This summer my husband and I found ourselves on the west coast with a day to spend in San Francisco. We’d spent a couple of days there on our honeymoon, but this time, almost 12 years later, we arrived with our four children, ages 9 to 16 months and were meeting up with a dear friend who had never visited the city before. With four little attention spans and busy bodies, we wanted something fun to do, but we also didn’t want our friend to miss a good look at this beautiful city. The perfect solution for us was to Ride the Ducks!
“Ride the Ducks” tours are also available in Branson, Philadelphia, Newport, KY and Stone Mountain Park, GA, but the one in San Francisco “launches,” very conveniently, right across from the iconic Fisherman’s Wharf sign.
We all loaded up through the back of the tour vehicle, a WWII style duck boat with the latest in marine design and safety and settled into the comfy seats, many with duck calls hanging around their necks :). After a few words of safety from our Captain, we were on our way.
“Captain Fantastic,” a San Franciscan and former Coast Guard Captain, with an obvious love for and great knowledge of the city and her charms, was our guide and right from the start he made things lots of fun! We traveled through the streets laughing, quacking and singing along to oldies songs that punctuated one of his jokes or fun bits of trivia. We learned about history, geography, Hollywood lore, architecture, shopping, cuisine and more.
We cruised past lovely old chapels and the Coit Tower, through Chinatown, past Lombard St. and AT&T Ballpark. Then Captain Fantastic steered our little duck boat down a boat ramp and into the Bay!
The cruise was the kids’ favorite part. It’s pretty cool to drive right into the water and become a boat and it was my favorite part too because the views of the city, the hills and the Bay Bridge were outstanding.
It was so relaxing and lovely out on the water. Then, Captain Fantastic invited everyone to take a turn steering the boat!
Young and old alike took turns guiding us through the bay under the Captain’s watchful eye, everyone having a great time. Eventually, we headed back out of the water and through the city streets back to Fisherman’s Wharf.
Captain Fantastic gave recommendations on the best restaurants, from Chinese food in Chinatown, to seafood and more and reminded us of the great deals and discounts that came along with our “Ride the Ducks” tour ticket. The kids were never bored or restless and our friend, who’d always wanted to try a duck tour, was not disappointed and really got to make the most of her day in San Francisco!
Thanks to Clever Housewife and Ride the Ducks for making this day possible, we had a great time and hope to “Ride the Ducks” again in another great locale!
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