WHAT WERE YOU DOING... at the very start of the 1990s? Perhaps you were learning how to write a "9" in place of an "8" when penning the date (not an easy task, especially after a decade of placing an "8" in the date's third position). Perhaps you were rocking out to Michael Bolton's "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You?" or catching "Tremors" at the cinema. And, just maybe, if you were in the vicinity of Pier 39, you were marveling at a very special arrival: sea lions. True, the shop-lined attraction, which opened in the fall of 1978, already had seen its share of bustle and attendance, but the attendees that showed up at the pier's K-Dock, just off the water, in January of 1990, were something quite special, indeed. Why then? The pier names the October 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake as a deciding factor for the sea lions moving to the pier. And the whiskery charmers have been around, mostly, ever since, meaning it is time to celebrate some of San Francisco's, and, truly, California's, best-known sea lions. It's the...
27TH ANNIVERSARY... of the pinnipeds' first hello at Pier 39, and a full weekend of festive doings will give a big ol' bark for the occasion. You'll be able to hop on a Sea Lion Encounter Walking Tour (price: nada), and enjoy "a celebratory treat and special discounts at select Pier 39 businesses." There are a quartet of tour times daily during the anniversary weekend, starting at noon, so decide which one to join. The dates? It's the barkingest bash around from Friday, Jan. 20 through Sunday, Jan. 22. As for Pier 39, the place the sea lions call home (or adjacent to their dock-nice home)? It is 39 years old in 2017, and special happenings will take place each Friday through October.
