A Perfect Day for a Sunday Segway Sashay!

Huzzah!  It's Segway time again!!  Blogwatchers, you may not realize this but - in addition to my PhD in Pharmacology from Cambridge (oooOoooo - fancy pants!), I am the proud holder of yet another PhD - this one in Advanced Segway Navigation.  This monumental achievement of electric ambulation was the result of my first ever Seggers excursion with Thomas, back when I first moved to SF.   In addition to helicopter rides over and under the Golden Gate bridge, U2 concerts, skateboard lessons in Central Park and model plane flying trips to Brooklyn Park,  I also upped the Awesome Auntie Brownie Points stakes by taking him on a Segway tour round Fisherman's Wharf and Ghiradelli Square.  It was GREAT fun, although bloody freezing (and yes, this was in August), so I've been looking for an excuse to repeat the experience!  This time, I also was forearmed with the insider knowledge of Goldstar.com, one of the best places to go to get discounted tickets to all the main tourist attractions in SF.  So, instead of paying the full price of $70, it was job done at $35! 

As ever, Lori had gamely agreed to accompany me on this latest adventure so, this Sunday morning, we arranged to meet at Golden Gate park at the ungodly hour of 8.45am, ready to check-in for our Segway tour at 9am!  I hadn't been to Golden Gate park for a while and the rendezvous point was just across from the Academy of Sciences, so I was getting some entertaining flashbacks to Penguins and Pyjamas!  Because it was so early, parking was no problemo, which was nice (unlike one time where I'd tried to visit the park later on a sunny Sunday morning last summer - it took me an hour to slog through the city traffic to get there - then i couldnt find a single spot to park!! (sound familiar?) - so all i could do was just turn round and drive back home again!) 

Here's the blurb from the tour, so you can see all the various places in the park we visited.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to get pictures of all the different points of interest (we'd been told that taking photos or sending texts, tweets, updating Facebook status's etc (who, me??)) was strictly verboten  while on the Segway.  Pictures were fine when we were parked up, but otherwise nope.  It reminded me a bit of when I did my cycling tour through SE Asia, particularly going through the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, where I was cycling past all these incredible sights but i was very limited in how often I could stop to take photos, lest I fall even further behind my turbo-charged group of ridiculously over-acheiving peddlers!!  But, nonetheless, I managed to get a few good pics, hopefully enough to give you a sense of some of what we saw.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable way to explore the whole park, and we discovered bits of it I never even knew existed!!  I think all in all we covered about 7 miles over the course of 2.5hrs, so damned efficient exploration too!!   I would heartily recommend this to anyone visiting the city - its a lot of fun, you see a shed load of stuff PLUS you get a very cool certificate and badge at the end of it.  What more could you possibly want from a Sunday morning out?

Enjoy your ride!!

http://www.electrictourcompany.com/segway/san-francisco-golden-gate-park-segway-tour

lide through the 1,000+ acre Golden Gate Park on this fully narrated Segway tour.

Guests will have a blast gliding through seven beautiful miles of Golden Gate Park’s landscaped trails and roads, visiting hidden sights that include the Lily Pond, Shakespeare Garden and Fern Grotto. The tour explores the east end, including the National Aids Memorial, Music Concourse, Pioneer Grove, and Stow Lake.

Tour guides share tidbits and trivia about the Park’s stewards over the years, the impact of WWII on the Japanese Tea Garden, and the story of the park’s historical transformation from bleak sand dunes to today’s lush vista.

Tour is 2.5 hours long, including training time.

You Will See and Learn About:

• The seven mile (11.2 km) tour route explores the eastern section of the 1017 acre (411 ha) park on winding trails and bike routes.
• The transformation starting in the 1870's of a bleak sand dune area in into the lush park you see today.
• The Music Concourse and Temple of Music
• The California Academy of Sciences and the deYoung Museum
• The Japanese Tea Garden and the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894
• William Hammond Hill and John McLaren's vision for the park
• The Conservatory of Flowers
• Hidden sights including the Lily Pond, Prayerbook Cross and Fern Grotto
• The historic Carousel and Sharon Art Studio
• San Francisco Botanical Gardens
• The Lawn Bowling Courts
• The National Aids Memorial
• Shakespeare Garden
• Stow Lake and Strawberry Hill
• The Rose, Rhododendron and Dahlia gardens
• An amazing Redwood grove, Pioneer log cabin and many other hidden gems!

Remember, kids.  Always practice Safe Seg.

Lori taking the training VERY seriously.
Actually, getting on and off is the hardest
bit of the whole thing.   

Our very cool and funny guide, Joey

Very short Scottish dude who was the Gardener-in-Chief
 for 50 years and is largely responsible for how the
park is today.  Apparently had a thing for pine cones.
And ironically HATED statues. 

Lori cops a quick feel of his seed case while
I fail to resist the chance to be an arse in a photo 

Loopy! We made it - guess where we were?!!

