San Francisco, CA

October 8-12, 2010

There really isn't a perfect way to describe the experience we had in San Francisco, I just suggest that if you find yourself in the area one day, take the time to visit. Our welcome to downtown was a different one, as we were stuck in traffic for a couple of hours. Not until we arrived at our destination did we find out that we had arrived right smack dab in the middle of the most exciting day of San Francisco Fleet Week. Everyone and their dog were headed on the same road as us for the same destination as us. Boy were we in for an amazing surprise! Streets were closed for the festivities and you could smell fair food, hear music, and look at booths among numerous other things, all while walking shoulder to shoulder with locals and tourists alike, as well as uniformed officers and members of the U.S. Navy 3rd Fleet. See what they looked like here. We caught glimpses of the Parade of Ships and were at the right place at the right time to see the Blue Angels, Marine Harrier Jet, United 747 as well as others perform in an Air Show.

Lots of cars with one destination in mind.

AT&T Stadium, home to the San Francisco Giants. Who knew they would eventually win the World Series just a few weeks later?

USS Makin Island was open for tours but.....

....there was a long line up!

Downtown San Francisco is stunning. Even their Bank of America and Gap are in buildings with beautiful architecture. Have you ever seen such a pretty Gap? (To the right.)

Chinatown, the largest Chinatown outside of Asia and the oldest in North America.

Most of the homes look like these and are attached to one another.

Look how pretty the buildings are on either side of this street. This is a common style in downtown, with shops and businesses on the ground level and apartment type homes above.

Watching the Air Show from Marina Green. This is Sean D. Tucker and the Oracle Challenger III. This was a cool show of aerobatics. See pictures here. (Scroll down.)

Fat Albert C-130

Blue Angels

The Blue Angels were incredible. They often sent chills down my spine and adrenaline rushing through me as I watched. It was quite the show!

Four in close range. Two right-side up and two upside down.

I did catch some video, which you can watch here.

We didn't get to visit it, but you can read more about Ghirardelli square here.

Balclutha

The SS Jeremiah O'Brien, which made several WWII trips in it's working career.

Alcatraz in the background.

We got to tour the Balclutha.

Busy waters for Fleet Week!

The Balclutha was set up as it might have been during it's working days, and I just had to pose beside this sign, as the title fit!

The Hyde St. Pier is home to the San Francisco Maritime Museum.

I don't know how many instruments this guy is playing all at once, but it was the most enjoyable show to watch! He came away with a bucket full of cash, which he more than deserved.

The famous Pier 39 was found to indeed be famous. We visited it a few times, but this was definitely the busiest of them all. If you like tacos, eat at Wipeout. They have a build your own taco platter that is amazing according to The Mr.

Alcatraz

The Golden Gate Bridge at dusk.

The next day we went to meeting in Oakland and I got to surprise my cousin Nicole. She ended up having us over for a scrumptious home made lunch and a day full of baseball, family, food and games. Thanks so much Nicole!

Her acrobatics-loving daughter. This was fun to see! It was actually my first time to meet Jude and Delia, and I was delighted. Read Nicole's post here.

Being in her beautiful home was like walking into her blog.

Lucy... and the chickens if you look hard enough. :)

Stay tuned for more!