“I think this is the nerdiest thing I have ever done”. - Norah during the Pi Parade

Pi Day at the Exploratorium - how could we resist? Especially since my friend works at the Exploratorium and it was like having our own personal tour guide for the day (and it was the day - we were there from open to close). But first things first, we walked to the Ferry Building for empanadas for breakfast. Delicious! Then we headed to the Exploratorium and checked out the outdoor exhibits before they opened. Pro tip: the fog bridge goes off at 10 am, noon, 2 pm, and 4 pm - but most people are entering the Exporatorium at 10 am and don’t do the fog bridge, so it’s cool to hit that up first to avoid the crowds later. Although we were very fortunate, there weren’t crowds that day at all. I think it was a combination of being a Monday (they have been closed on Mondays, but opened for Pi Day) and the buses full of field trips had not returned yet. Whatever it was, we were grateful for a crowd-free experience.

The Pi Day festivities were slated for the afternoon and we spent the morning exploring (ha) all the cool exhibits. There were so many fascinating, delightful exhibits. We had a laugh that all it took to entertain us was water. We spent a long time watching Icy Bodies: “Small chunks of dry ice jet and swirl across a liquid surface. Like comets, these chunks of dry ice slowly disintegrate as they move, leaving a visible trail of condensed water vapor”. Later we were mesmerized by literally watching water freeze. If you were to walk by it looked like we were looking at a blank surface, but viewing the ice through the polarizers revealed a kaleidoscopic and beautiful array of colors and patterns.

We lined up for the Pi Parade after lunch and received our digits (our group was “8979”). We marched around the Exploratorium and outside to the pi anthem - my favorite part was walking by the Swiss Consulate where they all rushed out to take pictures. And they let the fog run long so we could all feel like rockstars walking through the fog on the bridge. We ended up in the courtyard where they had a table full of - what else - pie. It was a fun afternoon.

I originally thought we would maybe have some extra time between the Exploratorium and our twilight cruise, but I should have known we would spend all day at the Exploratorium. City Lights Booksellers and Coit Tower would have to wait for another time. We planned to eat in North Beach after our cruise, so we picked up some snacks on our walk to the pier where we would board our Red and White Fleet Cruise. I believe this cruise is also the “sunset cruise”, but based on our day’s departure and sunset times, it was a “twilight cruise” for us. The cruise was 1.5 hours long and we cruised under the Golden Gate Bridge, by Alcatraz, and under the Bay Bridge to return to the pier. It was cold and windy and I’m glad we had brought our extra coats because we spent most of the time on the top deck to take in the beautiful views. It was a lovely evening.

We grabbed an Uber to North Beach and attempted to eat at Tony’s Pizza only to find out they closed an hour earlier than I thought (turns out the Google listing is not correct and I had not called or checked their official page). No worries though, we walked across the street to have a delicious meal at Original Joe’s (and we would eat at Tony’s a few nights later). We caught a bus back to our hotel and practically just fell into bed after a full day - it was another good one!