Today was going to be a big day full of activities and ending with a late night. I had tickets to the Golden State Warriors basketball game as a surprise for the boys, but they had no idea.

Gearing up to Bike the Bridge

Since my wife had to work and the weather was fantastically clear, it was the perfect day to rent bikes to go over the Golden Gate Bridge with the boys. I let them sleep in a little since it was going to be a late night. When they finally awoke, we went to the lounge for breakfast and then headed out to catch a cable car to Fishermans Wharf, where we could rent the bikes.

The line for the cable car was a lot longer than on our first day, but that was likely a function of it being slightly later in the morning than on our first day. It was about 7:30, but we didn’t have to wait long for the next car to start boarding. The boys got to sit up front, and I had to stand on the running board, which they got a kick out of. They thought I was going to get hit by every car we passed, parked, or otherwise. I made it safely though 🙂

Coming over the last hill, we had a fantastic view of the city and the bridge, so we knew it was going to be a great day to bike the bridge. After getting off the cable car at the end of the line, we walked back up the hill half a block to Blazing Saddles, where we could rent the bikes. There are a lot of different companies you can rent from, but I had rented from this one year ago, and I knew it was in a convenient location.

We were the first customers of the day as we got there just after they opened at 8:00 am. I filled out some paperwork, and they took my credit card to charge a deposit for the bikes. We had the option of renting for the whole day or by the hour for the adult bikes for Tomatico and myself. The kids’ bike for my youngest could only be rented for the day. The adult bikes were $9/hour, and the kids’ bike was $20/day. We figured it would take 2-3 hours to go across the bridge and back, so it was cheaper to do the hourly rental.

They then had us watch a short video describing the most common route options before getting us fitted with helmets and bikes. Many people choose to bike to Sausalito and take the ferry back, but we had done the ferry the previous day, so we’d just be doing the bridge.

Trekking to the Bridge

With our bikes all set, we walked them down the hill to the shore so we could get on the path along the shore and start pedaling. Within the first bit, there is a big hill up to one of my favorite places in the city overlooking Fort Mason and the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance. Even on the lowest gear, it was a struggle for us to make it to the top, and we had to push our bikes the last part of the way. The views were worth it!

We meandered along the trail through a park with a fake(?) tree with rocks in it. From there, we went through the marina area towards Chrissy Field, a former air force airfield which is now part of Golden Gate National Park. The bridge seems close when you first see it, but it’s quite a ways away. Luckily much of the path to get there is flat, so you can make good time if you need to. The views are quite distracting, though!

We made it to a visitor center for Fort Point called the Warming Hut and got a well-earned snack. From there, we proceeded to Fort Point, which is the building under the bridge. It was there before the bridge, and the bridge was built around it.

We then headed back away from the bridge to climb another hill to get up and onto the deck. This hill was quite a challenge, and we had to walk the top part to reach the summit. Again, the views were worth it, and we weren’t even on the bridge yet!

Crossing the Bridge

We finally made our way to the bridge. It’s a lot bigger than you think it is. There is a relatively wide pedestrian walkway on either side, but it quickly feels narrow with walkers and bikes headed in both directions. We had to be cautious around the two giant pylons as there were sharp turns around them in the walkway. As expected, the views were amazing, and on the other side of the bridge (almost 2 miles), there is a scenic overlook where you can take in pictures of the head to San Francisco.

Back to the City

It took us about 2 hours to get this far, which was longer than expected, but we knew it would take less time to get back since it was more downhill, and we’d make fewer stops for pictures. While it ended up taking a lot less time to get back, there were a lot more people coming the other way. We’re very fortunate to have gone early. There were at least four different times that groups of people were walking obliviously back and forth into the bike lanes and nearly collided with us. The bells on our bikes didn’t register with them.

