Our Weekend in the City by the Bay

Our adventure began at the Tucson airport on Friday morning, where we encountered a bit longer line at the check-in counter than we typically do. Oh well...we had allowed for extra time since we had to park the car and take the shuttle. An agent came out from behind the desk and asked for anyone that had a connection through Las Vegas--that was us, so up we went. She informed us that there was a delay with the flight to Vegas and everyone with connections was going to have to be rebooked on later connecting flights. This was not what we wanted to hear. Our friends from Fort Gordon, now at the Naval PostGraduate School in Monterey, CA were scheduled to arrived around 1ish and our original flight was due in shortly thereafter so we thought we'd have most of the afternoon and evening to spend with them.

The agent informed us she could get us to San Francisco by 3:00. Then...she saw Drew, patiently waiting and holding his huge Curious George, and she said these magic words "Oh, you're traveling with a little one. Let me see what I can do." Bless her heart. She got us on a flight leaving within the next 30 minutes through Phoenix that would arrive in San Francisco by 12:30. We had no time to spare either in Tucson or once we got to Phoenix and we had to scramble to get 2 of the 3 seats together on both flights, but it beat sitting around an airport any day. It may be the only time that traveling with a child has made a trip easier!

We were able to meet up with Rich, Charity, and their two boys almost immediately and spent the rest of the day with them, taking a cable car down to Fisherman's Wharf where we walked through several of the piers, including Pier 39 where the sea lions are known to play. We only saw two, but we did see them.

Family shot in front of one of San Francisco's historic cable cars. They're much smaller than I thought they would be. And my goodness, the lines to get on them!

Does this picture seem miraculous to anyone else? No? Well try getting three little boys to look at the camera at the same time (see below!) and you'll think differently. The boys were all fast friends again. Malachi is old enough to remember us and I think Drew may have remembered Malachi & Jackson from seeing them at Thanksgiving last year. Jackson obviously didn't remember us but is far from being shy so he was happy to hug and play with us just the same.

All the boys at Pier 39

Drew & Mommy on the carousel at Pier 39

3 little boys waiting for our cable car back up to the hotel.

Once we got back to the hotel area (near Union Square) we thought we might hit up The Cheesecake Factory for dessert. Apparently we were not the only ones with that idea, as the wait was over an hour and a half for a table. So instead we walked around the huge Nike store and got cookies at Walgreens.

Saturday morning we planned to meet up with Bill's friend Andrew Doehler for breakfast. He wanted to take us to the Buena Vista restaurant, famous for bringing the Irish Coffee to the U.S., and so we headed off for his apartment. After seeing the very long for the cable car and checking the map, we determined that 10 blocks or so was walkable. We were not factoring in the very famous hills of San Francisco into that decision. As we climbed Nob Hill, Bill with Drew on his shoulders and me with the backpack, we regretted that almost immediately. The first picture isn't very flattering of Drew, but the family shot didn't show the full scope of the hill we had climbed so I had to include both. At one point, the incline of the hill was 45 degrees. I'm pretty sure that's not what Bill meant by wanting to take it easy and not walk much on Saturday...

Doehler gave us a bit of a driving tour of the city on our way to breakfast and I was able to snap this beautiful shot while we were stopped at a red light. Saturday was really a beautiful day and I was beginning to feel silly for having packed a fleece jacket. Sunday and Monday, however, that jacket was one of the best packing decisions I've ever made.

Anyhow, our breakfast was great and the aforementioned Irish coffee very yummy. Then we went to the Marathon Expo to pick up Bill's running bib, t-shirt, and other freebies. From there, Doehler dropped us off at the Exploratorium, where we spent the rest of our morning and early afternoon. Drew enjoyed some of the exhibits, but most were a little too old for him. He seemed to have fun though. He especially enjoyed the water-related exhibits.

Outside the Exploratorium is a lagoon with a very European feel to it. It made me homesick for our travels while we were in Germany. Drew was happy to check out the ducks and just hop around in the grass while Bill and I figured out the way to the bus route that would get us back to Fisherman's Wharf.

After returning to Fisherman's Wharf we found lunch at Boudin's, a delicious clam chowder in a bread bowl. Let me tell you, you can't beat the Sourdough bread in this city.

After nap time Saturday afternoon, we walked just across the street from our hotel to a lovely Italian restaurant where Bill enjoyed the traditional pre-marathon dinner of pasta.

Sunday was pretty much consumed by the marathon (see previous post). After our nap that afternoon, however, we did head back to the Wharf for dinner with Doehler. Bill got a large Guiness to reward himself for his accomplishment and finally got the crab he had been craving. We took a couple pictures by the water as the sun started to set after dinner.