Yep - the Conservatory of Flowers!!

"....Agave to the left of me, cactus to the right,
here I am, Seg Seg Segway'ing with you..."

Getting ready for the Segway version of the Daytona 500

One of the places we visited was the AIDS memorial garden

Names of those touched by AIDS inscribed
 in the circle of friends

Radical, self-timer CRAZINESS!!!
  Sometimes you just have to live on the edge.

The slightly bemused/concerned look on my face was because
 the guy taking this shot CLEARLY had no idea what he was
doing.  Its a camera, people!!  Have you never seen one of these
 before??  You just press the button - how hard can that be??

Everything is now bursting into life - i loved the bright
green new tips on the tree branches.
Though it triggered a Pavlovian reflex to go find a
 bauble to hang on it. 

Big Bloom blooming

Exploding flower!  POW!  Take that, Spring!!! 

Tiny waterfall in the Pedalo Obstacle Course 

I know, I know.  I make you do some crazy shit.
Lori reminds me just how good a sport she is.  

OK.  I have no explanation for this pose.
 I think i was pumped up on adrenaline after
having just cruised at the top speed of 10 mph
 on my Segway steed

Very cute baby geese.  Less cute were the dollops of poo
that i had to squelch my way through to take this piccie

and FINALLY, Lori demonstrates the
PROPER way to wear your safety helmet when riding.

Let's Go, Giants!!!

(clap...clap....clap clap clap..... Let's Go Giants!..... repeat ad infinitum)

So here it is.  Baseball season is well and truly upon us again.  As I type this, the Giants are top of the seventh against the LA Dodgers and about to head into the home straight.  How do i know this without even having to check the score online?  Why, because Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" is billowing forth from the Ballpark and the crowd is singing at the top of their collective lungs - as happens every game at the top of the ninth, that's how.   Its funny - that song, plus the guy on the old-fashioned organ that plays those little "doo-do-doo-do-do-doo" tunes has become the soundtrack of my summer here in San Francisco.  

And I love it.

Now, as any MLB fans will know, last year, the Giants won the World Series title (for the second time in three years), so they are obviously quite good.  And - after an entire summer of remaining resolutely indifferent about the baseball season that was unfolding quite literally at my feet, i finally got into it after the Giants had made the playoffs and well on their way to victory (i know, i know - fair weather fan).  Lori had persuaded me to go and watch a couple of the games in the sports bars that line King Street, right next to the ballpark - and, much to my immense surprise, I really quite enjoyed it!  Who'd have thought it?  Me, queuing up to get inside a sports bar to watch the baseball?  I guess I really am ready for that US Citizenship test now!!

Anyway, this year I figured it was probably time to go all-in (forgive all the sports metaphors - i can't resist) and succumb fully to the lure of the orange and black army, and go get myself kitted up with some Giants gear.  I'd skated through the end of last season with an orange dress and a free straw trilby that had SF Giants printed on the side, but if I was to truly pledge my allegiance to my new home team, then I knew i had to up my ante.  It was a Sunday afternoon, and I was meeting Lori for my first game of the season, so off to the Club Dug-out I trotted and handed over my credit card in exchange for two Giants jackets - one vaguely stylish, the other not at all stylish but very warm.  And very orange.

So, after meeting Lori (who was running late as she'd got...ahem... distracted by chatting to an attractive actor chap she'd met on the train and so missed her stop!), it was time to head on into the park.  It was an absolutely GLORIOUS day - one of those days that makes you glad to be alive and even gladder to be alive in San Francisco and gladdest (if that's a verb) to be alive, in SF and have great friends to share it all with.  

We had an absolute hoot.  Lori is a lifelong Giants fan and was just so excited to be at the game, in the stadium - I would imagine this is how excited Big Cuz is at a Fowest home game.  Our seats were well up in the gods, and a number of Lori's work colleagues were also there, so it was fun to meet them.  We'd already stocked up on the Worlds Best Garlic Fries and a couple of glasses of wine earlier, so were happy to sit and watch the game for a while, until about the 6th innings when it was time to wander round and explore and generally get up to mischief.  

So, here are some piccies from Sarah and Lori's Big Game Day Adventure... enjoy!!

Oh - and we won!  Huzzah!!  Let's go, Giants!!!  *clap clap clapclapclap*

Lori and I modeling our freebie umbrellas -
check on my new SF Giants threads!

Yep.  Thats a dude with a bag full of pizzas.
Mmm...toasty and fresh...

View from the bleachers of AT&T Ballpark.
Out back is McCovey cove where i went
kayaking and Duck Boating

Tiny people looking like the little Subbuteo soccer players

So many wrong captions spring
to mind for this one....

Suddenly, I realize where I am...

Putting that A level Maths to good use...

Up close and personal with the giant neon Coke bottle

View of my building, Coke Bottle side

Probably one of the best photo bombs i've ever seen....

