mla
A also did things in Salt Lake City that would have been difficult to do in any other city. For example, I visited the Family History Library, which is the largest library of its type. I was able to look up some of my family history and was pleased to see that admission was free. I also went to visit the Great Salt Lake, which, as its name implies, is filled with salt water. In fact, it is much more saline than the average ocean. What I was surprised to find out is that there are no fish in the lake. The lake does contain a number of shrimp and supports large populations of birds, including migratory bird populations. I was also surprised to learn that companies actually extract salt from the lake for use as table salt. http://www.visitsaltlake.com/visitor_info/photo_video_tours.html
After visiting Salt Lake City, I traveled to San Francisco. Of all of the places I traveled, San Francisco was probably the touristiest city, and I was actually familiar with some of its more famous landmarks. In fact, I was so anxious to see these famous landmarks that I restricted my visit to viewing them. I began in the historic Market Street area, where I visited the Financial District and Union Square. I left my car and used the famed San Francisco cable cars to travel up and down some of the city's 50 famous hills, most notably Nob Hill. I could not resist a trip down Lombard Street, more commonly known as the crookedest street in the United States. Walking down the street's sharp grade, I came to understand why they chose to place such severe winds in the street. While in the area, I visited Fisherman's Wharf. I ate some delicious seafood and was surprised to discover that Fisherman's Wharf is actually part of a currently working commercial dock area.
After leaving the Market Street area, I went to see some of the other famous San Francisco landmarks. My first stop was the Golden Gate Bridge. Once the longest suspension bridge in the United States, it has been surpassed in length, but remains symbolic of San Francisco. Until seeing the bridge in person, I did not realize that I could see the Pacific Ocean from the bridge. It offered a truly amazing view of the Golden Gate, which is the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. My next stop was the Transamerica Pyramid, the tallest skyscraper in the San Francisco area. The Transamerica Pyramid is not really noteworthy for its height, but for its very unusual shape; it is shaped like an extremely tall and skinny pyramid, with a spire-like protrusion on the top. I also went to visit San Francisco's Chinatown, which may be the most famous China town in all of America. I was surprised to find it in some disrepair and also by the sheer number of tourists in the area. I ended my visit to San Francisco with a trip to Alcatraz Island. I took a ferry from Pier 33 to the island and toured the old prison facility. I found myself acutely aware of the island's extreme isolation. However, the island has been used as a national park for quite some time, and I was surprised to find beautiful gardens and some wonderful natural features on the island. One of the more interesting people I met on my tour of Alcatraz was a person who said that her grandfather had been incarcerated on the island, who said she was touring it in order to understand his experience. There were inconsistencies in the woman's story, which makes me wonder whether or not she was telling the truth. Her story, whether fact or fiction, was extremely compelling. http://www.nps.gov/archive/alcatraz/index.htm
