Riding On The Dock Of The Bay
The day almost had an interesting start for me when, at breakfast, I grabbed myself a bowl and filled it with something that looked decidedly like porridge. Looking forward to some warm, oaty-goodness - milk poised in my hand - the slightly perplexed lady standing next to me enquired, in her southern drawl, “hey, you gonna put milk on that gravy?” I was about to deface what was apparently a southern delicacy-sausage gravy- most definitely never eaten with milk and brown sugar but instead, poured over “biscuits” (which look a whole lot like scones). Well, kiss my grits!
We decided to hire some bikes and cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge (just a casual, sore-bum-inducing, 10km bike ride). Being Sunday, all the Fleet Week celebrations were at their peak and the foreshore was packed with punters lining up to see those magnificent men in their “Blue Angels” flying machines, looping the loop and defying the ground. We rode through a beautiful area called Chrissy Fields - lush green grass right on the shore of the Bay, with magnificent views of the Golden Gate…normally. Today, of all days, the San Franciscan icon was barely even visible; the famous bridge shrouded in a thick fog, almost covering its entirety. Every now and then we could see a glimpse of the signature red expanse poking through the mist and were surprised at how close and how huge it was. The very next minute it would disappear again, completely concealed in the white fog. It was so bizarre.
The next leg of the journey was certainly a fat-burner. The hills were massive! Luckily our bikes were well-equipped with lots of gears. Jules and Soph were on a tandem so Sophie could rest her sore foot, while Ben and Ross each had a bike seat on the back of their bikes for Will and Maisy. The rest of us were flying solo and there was a lot of huffing and puffing going on!
The closer we got to the Golden Gate, the thicker the fog became and the more obstructed our view became. It was really eerie to ride literally through the middle of a cloud. Through the cold and clammy air, we could see immediately in front of us but had no sight of either the top of the bridge above us or the sea out to our left or right. What an experience! As soon as we got to the other side of the bridge there was a huge mountain on our left that seemed to come from nowhere. The sun came out and as we looked back; only the bridge still covered with fog. After some deliberation, Ross (and Maisy by default), Sam and Toby decided they had enjoyed the ‘Riding through the Fog’ experience so much they’d like to turn around and ride straight back across the bridge again. We parted ways and the rest of us opted to ride a few kilometres further down (and then up!) the hill, to a beautiful little town called Sausalito. As we were riding, our nostrils filled with a very familiar scent. The road was actually lined with gum trees!
It was so picturesque and reminded us a little bit of Clareville, in Sydney. Ben and Jules even likened it to the Italian Riviera.
Giving our derrières some well-earned respite, we caught the ferry back, with our bikes, to San Francisco, enjoying some action heavenwards as the Blue Angels zoomed above us. The ferry also afforded us some magical views of the Golden Gate Bridge, continuing to play peep-o from behind it’s cloudy curtain.
Once back in San Francisco, we reunited with the others and rallied to quickly change and be ready to turn around and head straight back out the door. We were catching the bus to Candlestick Park and were going to the ball game - not the round ball game - the football! It just so happened, that the San Francisco 49ers were playing the Philadelphia Eagles, Sam’s favourite NFL team. The trip to the game was more of a trek than we’d anticipated. Firstly, we had to catch a bus down to the Embarcadero (affectionately referred to - in our circles anyway -as Pinky Tuscadero) and then board a light rail, enduring 20 stops (yes twenty stops!) to the game. The tram was Tokyo-level packed. We were crammed in like little sardines and each time the tram stopped, when it seemed not even a flea could squeeze on, more people continued to stream onboard. It was a modern day miracle we all managed to fit.
The atmosphere at the game was incredible. We were right in the thick of it, with fanatical 49ers supporters surrounding us on all sides. The two huge guys in front of us, stood up and turned around to enthusiastically high-five us all after virtually each yard was gained. They were hilarious. The screen was emblazoned with “LET’S GO NINERS!” and the crowd was obediently roaring and chanting in time. The air-punching, excitedly jumping crowd, delighted in shouting “DE-FENSE, DE-FENSE, DE-FENSE…” It was so much fun! The cheer leaders were also in good form, coming on the field after what seemed like every 10 minutes of play, shaking their “groove things”. Play unexpectedly and abruptly just stopped every now and then. Wondering why, we were informed by our high-fiving friends that the stoppages were to allow time for the tv ads to come on, so viewers don’t miss a single play. Only in America!
We were treated to a very large, professional sounding marching band at half time and we almost had to take out a bigger mortgage on our house to afford buying dinner at the game. The only drink size available was ‘Gargantuan’ and the hotdogs were possibly the biggest, in our small lives, we’d ever seen. Sam and Tobes were lone Eagles fans in a sea of red and we were encouraging them to keep their cheering and barracking to a minimum, genuinely fearing for our safety whenever the game seemed to swing the Eagles’ way. (“Keep your voices down boys!!”). Those guys in front of us were BIG!
To Sam and Toby’s delight, and the crowd’s disappointment, the Eagles came out with a win in the end, though it was a closely fought battle with only 3 points in it (24-27). We ended the night in the long queue to retrieve our confiscated backpack - Ben musing that the process was not dissimilar to that of foreign aid being distributed to people in disaster zones - absolute chaos.
