Our plans for last Saturday -- a "perfect" day of 74 degrees with sun and a light breeze -- were as follows:
- Drive from south of San Jose to Sausalito via the Golden Gate Bridge
- Get supplies at the store: wine, cheese, bread, maybe fruit
- Take it to the Golden Gate overlook on the north side of the bridge for a "sit on a blanket" real, honest-to-dog picnic
It almost went like that. We did, at least, cross the Golden Gate Bridge into Sausalito. That's where things got off track.
As we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, the fog was clearing but still hung to the lower areas:
Once across, we could see the San Francisco skyline, peaking out from the fog:
We made it to Sausalito, and hung out at the dock for a few minutes, talking about the boats and watching a drunk woman guide her yacht into its berth.
We were strolling through town to find a place to get our picnic supplies, when we stumbled on a taco restaurant. It was crowded with happy shiny people who were obviously enjoying their food and/or willingly waiting in line -- a salty margarita in hand to help pass the time.
Being "only" a party of two, we got seated immediately at a table crammed on the patio between the walkway and another couple of tables for two. A few margaritas, an order of surf and turf tacos (one carna asada, one shrimp), and a dish of ceviche later we no longer cared about the cramped quarters or the jostling hustle and bustle of waiters, and our picnic idea was relegated to the "maybe next time" category.
But we decided we would still go to the overlook for a while. We got back into the car to find our way there, when we realized that the traffic seemed hideously heavy, even for the Bay area. Streets were bumper to bumper parking lots, and police were directing traffic everywhere we looked. We just sort of followed along, and found ourselves on the northeast side of the bridge instead of our goal of the northwest overlook.
It was then that we discovered why the traffic was so horrific -- an airshow over San Francisco Bay was in full force! And even though we were not at the overlook we were aiming for, we were still in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge with front row seats for the Blue Angels, the flight demonstration team for the U.S. Navy. We watched as they flew in formation near Coit Tower and the TransAmerica Building in San Francisco, and swooped past the Golden Gate Bridge to return over the Bay.
Here are some photos of the Blue Angels in formation:
Our day didn't go as we planned that morning, but turned into a serendipitous adventure that we both loved. Amazing show, guys, and thanks!
