We booked a Sunday evening flight back to Seattle so that we’d have time to catch the 1:05 Giants vs. Cubs game in the city. As we crossed the Bay Bridge, with KNBR piping over the radio and the sun shining overhead, my excitement mounted by the minute – I love me an afternoon at the ballpark.
We arrived in San Francisco a couple hours before the game so that we’d have time to catch up with my college roommate, Brieanne, and her darling little baby E. And good heavens, that girl’s a heart-stealer – she sat contentedly in my lap while we chatted and was so easily coaxed into flashing us her winning smile.
As is usually the case with the wee little babes, she seemed to think Shane was the bee’s knees (no surprise there!).
Game time eventually rolled around and we said our goodbyes to B and E at the gates of AT&T.
We grabbed a beer and a couple of dogs, found our seats, and settled in for an afternoon with Barry, Buster, and the Boch. And it was glorious – our seats behind home plate offered a perfect view of the bay, the sun shone like nobody’s business, and Barry Zito pitched like a champ. It was one of those “absolutely no place else I’d rather be” kind of afternoons.  I might have even turned to Shane at one point and exclaimed, “This is even better than Paris!” – must have been the Blue Moon talking.
The game ended early (our boys weren’t messing around that day) and we had received a notification that our 6:30 flight had been delayed by a couple of hours, so we took advantage of the extra time and drove over to the Mission for a bite at Pizzeria Delfina.  I oohed and ahhed over the grilled asparagus and the pizza margherita while we sat at our little sidewalk table.  Shane and I tried to imagine ourselves living in this uber-trendy neighborhood and decided we’re not hip enough, but it was fun to dream…
Pizza craving satisfied, we walked over to Dolores Park to catch the last of day’s rays. Â The lawn was absolutely packed; Shane and I grabbed a little patch of grass for ourselves and settled in for some the best people-watching we’ve ever done. Â We saw hula-hoopers, soccer players, musicians, girls with bleached blonde hair and Louis Vuitton purses, girls with dreadlocks and oversized hoodies, people drinking champagne out of little plastic cups while playing fetch with their dogs, and it seemed that nearly everyone was smiling. Â It was one big San Francisco happy-fest. And I was thrilled to be in on the action.
We headed to the airport as the sun went down, only to find that our flight had been further delayed – it proved to be a much longer trip back to Seattle than we’d hoped. Â But eventually we made it to home sweet home, thankful for that otherwise perfect day in Frisco sweet Frisco.