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It’s day two in San Francisco.  Mike, mom, and I are on the cable car going down California St.

California Street never ceases to thrill me.  It’s a main road in town, some five miles or so.  We’re taking it right down through the Financial District.

Another view of California St.  Mom and Mike at the opening of Pier 19.

The Embarcadero.

We walked around the Ferry Building, perusing the various shops and farmer’s markets.

A view from Pier 19 looking at the Oakland Bay Bridge.

Another view.

Me and Mike.

It was a beautiful, clear day but a bit breezy on the Pier.

After strolling along the Embarcadero, next up was a cruise to Alcatraz Island.

There were beautiful views, and it was the first cruise I’ve taken where I wasn’t cold!

A Western Gull.  A little tidbit: Alcatraz is a sanctuary for a variety of seabirds.

And there it is: the Island of Alcatraz.  I’ve seen this island many times, but mom and Mike wanted to visit the Island, and their wish was my command.

On September 29th, my mom, my brother Mike, and I began our journey to San Francisco.  The trip began as a birthday gift to my mom, something I surprised her with back in July.  Mike, like me, has a “big” birthday coming up early November (mine is the end of October).  I decided it would be fun to celebrate all of our birthdays together.  Rich and Bonnie (Mike’s wife) both were very happy with the idea of the three of us going off to celebrate together.

We arrived in San Francisco 10ish, a.m., giving us lots of time to get to our hotel and enjoy the rest of the day.

We stayed at Grosvenor Suites on Pine Street, about a block from Powell, and between California and Bush.  We had a fantastic three room corner suite on the 17th floor with an excellent view.

It’s a great location, close to the Powell and California cable car lines.

After we got unpacked and settled, we walked down to the end of Powell, went to the tourist center where I got City Passes for all.

We then went to Market Street and took the F-trolley to Pier 39 to see the sea lions.

We strolled around, looking at the views of the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate (plenty more images of those bridges coming soon).

We then meandered over to the Wharf area and ate at In ‘N Out Burger.  Mike, being a huge baseball fan, wanted to see Giants Stadium.  He thus went that way.

Mom and I walked all over, going up the Embarcadero and through the financial district.  Eventually we got the California line up to Powell.  It was a far longer walk than I intended, but it was a beautiful day.  We met Mike back at the suite.

Mike had a surprise for us.  He bought tickets to see the Giants play that evening against the Arizona Diamondbacks.  We took a taxi to the stadium.

It was chilly, and we were all bundled up with several layers on.  I had no doubt it would be mighty cold in the evening.

Here we are before the game started (in about an hour, the gloves and hoods were on).   Mike got us excellent seats in the lower deck area between home and third.  Also before the game, there was a group of people, including Willie Mays, being recognized for various achievements.

A couple times home runs were hit over the right field wall.  Such hits go into an area called McCovey Cove, named after the  Giants first baseman.  It is at the mouth of Mission Creek where it meets the bay.   There are people in kayaks and boats, even with nets, waiting to retrieve such balls.  Each time a home run was hit, we all got a kick out of watching on the monitor  the ball being fished out of the water.

At the end of the very chilly night, the Giants won.  We all agreed that it is a beautiful stadium, and we had a great time. More posts on our trip are coming!