Vacations Blog

Flagship Steam Beer

I love the rich history of my home called San Francisco. That history brings lots of tourists every year to walk and eat their way through historic Chinatown, see the Golden Gate Bridge and have a drink at the top of the Mark Hopkins Hotel. But what I really love about my home is its underbelly, its darker side.

Besides an infamous earthquake in 1906, San Francisco’s history includes men being shanghaied, a wild Barbary Coast and Alcatraz Island. It shouldn’t surprise you then that one of my favorite things to recommend for visitors is the Anchor Steam Brewery Tour.

Anchor is the last operating brewery in San Francisco. Andrew, a guide who gives the morning tour explains to about thirty people daily, that in 1896 dozens of breweries were in the city.  I imagine this contributed to the creation of the Barbary Coast District don’t you?

Proud to be still standing...

After Prohibition ended in 1933 only Anchor Steam returned to San Francisco.

Andrew our guide

During the 1960’s Fritz Maytag, heir to the appliance company (the one with the Maytag Repairman commercials), took sole ownership of Anchor Steam. Soon after an unknown Janis Joplin flew into town to join her new band, and came on the tour. It was at the start of her career in 1966 and you’d hardly recognize her.  I’m only showing this sign rather than her image they have up because of copyright laws.

Young Janis Joplin liked the tour too!

Today Anchor Brewing has 50 employees. They produce 100,000 bottles of beer a day. You are not allowed to take photographs inside but they have a bottling area that is straight out of Laverne and Shirley, and Shotz Brewery. The tour is great for kids to learn about old school American industry. You need to call a month ahead for a reservation but the tour is free of charge. Your guide will walk you over three floors before you return to the tasting room for about 30 minutes of sampling, which is also free.

Fun facts: In case you ever wondered, the recipe for their Christmas ale is their only secret, and they change it slightly every year. “Steam” beer is an old nickname for beer brewed along the West Coast under primitive conditions and without ice.

Only steam beer made in the US

Photo credits to my iPhone…

The city and the Golden Gate.

Early last year my wife and I took a trip to Larkspur, CA.

Now I will admit, Larkspur was not necessarily top on our list of “Places We’d Like to Visit Before We Die,” but at the time we were in possession of a $150 Marriott Hotels gift card and were in search of a local destination at which to cash it in. Much to my surprise, Marriott doesn’t have much to offer that’s off the beaten path, so in our quest for “exotic locales,” Larkspur won out over Walnut Creek and San Jose.

That being said, Larkspur is a very quaint little town, close to Mt. Tamalpais and only a stone’s throw from Sausalito, just over the Golden Gate Bridge as you leave San Francisco. The Larkspur Marriott, located at 2500 Larkspur Landing Circle, is but a short walk from the Larkspur Ferry Terminal. The hotel itself is your standard Marriott fare; far from horrible but certainly nothing special either. What did we care, we were only planning to sleep there.

Most of our day was spent testing out my wife’s new Digital Rebel.  And what better place to snap some beautiful test photos than the Marin Headlands.

Situated just North of San Francisco, high above the Golden Gate, the Headlands offer some of the most spectacular views of the world’s most famous suspension bridge, and the jewel that is San Francisco nestled below.  We spent several hours in the Headlands and watched the skies change from the crystal blue you see above, to the foggy white for which San Francisco is famous. It’s amazing how quickly the fog rolls in when you’re on the ocean, high above the city; how it spills over the hillsides, filling the valleys like mustard gas, only without all the uncomfortable blistering and accompanying screams of agony.

With the fog came the cold, the temperatures dropping from a comfortable 70 to somewhere closer to 55. At that point we decided to drive down to Sausalito, where we enjoyed some hot clam chowder and a cocktail at the now defunct Cat ‘n Fiddle Public House. Believe me, if you’ve never been you aren’t missing a thing. Seriously, where else can you pay nearly $30 for soup and a cocktail?

In search of a restaurant where our money would stretch a little further, we ended up at the Marin Brewing Company. This was much more our style; reasonably priced pub grub and beer, or at least what passes for reasonable in Marin County.

We spent the latter part of the evening enjoying the Marriott’s  hot tub, that is until the chiropractor from Nevada, his wife and three kids showed up. If I may interject a slight pet peeve here, I’m of the opinion that hot tubs are for the relaxation of slightly inebriated adults, not lap pools for youngsters.

In any event, after a good night’s sleep it was once again time to eat. We queued up for the Marriott’s plentiful breakfast buffet. As we ate, I watched an elderly gentleman rise from his chair to muck around with his wallet or handkerchief or some such thing that elderly folks are forever mucking with, and I noticed that his chair was in danger of tipping backwards. Timing my rescue with my third trip through the buffet line, I caught his chair just as balance lost its battle with gravity, righted it and moved on, all in one fluid movement. Batman could have done no better.

My wife nixed my suggestion to swing by San Quentin Village on our way home. Perhaps an adventure for another day.

Marin Headlands

Hawk Hill Tunnel

The author and the photographer

Marin Headlands

Photos: Lisa Romano