Keeping up with Katy: Weekend Wrap Up: Games 4 and 5

Well, I'm coming to you this morning happy, grateful, and completely exhausted. :)

This past weekend my dad and I made a quick 48-hour jaunt to California to catch the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics in a couple home games. If you're new around here, last June I made a {30} Before Thirty list. Thirty things I want to accomplish before I turn thirty (in June 2018). You can see the complete list here.

One day last spring, I was at my parents house and we were watching baseball on TV. I asked my dad how many different stadiums he had been to, and he mentioned how he always wanted to take a "tour" of the various out of state stadiums and catch home games in each. I thought that sounded like a great father/daughter/hot dog opportunity so I added it to my list! We thought 10 games were doable before June 2018, so that's our goal!

This past weekend were games 4 and 5 - so I'd say we're making good progress!

{See Game 1 Recap here}

{See Games 2 and 3 Recap here}

Game 4

We left DFW around lunchtime on Saturday and landed into the Golden State a little after lunchtime (perks of a two hour time difference). Only after taking a pre-flight "here I go on a trip" selfie. #itstradition

Once we landed, we mastered the BART (SF's public transportation system), and headed to the hotel to settle in. We stayed in the Union Square area as it was less than 2 miles west of the ballpark, and less than two miles south of Fisherman's Wharf. With a little over an hour until game time, we grabbed a snack, "piddled," and began our walk to the park.

The corner of union square. Dad took this exact picture of me (minus the Giant's hat) back in 2009 when we came to San Fran, so we had to recreate :)

I ordered my Giants hat back in Texas, but my dad picked up one on the way to the game. We are now officially ready for the first pitch!

The walks to the ballpark are always very interesting - mainly due to where the ballpark is located. Since this ballpark was in the city, right along the bay, we had lots of SF friends join us on our walk :)

But we made it!

Hey there Willie Mays.

Palm trees are a California must and all - but it was very difficult to get a picture where you could see the AT&T park entrance. This is the best I got (without getting pummeled by Giants fans).

We headed to our seats and this was our view.

Isn't that just amazing? The pictures don't do it justice, but it gives you an idea. When deliberating ballparks to visit, this one was my request. The bay as a backdrop to a baseball stadium was a must see. At one point during the game I looked over to my right and saw kayaks, sailboats, and seagulls. That's just not a normal "add-on" to a baseball game - and I loved it!

Another fun fact - I was absolutely freezing. Our seats were in the shade and between the lack of sun and the wind - I was shivering. So, I broke down and went to the gift store and bought some warmth. The hoodies were all $100 (yeah, no thanks), so I settled on a scarf. Yes. I now have an orange plaid SF Giants scarf if anyone ever finds themselves in need for one. Desperate times, my friends, desperate times.

Can't hack the cold.

We cheered on the Giants (though dad admitted he was kind of pulling for the Cubs) to a 5-3 victory against Chicago, ate four hotdogs, and logged Game 4 in the books!


Game 4 - Chicago Cubs vs. San Francisco Giants - May 21, 2016

The game was at 4:15, so afterwards we decided to celebrate at Fisherman's Wharf. We heard the walk along the coast from the park to the wharf was lengthy, but beautiful, so we decided to give that route a try. And while we walked so far my feet almost fell off, and dad thought they moved the Wharf to a different city, it was beautiful indeed!

No but seriously. We logged over 20,000 steps that day.

Which I guess was a good thing....because this was our next destination.

That's right. We Ghiradellied.

We also came here back in 2009 on our trip, and it was so delicious we decided to do it again. If you're in the San Fran area, you must add the Ghiradelli Chocolate Factory to your list! Worth every calorie! (and there are plenty of calories to go around....)

I got a Nob Hill Chill (vanilla ice cream blended with fudge and chocolate chips), and my dad got a mint chocolate ice cream brownie thing (basically a tall glass of goodness).

We ate until we couldn't eat no-mo, and decided to call it a night.

Game 5

The Oakland game wasn't until 1:10, so we woke up Sunday morning and set out to get a big breakfast. We ate at Sears Fine Food - which opened in 1938 and is famous for their pancakes. My dad knew about it because he and my mom ate there on their first trip to San Francisco over 30 years ago! (everybody "aw" with me - ready? "Awwwwww!) :)

I generally am an eggs and bacon girl for breakfast, but if you say you're known for your pancakes - I'm going to go for the pancakes.

And after breakfast I had me a DJ Tanner moment.

"Whatever happened to predictability...."

We piddled some more around the Union Square area before heading over to Oakland for the game.

Now - hear this. I admittedly was not overly excited for the A's game. I knew their stadium wasn't as nice, they weren't a big name in baseball - I just wasn't as excited.

UNTIL - I watched Moneyball on the plane ride over to California. I actually had no idea the movie was about the Oakland A's until I started watching it. All I knew is it was free and had Brad Pitt in it, so it was good enough for me.

Then I fell in love with Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics. I'm a sucker for the underdog, and this team is an underdog. But they make a comparable baseball team with about half the payroll of other baseball teams and I just heart them. Which I realize is a problem because they're in the same league as my Texas Rangers but I'm just not going to think about that.

If you're going to an Oakland game any time soon (Emily) - you have to watch Moneyball before you go! Plus the movie is about math and baseball. Yes, please.

But yeah the stadium ain't cute. This is about the best picture I got :)

Dad and I both decided it was one of our favorite games. It was just all about the baseball. The game was fast-paced and entertaining (slow pitchers make me want to cuss), and we were in the fly-ball zone so you had to pay attention if you wanted to keep your face intact.

Game 5 - New York Yankees vs. Oakland A's - May 22, 2016

We had to leave around the 6th inning to head to the airport, but unfortunately found out later that the A's didn't come through for a victory. Wamp wamp.

All in all it was a fantastic weekend, and the airport goodbyes are the absolute worst part. They make me sad just thinking about them. I love these weekends with my dad. Even if nothing else gets crossed off my list, I know I'll have these games, and that's good enough for me.

On the way to the airport, we started discussing next year's games. We still have one left this year, but it's never too early to start planning! We realized that we've completed 5 games so far (halfway point!), and 4 out of those 5 games have been in California. So next year we're heading to the east coast :)

And that's a wrap on our weekend! Now I'm chugging coffee and about to dump-n-repack for my next adventure in a couple of hours. Chicago - here I come!

But first I'll leave you with a couple of game selfies - which dad requested during the games. See why I love this man? :)