What a unique situation this was! When Johnny reached out to me about his proposal, I had to do some Googling and get my map app to find out what I was potentially getting myself into! This proposal at Mare Island was worth the hike!

A little BTS for me- I live just over an hour away from the turn off for Mare Island. It’s on the road to Vallejo, which, for any kid growing up nearby, likely knows because it used to be where Marine World, Africa, USA was. It has gotten bought out and is now Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. But growing up, we would have a year end field trip there, I remember going as a family a few times, etc. So we would always pass the Mare Island sign and for about 15 seconds each time I would think, “I wonder what’s over there?”.

Johnny said he and JJ were somewhat new to the area, and had decided in order to get to know the area better, they would choose a new spot to explore each weekend. They had been to “The Highest Point of Mare Island”, which is about a 15 minute hike up a hill, and he loved the views and the fact that it was peaceful and private.

It felt a bit surreal, finally turning off on the Mare Island exit, and driving through. It felt partly dystopian (a lot of empty buildings, a lot of closed military buildings), but then also Stepford Wives, with new homes and neighorhood’s being built and some pretty parks. Yep, interesting and confusing lol. The main issue was the GPS was also confused, so it kept directing me to roads that were closed off and or didn’t seem to exist. I finally took matters into my own hands and drove off the beaten path and finally found a spot to park to start my hike.

It was a hike with a slight incline but the views were so beautiful! We timed it so Johnny and JJ arrived 15 minutes behind me to start the hike up, giving me time to arrive and be ready.

He RAN up to the top of the highest point for THE moment, and then realized my angle below didn’t showcase the backdrop well, so we had fun “redoing” the proposal in an additional spot.

Anyone who knows me well knows I love to multitask, so getting to see a new spot, getting my steps in, AND photographing a proposal made me a happy girl!

If you are looking to propose closer to San Francisco, check out THIS proposal!

(Side note for anyone interested, the views were of the Carquinez Bridge and the Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge.)