Day 85: SF Getaway, Part 2

I went for a run this morning along the Embarcadero, one of my favorite running routes of all time.  Usually I'm able to greet the sea lions in the morning, but the small group that had been hanging out yesterday afternoon was gone, and I only saw a loner on a separate dock sprawling in the sun.  It's so sad that the sea lion colony has dwindled so much during the 10 years we've lived in California, as discovering them in great numbers was a highlight of our initial visits to SF.

As I passed by the Boudin Bakery at Fisherman's Wharf, several bakers were preparing some of the day's bread and could be observed through the window along the sidewalk.  I got to see a tray of mini turtles all ready for baking.  They looked something like this:

How neat to see "before and after" of the adorable mini turtles today and yesterday!

The next part of my route was along the water in Aquatic Park, which has a lovely beach and clusters of hardy swimmers braving the cold temperatures of the Bay as they swim laps between a couple of buoys.  I couldn't find a good picture of the swimmers, but this image shows the curved beach area and concrete steps/seats that overlook the running, walking, and biking path:

At the end of Aquatic Park, you can choose to go out along the Municipal Pier towards the right or head up Fort Mason hill to the left.  I opted for a hill workout today, as it's been awhile since I've tested myself on much of an incline.  This image doesn't really do the hill justice, as it definitely feels much steeper than it looks here!

Once I got back to the hotel, Mr. E and I had breakfast in the Executive Lounge, caught a text from A just in time to Skype with her and F, and then headed off to the Oakland Coliseum for the final game of a 4-game series between the Red Sox and the As.

All went quite well for Lester and the boys, and since we were getting a bit chilled (yes, I know it's late June, but in 60-ish degrees and breezy in the shade, it does get rather cold!), we decided to leave after the 6th inning and listen to the rest of the game on our way home.  Disaster in the 8th and 9th innings, including a very surprising blown Save by Koji Uehara (until today, he was 42 for 44 in Save attempts), led to the As coming back from a 6-1 deficit to tie up the game 6-6. *sigh*

At that point, we couldn't listen anymore, so we were thrilled when we checked the final score about 20 minutes later to see that our boys had battled back to win 7-6, thanks to a solo homer by Big Papi in the top of the 10th.  Phew!  Too much drama!

I think Mr. E and I both agree that in-person games at the Coliseum may not be worth it anymore, due to a trend we've noticed in increased obnoxiousness among the male fan base of the As.  In the future, although we may still take advantage of having the Red Sox in town to enjoy a Bay Area getaway, we may just choose to watch the game from our hotel or a local restaurant rather than trekking to the stadium itself.