We made it back to the rental place at around 11:00 am so we were under 3 hours and didn’t get charged for the 4th. By the time we were back, we were sore all over. Our legs were tired, obviously, but we were all surprised at how sore our wrists were. We had been hunched over for 3 hours, and our wrists were taking a beating from the bumps in the road that we just weren’t used to. It didn’t help that our hands were pretty cold from the fresh air as we biked along. The conditions weren’t bad at all, but it was something our bodies just weren’t conditioned to. It was a satisfying morning, and we enjoyed the trip despite the soreness!

Lunch and Liberty Ship

We had earned lunch, and we decided to go to In ‘N Out Burger. It has a cult following on the west coast, so we had to see what it was all about. It was 11:15 am, and there was already a line and competition for seats. We all ordered our burgers with fries and a drink and scoped out tables while the food was prepared. In the end, we weren’t super impressed. The burger itself was tiny, dry, and tasteless. The fries had mixed reviews. I liked them quite a bit, but the boys were unimpressed. Overall it was a dud, so either we got a bad batch, or it’s just not our thing. Oh well, we can say we’ve tried it!

From there, we headed towards the heart of Fishermans Wharf to view the two WWII ships that are docked there. We first went to the visitor center and asked about the tickets. It was expensive to do both the submarine and the Jeremiah O’Brien Liberty ship, so we chose the liberty ship. I had hoped there would be a package deal, but they are run by different organizations even though they are next to each other.

We bought the tickets in the visitor’s center and made our way to the ticket office next to the liberty ship. When we presented the receipt, the personable man in the ticket office described where to go and what to make onboard as well as some of the history of the ship. He knew what he was talking about. He told the boys that the gun at the bow of the boat still works and that you can turn the cranks to point it at different things (it wasn’t loaded, of course!). The boys knew exactly where they wanted to go first!

We got on board and wandered our way around, not following the path outlined in the pamphlet, but managed to find the forward gun platform on our own. They both quickly climbed up and figured out how to turn and aim it. They were working as a team, which is excellent. I’m just disappointed it had to be in the context of pretending to destroy things.

After prying them away from the gun, we found our way below decks into the cargo holds with the help of one of the volunteer workers. The upper parts of the forward cargo holds had been converted into a sort of museum which told the history of liberty ships in general and Jeremiah O’Brien in particular. The spaces for the museum were much more substantial than expected, and in one portion, there was a viewport that showed the lower hold and impressed how big the ship was!

I also learned that this specific ship was built in South Portland, Maine, at a time when my grandfather was working in the shipyards there as a pipe fitter. There’s a very real possibility he helped build that very ship. That factoid was lost on the boys in their excitement. Hopefully, someday that type of thing will sink in for them.

The museums were well done. In the most forward part, there was a huge model of the D-Day invasion in progress. It showed how the various types of ships unloaded the equipment and supplies to support the invasion. It was educational and entertaining enough to keep the kids occupied for longer than expected.

After about an hour on the ship, we decided it was time to head back to the hotel to relax a little bit. We, of course, took a cable car home. They love riding them as much as I do!

Rest and Gym

We rested back at the hotel for about an hour and a half before heading to the gym for a workout. While the bike ride was quite a workout by itself, we were dedicated to doing at least an abbreviated gym session in the afternoon.

We got in a solid 45 minutes of sweat before heading back up to the room to shower and head out for a quick dinner before the evening surprise. We ended up eating at the food court next door because we wanted something quick and light since we’d likely be getting food at the game as well.

The Surprise Journey

At this point, the boys still had no idea what the surprise was other than that I was going to take them somewhere. My wife was happy to sit this one out as she’s not a sports fan, so it was just the three of us. I had no idea how to get to the Chase Center where the game was, so I used Google Maps to try to figure out the best way. There was a train that would get us there, and we headed to the train station to catch it. When we finally made our way to the correct station, we found that we had just missed the train. The next one seemed to be quite a ways away, so we exited the station planning to catch a Lyft instead. When we re-surfaced, we found the roads were gridlocked with rush hour traffic. Doh.

