San Francisco - 2004
Memorial Day weekend was "guys weekend out" for my friend Gary & I. The original intent was to see a couple of Colorado Rockies away games somewhere and a holiday weekend in San Francisco was perfect.
Gary "Mileage Plus", took care of all the arrangements and payments, getting all the air miles he could on his Visa. I welcomed the luxury of not having to worry about any of this. I'd just be ready to bitch if he screwed up.
We stayed at the Grand Hyatt, across the street from Union Square. A very nice high-rise hotel. However, the computer recording the card keys to our room was on the fritz so we'd have to pick them up later.
We tooled off on foot to find someplace to get a beer. Gary suggested this great sports bar he remembered from the last time he was here, so we walked through Chinatown, headed for the Condor. This place used to be a famous strip club long ago but didn't look much like a sports bar. Gary thought something was amiss as all the windows had blinds on them. We looked inside and found nobody but empty tables. No TVs, no sports, nothing. Turns out the place was redone into a lounge just a month before. Think they should have left it alone.
We ended up at an Italian restaurant for a couple of rounds and the bartender mentioned there was a sports bar around the corner. We visited this tiny hole-in-the-wall place with four little TVs across the top of the bar. No sound on the tubes, but loud Hip Hop playing on the stereo. We didn't stay long.
Next stop was for an early dinner at Michaelangelo's, Gary's must visit place here. He done good this time. Food was outstanding, wine was good, we left stuffed and waddled back to the hotel where we both crashed (me for the rest of the evening).
Saturday was planned to be a big day and the weather cooperated beautifully, not a cloud in the sky. We cabbed it down to Fisherman's Wharf to a bike rental outfit called Blazing Saddles. After getting fitted with a bicycle and helmet, we set out on our biking journey to cross the Golden Gate bridge. After meandering through the Wharf and the crowd of joggers and bikers near the Aquatic Park and Presidio areas, we began the trek across the bridge. They have a nice isolated section on both sides of the bridge, one for bikers and one for pedestrians. What a spectacular experience and view.
We continued riding down into Sausalito, a quaint art and tourist community. We rode north for a few miles, encountering many bike riders along the path. This was obviously a popular route for local cyclists. As we intended to ride back and make it without killing ourselves, we made a u-turn and retraced our route.
On the northern side of the bridge is a fantastic observation viewpoint. This was the site of a bunker that protected the entrance to the bay back in World War II with large cannons. The guns are gone, but the bunker is still there. I had hoped to continue the ride up this road westward toward the coast for some of the views, but it was quite uphill from this point on, so we bagged it and headed back to the Wharf.
After returning our bikes we found a pizza joint a block from the Wharf and had a great little pizza. While discussing our upcoming cab ride back to the hotel, Gary was bitching about the morning's cab driver taking us a little out of the way to get to the Wharf. So we get another cab and tell the driver where we want to go, the Grand Hyatt, on Stockton. We zip right by Stockton and two blocks later I mention to the driver that we're going to the one on Stockton. "Yes, too congested that way", he says. Well, five blocks and much traffic later we finally turn and sneak up on the hotel from a different direction. I may have been born at night, but it wasn't last night. We knew he was padding his fare and I paid him, giving him a tip of 15. Cents that is, not percent.
We decided enough of cabbies and took the subway to SBC Park, for a cheap $1.25, for the ball game. This was the reason we did this trip in the first place, to see a Rockies away series. Mr. Connection (Gary), used a Fort Collins bartender's aunt, who is with the Dodgers ticket office, to secure two good seats for the ball games. It was just a matter of convincing the gent at will call that we really did have tickets. Once obtained, we entered SBC Park through the Willie Mays entrance with its 24 palm trees (his retired uniform number) outside.
SBC Park is just over a year old and we noticed a lot of similarities to Coors field. SBC has its own unique features, such as the right field wall with McCovey Cove just on the other side. One thing we thought lacking in comparison was the narrower width of the main corridors around the park on the main level. This made it very crowded in trying to move through the park. Maybe it was just the fact that this place is sold out every night, whereas Coors field is about half-filled anymore.
The seats were 21 rows up from the field and even with the outer edge of the infield down the first base side. These provided a great perspective of the game, we just had to be alert to any line-drive foul balls. Having learned not to pitch to Barry Bonds after he hit a game-winning walkoff home run the night before, manager Hurdle walks him the very first inning with a man on. Bonds eventually hit a run scoring double later in the game and Michael Tucker hit a splash-down homer in the Cove, just the fourth Giants player not named Bonds to put one in there. The Rockies went down to defeat and the Giants won their 8th straight game. We were consoled afterwards by the post-game fireworks display.
Sunday before the game, I walked around Union Square where a local art show was going on. One of the sculptures caught my eye, a nice figurine of a human bending over wating for... Seemed appropriate for San Francisco.
Sunday's game was played under another beautiful cloudless sky, but this one was even worse for Rockies fans. Jason Schmidt totally shut them down, allowing only three hits. We only cheered once today, after Todd Helton's first inning double. Bonds didn't even play today.
One of the highlights of the whole SBC Park experience was the "Gilroy Garlic Fries". These are like THE most popular menu item in the park, as the four lines at the main concession stand for these was at least 20 deep every time we went by there. Luckily we found another stand near our seats to sample these. Oh my, they are really good.
For our last evening meal, I definitely wanted some seafood, so Gary got recommendations from the hotel concierge. She recommended some place called the Hyde Street Seafood House & Raw Bar. This place is a little hidden away spot in a residential neighborhood that you probably wouldn't find nor choose if you didn't know about it ahead of time. We had a plate of oysters for appetizers and some fabulous seafood for dinner. I had the Mahi Mahi special cooked using this method where they bake the fish and veggies inside of some parchment paper. Gary had the Escolar special, which the waiter claimed was his absolute favorite. We split half of each serving and they were both awesome. Consider this a recommendation if you're looking for seafood in San Francisco.
We topped of the evening by visiting the lounge on the 36th floor of the Hyatt. This provided a fantastic view of the city as the sun set on both the town and the trip.
We had a really great trip. The worst thing that happened was the Rockies lost both games we saw. Now, where should we go next year...?