Tourist For A Day

What do you do when being a tourist at Pier 39? For most people, the answer would be obvious. A day at the wharf involves gazing at thousands of sea lions with your nose covered, downing as much chowder as your stomach can take, and feeding quarters into the mechanical arcade games. For my mom and me...the answer just wasn’t that simple.

Did my mom and I do all those things? Of course! I mean I completely dominated her on the Mrs. Pac Man machine (raising to a lot of awkward questions of exactly how many hours I spent practicing the game instead of doing work at college, but that’s a different story ;P)! And I mean the sheer numbers of sea lions makes them a photo op, especially for my picture-taking-addict mom,that couldn’t be passed up. But after checking off most of the touristy musts, my mom and I suddenly veered off the beaten path.

Walking through all the cute shops, my mom suddenly became very agitated. We realized that in all our SF-themed fun, we had somehow managed to lose track of the time! I mean it was nearly 4 o’clock and we hadn’t found a place to watch the Yankees-Sox game!! Now two of my moms most prized possessions are her Mantle jersey and her season tickets to the Yankees (clearly I take after her in the sports obsession department, lol). So you can imagine that she was not happy to be missing the chance to watch the Yankees keep the Sox from clinching a playoff spot. Luckily, “Players Sports Bar” saved the day!

If you are looking for a way to watch sports at Pier 39, definitely stop by Players. It’s a worse version of Dave and Busters, but it still does its job. My recommendation is to sit by the bar; the service is sketchy at best so the only way to make sure you get your drinks at a decent time is to make the trip from the bar to your table as short as possible. The nachos have the same problem that many cheap nachos have in that the cheese is so unappealing to the eye as to make you seriously ill, so just say no. The soup and chili though...that’s a different story. I don’t think I’ve had better French Onion Soup anywhere, and my mom was practically licking her chili bowl! ;)

Good food and a Yankees win was a perfect end to a great day. It did get a little dicey when I thought my mom was going to cheer out loud at Lester writhing in pain after being nailed by a Melky line drive, but hey, it’s not like we are in Boston right?

The best thing about Players was the relaxed and kid-friendly environment. Next time your wife is complaining that you always ditch the kids in favor of your weekly Sunday trip to bar, make the game a family affair. You can watch your team, while your kids play at the arcade! And don’t forget...the Sea Lions are right around the corner!