We had absolutely NO idea!!

Bloody love this place. Palm trees and the Bay Bridge
serve as the perfect photo backdrop

Mini-park!

Lori quite literally talking to the hand...

Not sure why i had the sudden urge to pull a Mary Poppins

But obviously the urge was not a fleeting one...

Hmmm... wait, what??

What's that big noise all about?

Yep.  Whilst we were farting about playing around with the
 giant baseball mitt, the Giants went ahead and won the game
while we weren't looking.  Oops.

I guess that's what you'd call a win win?

Colorful crowd 

There's just something about having an umbrella that
results in an uncontrollable urge to mug for the camera

I ain't putting that sucker anywhere near my mouth

Game lights/arty farty shot

The crowd heads home.
I'm already there.

A Perfect Paddle - Saturday Splashings in the City
Greetings, blog watchers!  After one of those weeks at work where you long to be independently wealthy so you can just chuck it all in and go and run an olive oil and cheese shop somewhere (if there are any octagenarian billionaires out there with a dicky ticker who fancy sponsoring my little culinary fantasy, have at it), I was profoundly glad it was the weekend and very much looking forward to this morning's fun.

Yet again, my wonderful friends at Groupon supplied the discounted voucher (I'm trying to forget the op-ed article I read a couple of weeks ago about how Groupon is destroying small businesses and eroding customer service) - this time for a 2hr kayaking trip around McCovey Cove.   My regulars will recognize McCovey cove as the scene of last year's International Duck Day adventures with the Duck Boat and the Not Unattractive Cap'n John, where the P of Double D and Mr & Mrs Potato Head and I took the amphibious automobile for a spin.

http://sazzinthecity.blogspot.com/2012/09/quacks-off-to-1st-international-duck.html

Coast Guard ready to spring into action....

McCovey Cove is also, very handily, right behind AT&T Ballpark and so a mere skipping stone's throw from my apartment.  As you can imagine, during baseball season, the kayak tours behind the stadium are very popular, especially as there is always a chance, albeit very small, of someone hitting a home run quite literally out of the park, and into the cove behind!

Under beautiful blue skies, me and my
orange pointy boat set out, looking
 for adventure

Anyway, no chance of such excitement today, as the Giants are away this week (check me out, knowing the baseball schedules!) but by the time I arrived for the start of my tour at 11am, the sun was shining, the sky was clear blue without a cloud in sight and it was an absolutely PERFECT day to mess about on the water for a couple of hours.  And even more perfect as it took me less than 3 minutes to walk to City Kayak from my apartment - no stress, no parking, no problem!   Consequently I was the first to arrive, so i got checked in, signed the inevitable waiver, then nipped to Red Java, the little dockside shack that sells breakfast and lunch, for a quick coffee and sat outside soaking up the sunshine while waiting for the other people to arrive.

By 11.10am, everyone had arrived - there were supposed to be 10 of us, but only 4 of us showed up, so it was a nice manageable group.  Our guide gave us a brief lesson of how to paddle, fitted us up with life jackets and dry sacks to put our stuff in, and off we went!  

Now THATS how you collect tips...

It was simply perfect.  Our route was very straightforward - paddling out from the dock, round the corner by the sea wall, then just out across into McCovey cove, behind the ballpark, and across and down into Mission Creek.  You couldn't go wrong or get lost, as Mission Creek dead-ended, so after you'd paddling all the way down, you simply turned round and came right on back.

I've done a bit of kayaking before, so I was very comfortable and not (much) worried about capsizing and drowning.  So, it was lovely just to paddle away, feeling very Zen as you glided (or as Eddie would say "glidded") through the water, feeling the warmth of the sun on your face and your heart rate just a little elevated with the physical effort involved.  It was fun to cruise past the ballpark, then down the into creek, enjoying the different perspective of all the buildings, the houseboats and occasional randomness that makes San Francisco the quirky, weird and charming city that I love.  Here are some pics from the morning - enjoy!

View of my apartment complex
 from the marina

AT&T Ballpark

About to go under a big scary, low
bridge - DUCK!

Phew. Not a troll in sight

Houseboats along Mission Creek.
And yes, that is a giant swan.

Unbeknownst to many, MI6 has quietly relocated to SF

Well, of COURSE you'd expect to see a giant floating
 spaceship on a paddle trip around the Bay

The inspiration for the lesser known ballet, Swan Creek

Fancy-pants house boat

Bad puns are alive and well in the boating community

Its just like a house!  But on the water!!

The Architect obviously had a set of Rolling
Rulers when he designed this house

Houseboat Alley, with AT&T Park in the background

I think the seagull may be a bit confused...
"Mummy - is that you?"

Yeah!!  I came, I saw, I paddled.
And didn't fall in.

Showing off my advanced Patent Pending "jazz hands" paddling technique