here's nbc bay area's kristy smith. ♪♪ >> reporter: they gathered, union members and their supportersnternational workers day. jesse johnson had a personal reason to be there. >> we haven't worked, so being out of work is, you know, a very serious matter. >> reporter: an effect of the pandemic. he's a bartender at an airport and thinking the situation is finally beginning to look up. >> with the help from the government and everything like that, we've been able to weather the storm, but things appear to be coming to a close so we're going to get back. >> reporter: bay area labor counsels and community groups led the way. >> to march in solidarity to mourn those who have passed this past year and to put our agenda forward and really show workers that we're in solidarity. >> reporter: that included supporting legislation like the protecting the right to organize act. >> the pro act would make it much easier for workers to be able to collectively organize and have a voice in the workplace. >> reporter: opponents fear it would hurt employers in an already challenging economy, among other

. >> kristi smith is scomplooif you've been talking with visitors today. >> reporter: that's right, and there are plenty of families that were ready to be the first ones back and boy, are they excited to be here. you hear the rollercoasters again. you can hear the music as they step through. it's been a while and there are some changes. >> at california's great america, visitors are back. >> feels like 2019 with a face mask. yeah. it's good. >> this family came in from oakley. >> it's good. we got, like i said, limited people. we all have our masks on and yeah, we're good. >> we're vaccinated. >> they want to do some rollercoasters. >> i just want to walk around and let the baby grandson have his first theme park experience. >> the park also a huge draw in the south bay has been closed since march of last year. >> we are so excited. this is our official opening day. >> granter is vice president and general manager. the park is open at 35% capacity and there are covid protocols in place. >> at the moment, you need a reservation and that's so we can spread people out a little bit and make

kristie smith joins us to explain. christie. >> reporter: boy, it is hot and windy out here. it's been like this all day. firefighters say they put a lot of resources on this and were able to stop forward progress on this fire at about 45 acres. as you can imagine, there were some tense moments for people around here, particularly one man. near lopes road in solano county, a grass firee t to it, tried to put it out. >> mike talamanez said he grabbed what he could and tried to help. >> had a hose and fire extinguisher. my well is in the back which started. drug it back there and started spraying. >> reporter: but one man thinks he may know how the fire got started. just down the road rosenberg rodriguez said he thinks he knows how it started. he said on the next pass he noticed something was wrong. >> as soon as i turned it on and do another line and when i come back with the second line, that's when i see the fire started. my body just came up to give me a hand. we tried to stop the fire. we couldn't do it. >> reporter: rodriguez called 911. they say a cause hasn't been deter

here is nbc bay area's kristi smith. >> the golden gate bridge. >> reporter: a must see for visitors in san francisco. >> we both are fully vaccinated. >> yes. >> took our shots. we want to see the city tour of san francisco. >> reporter: they are from the east coast in historic palace hotel. it just reopened after a 14-month pandemic closure. now memorial day weekend is here. clifton clark is the general manager. >> we opened up to a lower occupancy but have a chance to go past 40% occupancy over memorial day weekend. we are really pleased. that is pretty good these days to reopen a hotel and be running 40%. >> there are covid safety protocols in place. the san francisco union square also reopened this week. >> what we are experiencing this year is people have a pent up demand to travel. we are seeing pretty significant bookings for the weekend. >> reporter: kevin carroll of the hotel council of san francisco says they are seeing encouraging signs of a rebound but admit a full recovery will take several years. the local department of public health reminded that even with over two-th