Superbowl Sunday. Colts vs. Bears – an all animal game this year. Even in laid back San Francisco people thought there’d be a lot of excitement around the game. And there was in some corners of the city. I even bought a Peyton Manning jersey, mostly because I like his commercials. He’s funny. 
But I didn’t watch the Superbowl, nor did many others by the look of San Francisco Bay that day—a day that featured a hazy blue sky, mild temperatures and calm waters. My partner (Traci) calls those bluebird days, and they lure us out of our homes onto the playgrounds, the beaches and the parks. Coincidentally, Traci and I had booked a night tour to Alcatraz that day; a friend was visiting and wanted to see the famous prison. We’d never seen it, so we thought it would be nice to take her.
About a week before the tour, the papers were filled with stories of The Queen Mary 2 steaming into the bay for a stopover on her world tour. There were articles or TV news stories about it every day: The biggest cruise ship on the water today; Will barely fit under the Golden Gate Bridge; A floating city; $21,000 per person for the least expensive ticket, $125,000 for the most expensive. And on and on. I’ve always been excited by big things. Big trucks, big planes, big boats—I don’t know why. Maybe it’s a genetic defect, or maybe it comes from comparing penis sizes as boys when we were growing up. Who knows? But I figured maybe I’d get a chance to see the QM2 from our vantage point on Alcatraz or maybe from the docks. I’ve never been very lucky with my timing, so I didn’t count on anything.
The day of the tour we boarded the ferry to Alcatraz at 4:20pm. We launched, and as soon as we rounded the point and saw the bay, there she was. She’d cleared the Golden Gate Bridge by less than 30 feet, and she was headed straight for us. She was HUGE! Even from a distance. Our tour guide had been trying to talk about Alcatraz over the speakers, but even she decided to stop and watch the spectacle. We had to wait for the QM2 to pass before we could proceed to Alcatraz, and we were able to watch her approach for over 20 minutes as she seemed to glide over the calm gray waters, barely making a ripple behind her.
You’d never know there was a Superbowl playing somewhere by the looks of the people lining the shores, the piers, and the numbers of boats on the water. The bay was a spectacle of sailboats, yachts, motorboats, ferries, and almost anything that could float trailed alongside and behind the giant ship like ducks behind their mother. QM2 blew her horn occasionally and was answered all along the Bay. Her decks were lined with hundreds of people waving and we waved in return as she passed right beside us. Our SF Fire Department fireboat, “The Phoenix” escorted QM2 into the Bay with geysers of water spraying in all directions, and passed on the one side of us as QM2 passed on the other. Even those staid types among us couldn’t help cheer and wave as the behemoth made way to her berth. For me it was more striking than the jail tour on Alcatraz.
I took the opportunity to sneak away from the tour on the island later that evening. I looked back toward the city shortly after the sun set in the distance; the city lights glittered with reflected brilliance in the still water at its feet. The QM2 was carefully nested in its berth a little to the city’s left (as I looked at it) and glittered with its own brilliance. It truly was a floating city. It’s a sight I won’t soon forget. And these pictures can’t convey the excitement of that bluebird day.
And by the way, not all legends are true: The QM2 is the biggest cruise ship in the world, but The Birdman of Alcatraz never had birds at the prison on Alcatraz.
But I didn’t watch the Superbowl, nor did many others by the look of San Francisco Bay that day—a day that featured a hazy blue sky, mild temperatures and calm waters. My partner (Traci) calls those bluebird days, and they lure us out of our homes onto the playgrounds, the beaches and the parks. Coincidentally, Traci and I had booked a night tour to Alcatraz that day; a friend was visiting and wanted to see the famous prison. We’d never seen it, so we thought it would be nice to take her.
About a week before the tour, the papers were filled with stories of The Queen Mary 2 steaming into the bay for a stopover on her world tour. There were articles or TV news stories about it every day: The biggest cruise ship on the water today; Will barely fit under the Golden Gate Bridge; A floating city; $21,000 per person for the least expensive ticket, $125,000 for the most expensive. And on and on. I’ve always been excited by big things. Big trucks, big planes, big boats—I don’t know why. Maybe it’s a genetic defect, or maybe it comes from comparing penis sizes as boys when we were growing up. Who knows? But I figured maybe I’d get a chance to see the QM2 from our vantage point on Alcatraz or maybe from the docks. I’ve never been very lucky with my timing, so I didn’t count on anything.
The day of the tour we boarded the ferry to Alcatraz at 4:20pm. We launched, and as soon as we rounded the point and saw the bay, there she was. She’d cleared the Golden Gate Bridge by less than 30 feet, and she was headed straight for us. She was HUGE! Even from a distance. Our tour guide had been trying to talk about Alcatraz over the speakers, but even she decided to stop and watch the spectacle. We had to wait for the QM2 to pass before we could proceed to Alcatraz, and we were able to watch her approach for over 20 minutes as she seemed to glide over the calm gray waters, barely making a ripple behind her.
You’d never know there was a Superbowl playing somewhere by the looks of the people lining the shores, the piers, and the numbers of boats on the water. The bay was a spectacle of sailboats, yachts, motorboats, ferries, and almost anything that could float trailed alongside and behind the giant ship like ducks behind their mother. QM2 blew her horn occasionally and was answered all along the Bay. Her decks were lined with hundreds of people waving and we waved in return as she passed right beside us. Our SF Fire Department fireboat, “The Phoenix” escorted QM2 into the Bay with geysers of water spraying in all directions, and passed on the one side of us as QM2 passed on the other. Even those staid types among us couldn’t help cheer and wave as the behemoth made way to her berth. For me it was more striking than the jail tour on Alcatraz.
I took the opportunity to sneak away from the tour on the island later that evening. I looked back toward the city shortly after the sun set in the distance; the city lights glittered with reflected brilliance in the still water at its feet. The QM2 was carefully nested in its berth a little to the city’s left (as I looked at it) and glittered with its own brilliance. It truly was a floating city. It’s a sight I won’t soon forget. And these pictures can’t convey the excitement of that bluebird day.
And by the way, not all legends are true: The QM2 is the biggest cruise ship in the world, but The Birdman of Alcatraz never had birds at the prison on Alcatraz.
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