One of our exotic locales, San Quentin maximum security prison.
Sean and Skye kept scouring the seas for Pirate ships. They pointed out quite a few!
Waiting for the muni bus to take us to Pier 39. These are old cable car type trolleys, date back to at least the 1940s, I believe!
There’s some great artwork and sculptures along Fisherman’s Wharf – and there’s stuff like this giant iron crab!
The Blue Angels (you’ll have to trust me here) put on a spectacular show. Sometimes they flew so low I swear we could see the pilots! I will not be working as an aerial photographer in the near future, so sorry about the sucky pics!
There was a lot of sonic booming during the air show. You don’t realize how LOUD the planes are. We could hear them more than we could see them. Especially when they were buzzing Fisherman’s Wharf and the marina.
Afterwards, we went to see the Sea Lions (not to be confused with seals.) You can hear them barking halfway across the pier. And the smell! I didn’t remember them smelling quite so bad (or strong!) But there’s been a lot on the news lately about the sea lion over population, I guess that is probably a contributing factor. The kids didn’t seem to mind, and neither did the tourists!
Pier 39 draws some of the best street performers. They are wildly entertaining and extremely talented. America’s Got Talent should film here! This guy is walking across broken glass -waddya think of THAT David Hasselhoff?!
My grandmother has Alzheimers and is literally in a second childhood right now. She loves to dance and sing and couldn’t wait to ride the Carousel, she and Skye had the BEST time!
One of our main reasons for going, was so that my grandparents could listen to the Navy Band play. For whatever reason, we assumed this was the Navy Military band and that they would be playing big band/orchestra type stuff. Well, we all know what happens when you assume, right? It was a handful of cadets literally rocking out. Their playlist included Journey, Johnny Cash, Taylor Swift, and some serious headbanging metal! Grandma danced anyway and Grandpa even seems to enjoy it! Hey, I have awesomely hip Grandparents!
Afterwards, we all headed over to the Hard Rock Cafe for ribs and a little quiet after all that noise… have you been in the Hard Rock? Yeah, I always forget how loud they play the music in there! It was louder than outside. Oops! Food was still good (not great, but hey, it’s the Hard Rock. You’re there for the atmosphere and to eat while watching the great videos they don’t show on Mtv anymore! You want great food, go to TGIFridays!)
By then, the kids and I were plumb tuckered out! We can’t keep up with the energy of our elders, we needed a nap!! So we caught the earlier ferry and headed home.
Good Bye San Francisco!
