San Francisco's best, as seen from a zeppelin at 1,000 feet

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Seventy-five years ago, the golden era of travel by zeppelin ended with the fiery crash of the Hindenburg. But today, airships have a new lease on life. Today, CNET got a chance to fly aboard the Eureka and check out the best of San Francisco and the Bay Area.

In this picture, the Golden Gate Bridge appears behind the underside of the Eureka.

Visitors to and residents of the San Francisco Bay Area are no doubt aware that one of the region's biggest infrastructure projects is the multi-year construction of a new eastern span of the Bay Bridge. Seen here just north of the existing eastern span, the new bridge will be the world's largest self-anchoring suspension bridge, and is designed to offer significant seismic improvements over its predecessor.

This is the tower mast of the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge, which will be the world's largest self-anchoring suspension bridge.

A straight-on look at the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge.

In this photo, taken on Nov. 28, 2008, a child is seen in the foreground, with the Airship Eureka seen in the background. That day, Eureka was christened at a ceremony at its home base of Moffett Field at NASA Ames Research Center, in Mountain View, Calif.

Perhaps the world's most famous bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge is probably San Francisco's most visited attraction -- and one of the most beautiful of its kind anywhere. Later this month, it will turn 75 years old.

The north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, which connects San Francisco to Marin County.

The south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, with the Presidio and Fort Point visible to the left.

With the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, the famous island prison Alcatraz is seen from the Airship Eureka, about 1,000 feet above the San Francisco Bay.

The pilots of the Airship Eureka fly their zeppelin towards the Golden Gate Bridge.

The shadow of the Airship Eureka is seen on the San Francisco Bay.

If it weren't for the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge would probably be San Francisco's most famous icon. It connects San Francisco to Treasure Island.

A look at downtown San Francisco from aboard the Airship Eureka.

A look at the northern waterfront of San Francisco.

Well-known video blogger Veronica Belmont (@Veronica) sees what it's like to stick her head out the window of the zeppelin during the ride above San Francisco and the Bay Area.

Next week, North America will experience one of the most complete solar eclipses in years. But why wait?

A coast guard station, with several ships, seen from the Airship Eureka.

The Oakland Coliseum and the Coliseum Arena, home to the Oakland A's baseball team and the Golden State Warriors basketball team.

From 1,000 feet in the air, many small marooned boats, like this one, can easily be seen.