesting egg dishes that reflect the Yemeni roots of the Chef. You will receive a voucher for each morning's breakfast.

Morning: Board a city bus along with the locals for a ride downtown. The historic center of the city known in the gold rush era as the Barbary Coast is now the financial district with the city's skyscrapers. Visit the Wells Fargo Museum brimming with history. Then continue to Chinatown, which feels like a foreign land. Visit a Buddhist Temple, walk through the narrow alleyways, explore the markets and see how people on this cultural island live. The field trip ends at the Oriental Pearl, a restaurant know for its delicious dim sum.

Lunch: The Oriental Pearl is a Chinatown restaurant known for its dim sum. Dim sum refers to a style of Chinese food prepared as small bite-sized or individual portions of food traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates. Enjoy various kinds of dumplings as well as noodles and stir fried vegatables.

Afternoon: Board the ferry on Pier 33 that will take you out to infamous Alcatraz Island referred to as 'The Rock'. Tours of this legendary prison and National Park are often lead by former guards or family members who lived on the island when it was the prison home to some of the America's most notorious criminals.

Dinner: Participants are free to make their own dining arrangements.

Evening: The evening is unscheduled. Participants are free to make independent plans and suggestions will be offered.

Lodging: Hotel Carlton

Meals Included: Breakfast

Join a docent-led tour of the de Young Museum, walk through the tranquil Japanese Tea Garden, visit the beautifully renovated city hall

Breakfast: A full American breakfast is served in the hotel restaurant. In addition to good standard breakfast fare, there are also some interesting egg dishes that reflect the Yemeni roots of the Chef. You will receive a voucher for each morning's breakfast.

Morning: The de Young Museum is San Francisco's fine arts museum. A docent will guide you through the extensive collection discussing some of the highlights. The museum is newly reopened in a building that is architecturally beautiful set in Golden Gate Park.

Lunch: Sit inside or outside surrounded by modern art sculptures and enjoy lunch at the beautiful de Young Museum cafe.

Afternoon: After exploring the de Young at your own leisurely pace, we visit the Japanese Tea Garden located just next door. This traditional garden offers paths lined by manicured plants. Stroll along the paths and cross the arching bridges over gentle streams that connect the lotus filled ponds. On the return to the hotel you may wish to follow your group leader into San Francisco City Hall. This recently renovated structure is very impressive with its grand rotunda.

Dinner: Dinner will be on your own to explore the many cuisines available in San Francisco. Suggestions are provided.

Evening: Suggestions will be offered for independent evening activities

Lodging: Hotel Carlton

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

The Field Trip explores the Haas Lilienthal House, a grand Victorian Mansion furnished with period pieces. This final afternoon is free to revisit a favorite site or further explore on your own

Breakfast: A full American breakfast is served in the hotel restaurant. In addition to good standard breakfast fare, there are also some interesting egg dishes that reflect the Yemeni roots of the Chef. You will receive a voucher for each morning's breakfast.

Morning: Marie McNaughton is a lecturer at San Francisco State University. This morning she will deliver a lecture on Victorian Architecture, for which San Francisco is so famous. Following the lecture visit to the interior of the Haas Lilienthal House, a Victorian mansion furnished with period pieces. Your guide will talk about the furnishing and art as well as the history of the house, including ghost stories.

Lunch: Lunch is on your own.

Afternoon: The afternoon is free to explore on your own. You may wish to return to a favorite place visited earlier in the week, or visit one of the city's other fine museums. There are numerous art galleries around Union Square and many neighborhoods to explore. Suggestions will be offered that fit your personal interests.

Dinner: Return to the hotel for a lovely farewell dinner.

Evening: This evening you may wish to join the group to share addresses with new friends and discuss the highlights of the week.

Lodging: Hotel Carlton

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: A full American breakfast is served in the hotel restaurant. In addition to good standard breakfast fare, there are also some interesting egg dishes that reflect the Yemeni roots of the Chef. You will receive a voucher for each morning's breakfast.

Morning: James Dalesandro will present a final lecture expanding on your knowledge of San Francisco as well as providing a recap of the program.

Lunch: Our program will conclude by 11:00AM giving participants ample time to depart for the airport to catch flights returning home.

Meals Included: Breakfast