Ferry to see Barry
Published: May, 2005
Giants fans love the ride and the walk along the Embarcadero
If you didn’t take the ferry from Larkspur to SBC Park on the Giants’ opening day, April 5, you missed out big time. It was an exquisite mornings—65 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, gentle breeze, smooth sparkling water. While the mood on opening day is usually rowdy, on this particular morning, it was blissful. Gazing out across the water, sipping cold drinks, and chatting with friends, many fans’ expressions read, “This is it—it doesn’t get any better.”
To serve the Giants’ 84 home games this season, Golden Gate Transit just added the Larkspur Express Ferry to McCovey Cove/SBC Park, a scenic one-hour trip. Arriving right at the SBC Park gate, the ferry gets folks to the game a little more than an hour before it starts, providing time to buy polish sausage and beer and settle in before the first pitch. It leaves the park 30 minutes after the last out. Tickets are $7 each way.
While fans have an array of reasons for taking the Larkspur Ferry to games, they usually cite the convenience factor. As Rich Martin, a photographer from the Sonoma, puts it, “You don’t have to hassle with city traffic and parking. It’s the only way to go, really.”
For many, a long drive to Larkspur is well worth it. Randy Sellier, a financial planner who drives all the way from Hercules says, “The boat’s relaxing, you can have a drink, you meet nice people, and we all have something in common because we all love baseball.”
“The ferry is an important transition time from work to the game, a de-stressing time, that gets me in the mood for the game,” says Mark Mendelsohn, a construction engineer from San Rafael. “It’s such a civilized way to get to the ball park.”
“Take a look—what could be better for the soul?” exclaims Mark’s friend Marci McMillan with a sweep of her arm. “And she knows what she’s talking about,” says Mark. “She’s a relaxation professional—a massage therapist.”
Making the Connection or Just Enjoying the Walk
Anyone who’s in a hurry and who takes the regular ferry service provided by all three operators directly to the Ferry Building (see sidebar) can transfer free to the Muni Metro N line at the Embarcadero station and ride all the way to SBC Park. Any line to Mission Bay or Caltrain will go to the park. And two supplementary Muni Metros marked “SBC Park” depart the Embarcadero station every ten minutes beginning two hours before game time.
But an even better idea is to walk south from the Ferry Building to SBC Park—along the Embarcadero, beside the Bay. It’s one of the most engaging 20- or 30-minute walks in the entire city. It’s also a great place to ride a bike and all of the ferries allow bikes on board. Plus SBC Park, with help from the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, provides free bike parking enclosed beneath the stadium along the water’s edge. Whether you ride or walk, there are so many things to see and places to stop, you’ll want to budget at least an hour.
First, you might want to stop by the Ferry Building’s Golden Gate Meat Company for a hotdog oozing flavor and wrapped in a fresh baked roll. Mastrelli’s Deli, also in the Ferry Building, is another option; it features sandwiches made from top-quality meats such as Molinari salami, pepperoni and prosciutto, and both domestic and imported Italian cheeses.
Pleasant Distractions
Along the Route
If it’s Saturday morning or afternoon, the Farmers’ Market surrounding the Ferry Building will be a beehive of activity. Don’t miss one of San Francisco’s smaller landmarks which sits somewhere in the middle of the market—a life-sized, bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi that was presented to the City by the Gandhi Memorial International Foundation in 1988.
Out on the Embarcadero, a key sight is the Promenade Ribbon, a continuous line of glass block surrounded by a concrete walkway that stretches for 2-1/2 miles along the waterfront. It’s illuminated at night. Where the walkway widens into plazas, the ribbon rises over the tops of concrete benches, places to sit and look out at the Bay. Bronze plaques inlaid into the walkway, along with illustrated pylons and monument signs, describe points of interest from the City’s past—the locations of shipwrecks, sea creature sightings, and historic tide levels.
Looming up ahead as you stroll south is “Cupid’s Span,” a 60-foot, stainless steel, plastic and foam
statue of a bow and arrow created by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. The next stop is the ultimate sports bar and a great place for a beer or lunch: the High Dive. Just beyond it is Red’s Java House, which has been serving up dilapidated charm and delicious, greasy cheeseburgers for as long as anyone can remember. If you’d like to speed up the trip at this point, you can stop in and rent a bike at the Bike Hut, plus pick up information about great bike rides around the City. Another spot for a meal is the Java House where a large patio overlooks the harbor and the ballpark. Next, the grassy South Beach Park is a nice place to rest. It has a children’s play area and a sculpture to contemplate: “Sea Change,” a 60-foot red, steel sculpture by the internationally renowned artist from Petaluma, Mark Di Suvero.
Now you’re at SBC Park, but if you have time to kill, you can continue on to the portwalk behind right field, then cross over the Third Street Bridge to the China Basin Park seawall. It displays plaques listing team rosters back to 1958. At the end of the wall, the Willie McCovey Statue is a bronze snapshot taken seconds after he’s hit one of his 521 homeruns and he’s admiring his own fine work.
After the game, as you board the ferry for home, remember that you’re beating some horrendous traffic, which is almost as good as seeing the Giants beat the Dodgers. Don’t forget to look back and admire the ferry terminal and McCovey Cove, both symbols of the Giants and the ballpark. Think about how lucky you are to be a Giants fan, the only kind of fan in the entire country who can take the ferry to and from the ballpark. Cyndy Rhyner, a software engineer from Mill Valley who rode the ferry to the ballpark for the first time on April 5, said, “I’m a season ticket holder, and I’m thinking I’ll ride the ferry to every game. In fact, this is so nice, I’m going to start commuting by ferry. Why didn’t I think of that before?”