Monday we rose bright and early to check out, store our bags at the hotel, and head down to the water for our Alcatraz tour. Fortunately we remembered to book tickets ahead of time, because when we got to the pier there was a line of at least 30 people that were turned away because they had sold out for the entire day. The audio tour inside Alcatraz was very informative and interesting. I think Bill tired of me asking questions about the movie The Rock with Sean Connery, where he supposedly had successfully escaped from Alcatraz (just one of many movies that Bill cannot believe I haven't seen). The significance of Alcatraz was pretty lost on Drew, but he enjoyed all the seagulls and was fascinated by the potties in each of the cells. Drew also developed quite an excitement over having his picture taken all by himself. On Alcatraz and Angel Island (below) he was thrilled to be able to stand in front of these signs alone and have me take his picture.

One of Drew's beloved seagulls.

This is Bill expressing his displeasure with my penchant for taking so many pictures.

Drew & Mommy in front of the visitation wall.

Bill & Drew outside the main administration building of Alcatraz with the city in the background.

Alcatraz Island from the boat.

As you might have gathered from our jackets, the day was fairly cool and very foggy. This is the best picture I could get of Golden Gate Bridge, and as you can see (or not see as the case may be), not much of the famed bridge was actually visible to us. Of course, Bill had run across it during the marathon so he had a great view of it then. Oh well.

When we booked our tickets the only ones available were those that included the combination tour of Alcatraz and Angel Island, so we did both. Angel Island has an interesting history, having served as an immigration port of entry and military post over the years. We took an hour long tram ride around the island and were able to see the remaining buildings from Fort McDowell, some deer, and beautiful views of the bay.

All in all, I think we were able to enjoy the major highlights of San Francisco in a short amount of time. We rode on multiple cable cars, enjoyed some delicious food, walked around Fisherman's Wharf and up one of the very famous SF hills, took in the history of Alcatraz, and experienced the need for both sunscreen and fleece jackets. It was a great trip.

Marathon Man

Sorry for the blogging break--it's been a busy week since returning from San Francisco. Details and pics from our trip are coming in a separate post, but I wanted to at least get a post up about Bill's first marathon (yes, he's planning to do more).

Last Sunday, Bill was one of thousands and thousands of runners who competed in the 2008 San Francisco Marathon. The race started around 5:30 and early mornings in San Francisco, even in the summer, are what one might call "brisk" to say the least. So Drew and I slept in a bit at the hotel with plans to catch up with Bill at Golden Gate Park and then again at the finish line. Bill's friend Andrew Doehler, one of his buddies from his time at Episcopal, lives in San Francisco and was originally supposed to run the marathon as well. Unfortunately (or actually it turns out fortunately for us), Doehler broke his foot a few months ago and was obviously sidelined for the marathon. The reason this was good news for us was that Doehler has a car and picked us up at the hotel to head down to Golden Gate Park to watch Bill and some of Doehler's other friends run. We ended up at the exit to Golden Gate Park, just as the runners were entering the famed Haight Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. It was a great vantage point. As you can see in the first picture, we were able to see the runners as they approached the hill. We only had two false sightings of Bill before we saw the real thing. Would you believe other runners had the nerve to wear blue shirts and black hats to try to confuse me like that? When I asked Drew if he saw Daddy yet, he started saying about every runner "That's not Daddy. That's not Daddy." Fortunately, he tired of that after a few minutes. Anyway, when the real Bill did approach (see pic), he slowed for a quick hi to us and to very sarcastically say "Yeah, this was a GREAT idea."

Unfortunately Doehler had to leave our location at the park before Bill arrived in order to meet another of his friends unfamiliar with the city at the finish line. He intended to come back and pick us up, but after experiencing the mayhem near the finish line, recommended we take a bus. After some quick help from some native San Franciscans on a bus route, Drew and I were on our way. I guess I didn't need to be nervous that I wouldn't know where to get off the bus. Nearly everyone on the bus was headed to the same place we were!

We arrived at the finish line with about 15 minutes to spare before we saw Bill finish. Unfortunately, the picture I snapped wasn't the best. He's in the blue shirt, in front of the balloons. His finish time was 4 hours 50 minutes. He had hoped to run it in 4 1/2 hours or less, which he was on pace to do for the first half of the marathon. Unfortunately, the second half of the race he had some trouble with his legs cramping and had to take walking breaks more than he would have liked. He said he learned a lot about how to approach his next marathon. I think it's just an amazing accomplishment to finish and I'm so proud of him. I also think he may be crazy to want to do it again, but he has his sights on the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon in Tempe in January.

At the end of the race they pass out these thermal plastic blanket type things that are designed to keep runners' body heat in--they kind of looked like white garbage bags. But Bill said they worked.

Family shot after Bill finished.

Drew was a big fan of all the freebies they pass out at the end of the race...peanut butter, strawberry smoothies, granola. He tried it all...sometimes more than one serving!

After a short walk back to the hotel and a Subway lunch pick-up, we relaxed in the hotel for most of Sunday afternoon. Here Drew helps Bill stretch. Not long after Bill fell asleep in that very location on the floor. I woke him up after a bit to shower and get in the bed to sleep.

Details on the rest of our trip coming soon.