Complimentary Culture with Opera & Symphony at the Park

Three day weekends are the best, especially if you pack the first day full of activities because then you’ll wake up the second day feeling like you already accomplished a lot yet you still have a whole regular weekend. When I think of Independence day, I think of hanging out with loved ones, being outdoors for a picnic or BBQ, and of course fireworks.

Figaro & Company supporting the Giants at Opera at the Ballpark

Friday

We originally wanted to go camping for the weekend, but being super last minute on July 4th makes it nearly impossible to secure a reservation. Instead we decided to just wing it and come up with plans as our weekend progressed. First up on our beautiful Friday off, brunch at Causwells in the Marina. Their deviled eggs are delicious and served classically, with avocado, and lastly with trout. All three were amazing and made me want more, except I knew we had a double patty bacon burger stuffed with crispy onion rings coming up. Little did I know that this burger would only be 1 of 3 as I would be having a burger every single day of this weekend.

At night we headed over to AT&T Park for Opera at the Ballpark where they live simulcasted The Marriage of Figaro from the War Memorial Opera House. This will actually count as one of my fondest weekend adventures, truly a night to remember and I highly recommend checking it out next year. Not only did we manage to get seating front and center to the big screen (thanks to my friend Lawrence!) but we watched a classic almost 4 hour beautiful comedic opera while wearing sweat pants and lying curled on a picnic blanket eating hot dogs and pizza, wait for it...for free! I couldn’t have asked for a better night. We managed to soak up all the culture and embrace the theatre without having to shell out big bucks and be subjected to strictly black tie formal.

That night there were 3,000 attendants at the Opera house, and 30,000 at the ballpark. It’s definitely a great turnout, but that means serious lines to get into the ballpark. Prior to the event, you can sign up for advanced registration which will allow you to enter the ballpark around 6pm, otherwise general admission starts at 6:30pm. The lines wrapped around the ballpark from the Marina Gate all the way down the street to the 2nd and King St. Gate. There’s limited area to sit on the field so once capacity on the field is reached, everyone else will have to settle for the ballpark seats.

The line wrapped from the Marina Gate...

I love the "7th inning stretch" intermission

Saturday

After a fun and eventful Friday, we slept in on Saturday and enjoyed a very relaxing bum-at-home day. Bum-at-home certainly described the way we dressed, although we didn't alter too much from Friday because we were still in comfy sweats. We ordered in Chinese food, played video games, and watched movies. We’re finally getting around to playing South Park Stick of Truth, it’s a hilarious game and I’m laughing every second of it. We did eventually leave the house at the end of the day when we were invited to the Marina again to a friend’s place for BBQ and fireworks watching on the roof.

It was a pretty chilly and foggy day so we didn’t have great visibility for the fireworks show, but it was fun seeing hues of colors through the light gray fog.

Sunday

Freshly energized from our bum day, we headed to the Stern Grove Festival for another day of complimentary culture. This year is the 78th season of the donation-run festival and they have free admission concerts running ever Sunday from June 14 - August 16. Every Sunday is a different performance, and the Sunday we attended happened to be the SF Symphony performance.

The performance started at 2, but we headed over at 10am in order to procure front seating on the lawn. That way we could recreate our picnic blanket experience like at Opera at the Ballpark. It’s also an activity in itself to have a little picnic, sunbathe, and play board games with friends while we wait for the concert.

The only not-even-that-negative downside to the day was that we packed exactly like we did for Opera in the ballpark, meaning we had heavy jackets, scarves, and thick blankets. When we first checked the weather and left the house, it was a typical SF day at an overcast 60°F. However, when we started setting up on the lawn, the sky was bright and sunny and not even a wisp of wind. It felt more like a dry, warm 77°F and we were all burning up. None of us brought sunblock either so I now have some nicely burned shoulders and my nose is peeling.

The SF Symphony performed songs that formed a connection with the forestry environment we were surrounded in. We listened to songs from Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel as well as Korngold’s The Adventures of Robin Hood which included slow soothing love ballads as well as upbeat victory marches. Towards the end, vocalists paired up with the orchestra to sing some haunting and chilling tunes about witches in the forest, cold corpses near cabins, and sad swan songs.

Overall another gorgeous day to spend outside in the sun, squeezed some quality hang time with friends, and went home feeling a bit more cultured and refined. At home was, you guessed it, another BBQ waiting to be eaten and enjoyed! Hope you all had a great holiday weekend!