We headed back down into the train station. Luckily we had an all-day passport I had gotten for our cable car rides in the morning, so the train didn’t cost any extra.

In the end, we found the right train, and it was full but not packed. There were a lot of people wearing Golden State Warriors gear, and I was wondering how long it was going to take for the boys to figure out the surprise. It took longer than expected! Near the last stop, we passed a circus tent where a Cirque du Soleil show was playing. They were convinced we were going to see that. When we got to the stop where most people got off, they noticed almost everyone had Warriors gear on.

Then they noticed the Chase Center building was right in front of us. The building is quite impressive, and you know it’s the Chase Center as there are video boards on the outside advertising the fact. At this point, they figured out they were going to see a Warriors game and were overjoyed!

The Chase Center Experience

We quickly made it through security and followed everyone up the escalators. We eventually found where our seats were, and the security person was very helpful, guiding us to our seats. We sat down and took in the view before heading back down to get some snacks.

There were a lot of different and varied food options, and they didn’t repeat nearly as often as in Boston. Tomatico did notice one place was advertising Authentic New England Style Chowder, which he thought was hilarious, being that we were on the opposite coast. We settled on some chicken fingers and popcorn, which we ordered at a kiosk. I paid with my Citi Prestige card to get 5x points at restaurants. I later learned that if I had used a Chase card, I could have gotten $5 off my purchase, which would have been a much better deal. Note to self, if the credit card company is sponsoring the event you’re at, use that credit card!

The stadium itself was pretty impressive. The video board was HUGH, and the sound system was the best I’ve ever hear in a space that large. The seats were comfortable, too. During the lineup announcements, there were flames and fireworks and some neat visual effects. It seems like they went all out to try to get the crowd into the game.

The game itself wasn’t all that memorable. The home team had a substantial lead, almost squandered it, but the other team made a bunch of mistakes in the end and couldn’t beat the Warriors. The crowd didn’t have the same hardcore vibe as you’d expect at a Boston area sporting event, no matter the sport or the level. It was still a great experience, and we all enjoyed it!

The Adventure Home

After the game, our adventure wasn’t quite over. We needed to figure out how to get home. Looking at Google Maps, our best bet seemed to be a Lyft of Uber. We found our way to the designated pickup spot and requested a ride and waited…. and waited…. and waited for the app to find a driver. The app then suddenly gave up and asked us again where we wanted to go. I tried this a second time and the same thing happened.

The roads were gridlocked, so we decided to walk towards the hotel in hopes of getting away from the traffic so we could more easily get a ride. We walked about 10 minutes to the stadium where the San Francisco Giants play their game. The whole way there, the roads were clogged. It seems like the Cirque du Soleil show had let out at about the same time making things even worse.

At the baseball stadium cars were moving so we requested a new ride and got a match… that was 14 minutes away and currently next to the hotel we were trying to get to. Within a couple of minutes, we were matched to a different driver only a couple minutes away. Within a minute, that driver was showing as “waiting for us” despite being a block away and still driving in the opposite direction of where we were. The app then re-matched us with another ride 5 minutes away and almost immediately with another driver that was 17 minutes away.

By this point, I was quite frustrated and was trying to cancel the ride in the app. We had seen a surface train coming that we knew we could take to get closer to the hotel. We figured we would take that instead of dealing with the app chaos. But as I hit the cancel button app suddenly matched us with a driver that was pulling over right next to us as if by magic. We confirmed with the driver and hopped in. Within 10 minutes, we were happily back in our hotel room.

One Busy Day!

This was probably our busiest day of the whole trip. We biked 10 miles over the iconic Golden Gate Bridge (and back), toured a WWII liberty ship, rode the cable cars twice, went to the gym, and got to and from a Golden State Warriors game. No wonder we were tired!

It was our last full day in San Francisco as we’d be headed to San Diego the next evening, so we made every second of the day count!