San Francisco Bay

This picture taken on the Pier beyond Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco, California.  The white building in the center of the picture is the San Francisco Maritime building.  If one looks just behind the Maritime building and to the left, the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company is visible.  There is definitely a great deal of history behind the this company. It seems that Domenic Ghirardelli, born in Italy in 1817, was an apprentice to a local candymaker as a child.  By the time he was 21 he had opened a confectionery store in Italy.  When the gold rush hit California in 1849, he sailed there to open up a store in Stockton and a second one in San Francisco.  I guess the rest is History.  The Company is presently owned by Lindt and Sprungli, Swiss candymakers.  In the foreground of the photo is the only part of San Francisco Bay that is calm.