(Editor’s Note: The flashiest Ride the Ducks vehicle will be in the “SF Bay Times” contingent this year. Be on the lookout for this colorful boat on wheels!)
Have you seen the quacky Ride the Ducks vehicle cruising in McCovey Cove during a Giants game? Or how about driving past Lombard Street and Ghirardelli Square? It’s become a part of the San Francisco landscape that you see, but maybe don’t realize, and it’s also a supporter and participant of the San Francisco Pride Parade and LGBT community.
Ride the Ducks is the most fun, unique, and educational land and sea adventure in San Francisco, where kids of all ages can enjoy a hilarious and cheeky (not cheesy), tour through the streets and Bay. For locals and tourists alike, your captain will tell stories of past and present San Francisco history, the bay, its famous personalities, attractions, and role in film, song and sports.
Despite its quacky theme, it’s quite common that Ride the Ducks is unexpectedly entertaining, even for the pessimistic, and you wonder why the discovery is so surprising until you meet the talent behind the brand—the staff and Captains. Like a casting call, employees of Ride the Ducks are handpicked and carefully selected for their positive energy, youthful enthusiasm and, most importantly, willingness to share the beauty of their beloved San Francisco. If you’re lucky, you’ll run into superstars like Jonathan Dubois, Ticketing and Promotions Manager, and Captain Duck Rodgers (Roger Crawford), whose passion for the Duck experience are consistent, not to mention contagious.
Jonathan Dubois, a native of Florida, shares a smile and encourages a hearty blow on a quacker from behind the kiosk during the busiest weekend times as tourists board the Duck vehicle. Despite his hefty responsibility behind the scenes, Jonathan remains a happy Duck enthusiast whose talent in partnerships, including with the LGBT community, has grown this local brand to be a citywide star tour.
Captain Duck Rodgers, an Oakland native now in San Francisco 18 years with his husband of five years, has a goal for every tour—to spread love through all of San Francisco with a simple smile. A cancer survivor, former real estate agent, and now passionate Captain of quacky Duck fun, Rodgers has been a star and highlight of the Ride the Ducks San Francisco experience for 6+ years.
On his tour, birthdays and anniversaries are celebrated with joy, music beats loudly through the open walls of the Duck vehicle, and not a single rider leaves without a huge smile. And his passion for kindness doesn’t end there. Rodgers lives to give back and has in his tenure at Ride the Ducks spearheaded the Care for Homeless Drive on Christmas Day, sponsored by Ride the Ducks for the past five years. During this time, clothing, 10,000 pairs of brand new socks, shoes, and food are donated to the homeless of San Francisco so they too can have a warm and happy Christmas. It is the theme of kindness and giving back for which Ride the Ducks stands and its staff are all a part.
Join us at the SF Pride Parade on Sunday, June 30. To book your next Ride the Ducks tour any day of the week, please visit sanfrancisco.ridetheducks.com
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