So, Neil was at his conference and I was looking out the window of our hotel room wondering what to do…I emailed Alex Mahoney because this is her territory. Within minutes, I got a much-needed supportive and informative email back with oodles of things to do with children.
Choice #1. Children’s Museum under the Golden Gate Bridge.
Ok, no problem, it only looked like an inch on the map. Our hotel is just next to the Embarcadero (which is the road running parallel with San Francisco Bay). We can walk to the Golden Gate Bridge. No problem.
While eating bagels, we watched pigeons waddle in and out of stores, homeless people beg for money on the street, artists set up booths with their work, zero emission buses zoom by, skateboarders roll down the hill, and commuters rush to work. I toyed with the idea of just making a day of watching people go by and wondered whether Alex and Eleni would buy it. Why not? This city is so rich in its diversity…our whole road trip could be traded for the All American Parade we had going by the bagel shop.
The kids didn’t really get the logic in people watching. But, to be fair, they didn’t really see the rationale in going outside for another adventure when 15 minutes ago they were perfectly situated in front of the TV watching cartoons either.
All right then. I convinced them of our short walk, “Look, it’s just one inch on the map!”
We walked on the waterfront and then in front of the piers. Pier 1, Pier 1½ …Pier 27…Pier 29. Oh my goodness, this never ends. Well, they are working piers at least; we watched them move big crates.
I took this photo at one of the piers, although sadly not one of the more picturesque ones that shows the Bay, even. Eleni wasn’t budging (ok, until bribed with gum) and Alex was happily jumping over these concrete benches the whole way.
I saw the sign for Alcatraz Island. Excellent. A plan. I talked them into it. Ok, maybe not the best thing to see with two small children, but definitely fitting into this theme of freedom. We stood in line until I realized that they were sold out until next Thursday.
You are kidding.
Ok, we have another ½ inch to walk…
Someone was handing out Burt’s Bees hand lotion along the way, and the kids were just fascinated by this. Not only did people give you free things in San Francisco, they also had coupons on the back that saved you a dollar when you buy the larger size!
We found a wonderful waterfront park to play in. Phew! And then I saw the Aquarium. Awesome. Now, I have a plan!
But, we needed to eat. I thought, if I can just get to the Fisherman’s Wharf (sorry Alex, the dream of walking to the Golden Gate Bridge fell apart somewhere back on pier 17), we could eat and then go back to the Aquarium. So, we walked until Pier 39 that I think is the Fisherman’s Wharf, and if it’s not, that is still ok. Pier 39 is overwhelming – it’s full of people and shops. Most importantly, for us, it had food.
We went to a restaurant called Wipe-Out. They played reruns of surfer movies that Alex was thrilled to watch while waiting for our food. Got food. Fine. Great, I’ve got this day covered. I’m relaxing…
And then I heard the words, “ I have to go potty.” Eleni needed to go to the bathroom. I told the busboy, and two waitresses that we would just be gone for a moment. We were not done with our food yet (in fact, we hadn’t started to eat).
We returned to our table and there are new people sitting there. The manager told me that the busboys were just a bit over-enthusiastic. But, not to worry, “we can find you another seat.”
Sigh. We had indeed wiped out at Wipe-Out.
So, we kept walking. I bought Alex a bag of popcorn, Eleni had a pretzel, and I just needed ice-coffee. We sat here and looked at Angel Island (the equivalent of Ellis Island in the west, 7th grade!) and Alcatraz Island, and oh yes, off in the distance, the Golden Gate Bridge.
All was well. We wandered over to the aquarium. After buying our tickets, we arrived at the door only to find that the aquarium was in shutdown mode. A child was lost and they were searching for him. Anyone who loves small children and knows that nightmare fear of losing a child in a crowd knows what I felt like then. We waited 15 minutes and I still don’t know now if they found the child. I do know that I never let go of Alex’s and Eleni’s hands after that.
Alex took this photo of a crab that we watched for a good 10 minutes. We loved this crab.
I prepared myself mentally for the one-inch (and now I know that in actuality it was 1 and 1/2 miles!) we had to walk back to the hotel. And then, miraculously, we saw Neil walking towards us. Now, I know I’ve over-dramatized a very simple day and there are certainly more important things in the world to be overwhelmed by, but I can’t tell you how much I loved Neil for being there, completely unplanned and randomly, at that point. He took Eleni on his shoulders and I held hands with Alex.
During the walk home, Alex jumped up and down on the concrete benches and held his plastic jellyfish (that he acquired at the Aquarium), a straw, and his bag of popcorn. I enjoyed the precious moments alone with my son as he hummed along the way, and thought he might say something profound at the end when he turned to me quite solemnly and said (instead), “You know what Mommy? You’re not very good at looking at maps.”
Right.
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