fleet week

October 10-11, 2008

this weekend was highlighted by fleet week, where the US NAVY put on an air show for all those near and dear to sf. the only other time i’ve actually seen a jet fly over was at the 2003 michigan vs. ohio st. football game, commemorating the 100th game (which is also the last time we beat ohio st., but lets not talk about michigan football until 2009 or so). i heard from friends and coworkers that the jets start practicing starting thursday, and that our office will rattle as the jets fly by. and rattle they did… but we were only able to hear the jets fly by because our office is only on the 11th floor, and the only view we get is of other buildings adjacent to ours.

however, i had a great view of the jets on friday from the windows of my apt, and it was somewhat surreal to see these war machines flying over all around my apt. it made me think that if i was on location at war, the sound of a jet flying by could be quite a scary; luckily for me, these jets possessed no threats. they flew low, they flew fast, they flew close, and they were loud… it was awesome.

we kept friday night chill and watched a ‘body of lies’. i won’t say anything about it because i don’t want to give anything away, but i thought it was just a-ok. i haven’t seen a movie in a while, and it was nice to have a very relaxing night in general because it would turn out to be a very long saturday.

i woke up early on saturday to go play flag football. we were just short of a few people, and played much of the game with a truncated roster. nevertheless, any football is good football and it was a good way to get some exercise. best of all, the park showed some much needed fall color that i feel like i’ve been missing out on the last couple of years. ok, these fall colors don’t even count as fall colors compared to the ones you see in michigan, but it was just enough to remind me that it is indeed fall and with fall you get falling leaves.

after the game and lunch, i headed out to the marina to meet will and aaron to see the actual fleet week air show (rather than just the practice runs). i heard and saw them screaming across the sky… until i got to the pier… where it apparently just ended. yep, that’s right… i did not see a single fly by at the actual site… oh wells, maybe next year…

aaron and will were late… like 2 hours late… so rather than standing around looking like a loser loner, i took pictures like a loner tourist.

(i want a sail boat)

(people chillaxing after the show… there were a ton of people watching it from their roof)

(beautiful day at the marina, more people and kids running around)

when aaron and will FINALLY got there, i was almost dead of thirst (come on people, i was in the sun walking around by myself for 2 hours). so we obviously headed over to a bar for some beer and college football. we headed over to jones roadhouse which featured beer, college football, seats after standing over people for 30 minutes, and appetizers. the windows being taken out for fresh air was a much needed bonus, because this place was packed (much like all the other bars in the area). the beer was good, the appetizers were delicious, and it was nice to spend some time with aaron visiting and will who recently returned from his trip to china.

(plastic cups… i don’t think i’ve drank beer out of plastic cups at a bar since college)

(the glassless window provided much needed air)

after a quick nap at home, we headed out to nearby element lounge where we met with jannet + friends, phil and the visiting joe yang. i was pretty tired from the morning walk/beer, so we made a quick visit to the lounge before heading over to crepes a go-go. oh how delicious their crepes be. for anybody that hasn’t been there, it is a must go for sure, thinking about it right now makes me want to go back for some more….