Day 15: America's Cup

I spent another day watching the America’s Cup races between the New Zealand and United States teams. The crowds at Pier 27 were too thick to find a decent vantage point so I hurried up the hundreds (I counted somewhere between 290 and 394 before I lost count) and made it in time to watch the first race.

The views from the parking lot at Coit Tower were pretty good. With a few trees in the way, the Golden Gate Bridge all the way to near where the finish line was visible.

Oracle led the first race.

As Oracle made the last turn, they appeared to slow down, getting the crowd upset. It probably wasn’t intentional might have been due to the wind speed and direction or just an optical illusion?

Oracle won the first race.

The second race didn’t go as well. The New Zealand team led the race and never gave up first place.

Picture of Coit Tower before going back down those hundreds of steps. I walked back down those to Pier 27 where I stood inline to get autographs from the teams.

The replay of the races were on so I took a little time to watch the first race on the big screen.

On my way back to the Caltrain station I passed by the new home of the Exploratorium. One of the exhibits outside is a people watching area. Apparently they encouraged people to watch how others act.

There is even a sign that alerts passerbys to the practice.

It would be an interesting experiment to sit next to someone (the exhibit calls them stranger) and see how they behave. Does this zone inhibit a different social interaction than what would happen a hundred feet away at another bench?

As I neared the Bay Bridge I saw the moon dance with the bridge.

I found a neat reflection from a puddle of water near Pier 16.

A group of unicylcists passed by.

One even made a great shadow that I managed to capture.

And one final shot, of a crane dropping the ball, or rather, the moon.