San Francisco offered visitors a clear and extra-warm day as Fleet Week continued in the city on Saturday. Crowds packed into San Francisco to catch a glimpse of the Blue Angels and to take part in the festivities.
It was a chance for pilots and for the city of San Francisco to show off to visitors.
The Fleet Week Air Show took to the skies for a second day Saturday. The Patriots Jet Team carried out a "Missing Woman" formation in honor of the late Senator and San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein.
"It was really special, beautiful, and you could really feel the love there for this woman, the senator who founded Fleet Week and has given so much of her life to service," said Mary Breen, the Marketing Director for the Air Show Network which produces the San Francisco Fleet Week Air Show.
Many people in San Francisco were particularly eager to catch a glimpse of the Blue Angels flying over the Bay.
"It was beautiful, they scared the heck out of me but it was nice," laughed Helen Guzman who was visiting from San Jose. Guzman said she plans to be at home watching the San Francisco 49ers play the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, so Saturday was the best day for her to watch the Air Show.
Many visitors along San Francisco's Embarcadero were decked out in 49ers or Cowboys gear ahead of the big game.
Lamont Smith of Oklahoma City was in town because he has tickets to the game on Sunday. He said he had no idea Fleet Week would happen during his trip, but the Air Show has been a pleasant surprise.
"We were on the Alcatraz cruise and it seemed like [the Blue Angels] were maybe ten feet above us, it was amazing to see the precision and the teamwork," Smith noted.
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For the first time since before the pandemic, Blue Angels pilots got to meet with the public on Saturday evening. They rode into San Francisco's Pier 39 on a double-decker bus and were met with applause as they headed to meet long lines of fans eager to get signed autographs.
For one of the Blue Angels pilots, Lieutenant Commander Scott Goosens, participating in this year's Air Show was a special homecoming. Goosens was raised in San Francisco and attended St. Ignatius College Preparatory School in the city.
"It feels amazing, it's great to be back in San Francisco," Goosens said while signing autographs for fans.
"[There's] no better feeling than flying over the bay," he continued.
"[It's] one of the best weekends I can remember and I've been watching this show for basically my whole life, definitely a dream-come-true, pinch myself kind of moment," Goosens said.
Visitors from around the country and around the world were thrilled to take selfies and chat with the pilots.
"They were friendly and asked 'What was your favorite part' and I said ‘the finale,'" recalled Valentino Juarez had the Blue Angels pilots sign a program for him. Juarez is visiting San Francisco from Argentina.
Among the thousands of people eating and shopping along the San Francisco waterfront were the service members in San Francisco for Fleet Week.
For some, like ITSA Victor Rodriguez with the U.S. Navy, it was their first time ever in San Francisco.
"I’ve never been to a Fleet Week, I really like the area, it's really nice out here," said Rodriguez who is originally from Murrieta, California.
Rodriguez is stationed aboard the U.S.S. John P. Murtha, one of two naval ships in San Francisco for this year's Fleet Week.
He said he feels very welcomed by the people he's met so far in the Bay Area.
"Everyone [is] being so welcoming, it's really nice, everyone saying 'thank you for your service' and everyone paying for you," he noted.
Fleet Week events will continue on Sunday in San Francisco, including one final day of the Air Show. Sunday's Air Show is scheduled to begin at around noon and the Blue Angels are expected to take to the skies around 3:00 p.m.
