California Post #1- Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon

Sunday night I returned from CA and my brother's wedding. it was fantastic, but more on that to come...

my first day in san francisco (thursday) my folks and i met jon, melissa, and melissa's mom at a bar across the bay called "Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon". for the history lovers out there, here's a bit of info on it:

• built in 1880 as a bunkhouse for oyster workers, it was turned into a saloon in 1883. it is built from wood from an old whaling ship
• it used to sit on the border of a dry county, and for military men leaving for overseas is was their first and last chance for alcohol depending on if they were coming or going
• men going off to war used to write their name on money and leave it on the wall so that they had money for drinks when they returned. as many never did you can still see the money tacked up on the wall (it's pretty amazing)
• Jack London (author of Call of the Wild) used to hang out and write here, and the cabin that he lived in while in alaska was found and brought to rest right next to the saloon
• others such as William Howard Taft and Robert Louis Stevenson also used to frequent this bar
• and the coolest fact of all- in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 the pilings under half the floor sunk a bit into the mud and could not be pulled up. the building is still structurally sound but the floor slants probably a good foot or two. the clock on the wall stopped at the exact time of the quake and still hangs there.

here is Jack London's cabin-
and on the ferry back across the bay