Busy weekend in SF wraps up

SAN FRANCISCO

Jets soaring overhead are usually the only thing audiences have to pay attention to on Fleet Week, but on day two of this big bay weekend - those jets had plenty of competition.

"We come here every year to see the Blue Angels and it just turned out that the America's Cup was here too and we saw it on TV, so we just thought we'd make a day of it," said Joel Garcia of San Francisco.

From Marina Green - fans of America's Cup sailing got a pre-race airshow. Then the teams set sail - for this latest stage of the competition.

"When it's on TV we watch it, but since it was here we figured, how often is it here? So we came," said Jake Flemming of Santa Monica.

Sailing and aerial acrobatics would be plenty for a fun weekend - but keep in mind - this is a big bay weekend. Cheer SF added some of their own flying for the Annual Castro Street Fair and even on such a busy weekend, people drove in to be here.

"We thought it was going to be so bad, everyone said the traffic was going to be so horrible, 'cause of 10 million things happening. And literally, we got here quicker than we normally do," said Georgine Balassone of Santa Cruz.

But with so much going on - public transportation became one of the most sensible ways of navigating the city. And that includes music fans who made their way to Golden Gate Park. Music lovers picked their spots and took in the tunes at Hardly Strictly Blue Grass.

For those who chose to spend the full weekend - lodging was at a premium.

"I did have to look a lot to find a deal, and I still paid through the you know what," said Robert Boyce of Vallejo.

And as if there wasn't enough going on - the Italian American parade added one more attraction.

One way to help gauge how many people are here is through public transportation agencies. Based on numbers from yesterday - Muni says they had about 100,000 more fares than a typical Saturday - that's a 50 percent jump. BART says they had about 120,000 more fares - a jump of about a third.

There was also sporting events going on today. The 49ers game against the Buffalo Bills at Candlestick just wrapped up with the Niners coming away with another win. The Giants take on the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Division Series. While A's fans are standing behind their team despite a play-off loss today in Detroit. Today, Spithill's Oracle team rebounded from last place at the first turning mark of the Super Sunday fleet race finale to win the America's Cup World Series San Francisco championship.

The Embarcadero is an area you want to avoid because of all the Fleet Week events. One of two lanes of traffic beginning at Washington Street northbound is closed to cars to allow access to bicycles, pedicabs, and emergency vehicles. If you don't already have it, now might be a good time to download the Waze traffic app -- exclusive to ABC7 News. It's available on iTunes and Google play and you can use it to guide you around the congestion this weekend.

And no matter which event you go to, we want to see how you're spending the week. Email your photos and video to uReport@kgo-tv.com or upload to abc7news.com/uReport

Click here for a list of this weekend's events and traffic information to help you get around.

Copyright © 2024 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.