San Francisco Fleet Week 2009 – Events and Hotels

Now that’s more like it. Last Friday we took a look at San Diego’s two-month long Fleet Week extravaganza, and I admit it left me a little fatigued. Really, San Diego? Two months? Fleet Week?

Well, now we’re heading 500 miles up the coast to a place where they can count: San Francisco.

San Francisco Fleet Week 2009 will take place the second week in October, starting Thursday, October 8^th, and entertaining guests through the following Tuesday, the 13^th. They’re still rolling out the final schedule (you can sign up to have it emailed to you), but there’s plenty of classic Fleet Week fun that you can expect.

Headlining the event as always is the dazzling Fleet Week Air Show starring the Blue Angels. The first two hours is all opening act, as celebrated flight teams including Team Oracle and the Patriots as well as individual stunt maniacs like Tim Weber and Michael Wiskus treat gravity like their plaything. The audience thoroughly warmed up, the Navy’s Blue Angels finally take to the sky around 2:30 for precision acrobatics that only the best of the best can deliver.

No matter where they host it, you can bet that Navy Ship Tours are on the Fleet Week register, and Fleet Week San Francisco is no different. So far, a roster of four incredible ships is scheduled to dock, including the HMCS Edmonton, the CGC Bertholf, the USS New Orleans and my first stop for sure, the D-Day veteran, the SS Jeremiah O’Brien. Tours of each amazing ship are offered free on the last three days of the event (10/11-10/13).

Because Fleet Week tends to absorb the local flavor faster than a gelatinous cube (D&D humor), organizers are throwing the Italian Heritage Day Parade into the mix. The long-running annual parade winds through Fisherman’s wharf and takes place at exactly the same time as Sunday’s air show, so if you want to do both, be sure to catch the air show on Saturday.

San Francisco Fleet Week 2009 will be hosted on the San Francisco waterfront October 8-13. The event is technically free; you don’t have to pay for a thing if you don’t want to, but select and premium air show seating is available for an advanced charge. And remember, there are still plenty of entertainment announcements to come. There will be plenty more to do. Learn about tickets and more here.

Searching hotels for San Francisco Fleet Week? Stay in comfort and close to the action in Fisherman’s Wharf. Once again, we recommend our favorites: 

• Holiday Inn Fisherman’s Wharf Hotel
• Holiday Inn Express Fisherman’s Wharf Hotel

Whether Express or traditional, you stand to enjoy a great, affordable stay. Have fun at Fleet Week San Francisco 2009!

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2. New York City Fleet Week 2009
3. Fleet Week 2010 in New York City
4. Celebrate our Military – Fleet Week 2010 at Port Everglades, Florida
5. Fleet Week 2011 in New York City
6. 2009 L.A. County Fair – Fairplex Hotels and Events
7. 2010 World Series Hotels: San Francisco, California