San Francisco, CA 2009 |
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| At left is a view from our room on the 18th floor of the Grosvenor Suites. We were on an amazing slope (at right) so we always had an easy walk down to the Muni (city transportation), but a hoofer on the way back up to the hotel! | ||
| Pier 39 | ||
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| We made a few trips down to Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf. The first time, we went to the aquarium. It was a nice aquarium with an underwater tunnel and a touch pool for touching sharks, sting rays and starfish. While at the pier, the boys and I went to a couple of 4-D shows (one with Spongebob), and we also stopped over by the sea lion piers and got a nice view of Alcatraz (over my shoulder in the bottom right picture.) | ||
| The Zoo | ||
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One day, we took a street car to the Zoo. We met up with my California Cousin, Michael,
and his family, who live less than an hour from the city. They were an absolute blessing
while we were in the Bay Area. They took us site-seeing, visited us in the hotel and
hospital, took the boys to spend the night with them; we had a fantastic time out there
thanks to them. And this picture would not be possible without Steffanie's Mom, Marcia, who was a tremendous help on this trip. She played Mom, Grammy, Nurse, Babysitter and was even my date one night on the wharf. Many many thanks to you! | ||
| The Beach | ||
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| After we left the zoo, we walked down to the beach. Much cooler water than you would expect - not the California beach you see on Bay Watch. The kids got plenty soaked on this unexpected beach visit. Thankfully, Gina gave us all a ride back to the hotel to change. | ||
| The City | ||
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| We used just about every mode of transportation during this trip. Shuttle, Airplane, Taxi, Bus, Street Car and even Trolley. But we also did our share of walking. And those San Francisco hills will really get you in shape. | ||
| Golden Gate Park | ||
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| Golden Gate Park is right next to UCSF Hospital. During the day of Steffanie's surgery, Marcia, the boys and I went for a nice walk through it to pass the time. It's an enormous park that leads right to the ocean. We visited the Botanical Gardens, the Rose Garden and a forest that looked like Endor from the Return of the Jedi. I even took a nice run through the park one of the days Steffanie was in recovery. Do you see the boys at the base of the tree at picture left? | ||
| Fisherman's Wharf | ||
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There are several interesting people that frequent the wharf. This one was called "Angel Man" and walked around in elevated shoes, silver from head to toe. He was a very polite man. He had the boys each hold one of his poles as he knighted them as Jedis! The force runs deep with this one. | |
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| Steffanie was out of the hospital and back in the hotel on July 3rd, but was not able to make it to the fireworks show on the wharf. So Marcia and Steffanie watched from the hotel while the boys and I went with my Cousin and family. It was extremely crowded on Pier 39 and the wharf. There was even a line out the door at Mc Donald's. In the picture above, Colin is enjoying his cheeseburger/fireworks experience atop Michael's shoulders. | ||
| Ball Game - AT&T Park | ||
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| A friend of Steffanie's worked for a guy who is part owner of a restaurant near the ball park, and has season tickets to the Giants games. He was so gracious to not only treat Steffanie and I to dinner at his restaurant (Tres Agaves), but also gave us 4 tickets to see the Giants play the Astros on July 5th. This was the boys' first ball game - we had fantastic seats. We enjoyed corn dogs, cotton candy, ice cream and indigestion! This was a newer ball park and was very nice, including a huge slide inside of the giant Coke bottle seen in the picture at right. | ||
| Milwaukee Airport | ||
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We flew out of Milwaukee to go to San Francisco. I have to say, I've never been around a more friendly staff of people than I had at the Milwaukee airport. Everybody from check-in to security was very nice. My hat's off to the Milwaukee airport. While on the escalator at the airport, I noticed a bunch of people flocking around this lady. We took the escalator back down and asked somebody who she was. Turns out she's Maria Kanellis, a WWE wrestler. She was very nice and posed with the boys for a picture before heading to her gate to catch a flight to San Diego for another show. | ||