Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. Have my photo taken in front of the Palace of the Legion of Honor. Explore the Presidio. And get to the new-and-improved DeYoung Museum.
I was just in The City (San Francisco to those of you who didn't grow up in the Bay Area). I used to love buying peppermint-striped carnations from the outdoor vendors and love beads from the hippies back in the day. Eating abalone at Grotto Number Nine at Fisherman's Wharf after seeing the Ice Capades was awesome when I was a kid.
I retrieved my basic SF skills which include a bunch of very aggressive behaviors like driving with my window rolled down, one hand on the horn, one hand ready to gesture the window and one hand (presumably) on the steering wheel. Oh, and the other hand on the stick ready to shift into first while on a completely vertical hill. Tricky unless you're a cephalapod or an alien.
Even though we survived the drive and eventually shelled out for the parking garage beneath Union Square--which we decided was worth the price rather than continue to drive past two-hour parking meters with no loose change and waste our limited time--I am not a shopper. I belong in neither Barney's nor Bloomindale's--not after my holiday filled with treats and their stores filled with gigantic ten-foot-high mirrors. I'll go back when I lose forty pounds and win the lottery. Or when I have any interest in clothes that don't have to survive kindergarteners armed with Sharpie markers, glue sticks and watercolors.
Thankfully the Disney Store (crayons for our little grand-daughter) was more my speed. Bloomingdale's was an educational color lesson: "That dress is blue. Can you say 'blue'?" The Ferrari store taught Rosie Rosebud to "find the horsie". And I think the salespeople in Tiffany's were impressed at our exercise of "don't touch" skills around their display cabinets.
Even though my sweetie and I agreed that San Fran, driving and shopping is a fairly toxic mix, even if certain other family members reveled in it, I did end up with a to-do list of activities that we might enjoy with the use of rapid transit and lots of green space to soothe us.
Anyone planning a winter/spring trip needs to know that Coit Tower is currently closed. Lombard Street is still crooked but the hydrangeas aren't blooming and they're the best part of the drive down. The new span of the Bay Bridge is open although it looks like they might not have attached all the cables yet. The old bridge is being dismantled, bit by bit, but any of us who remember the Loma Prieta quake might get the creeps seeing parts of the upper deck missing (again).
Which reminds me that I think they've maybe created some attraction on Treasure Island mid-Bay that I might have to add to my list of places to explore.
But you're never getting me to Pier 39, Union Square or those New York stores that migrated west again. Ever ever.
Except Tiffany's. Anyplace that decorates with aqua is okay with me.
Namaste,
I was just in The City (San Francisco to those of you who didn't grow up in the Bay Area). I used to love buying peppermint-striped carnations from the outdoor vendors and love beads from the hippies back in the day. Eating abalone at Grotto Number Nine at Fisherman's Wharf after seeing the Ice Capades was awesome when I was a kid.
I retrieved my basic SF skills which include a bunch of very aggressive behaviors like driving with my window rolled down, one hand on the horn, one hand ready to gesture the window and one hand (presumably) on the steering wheel. Oh, and the other hand on the stick ready to shift into first while on a completely vertical hill. Tricky unless you're a cephalapod or an alien.
Even though we survived the drive and eventually shelled out for the parking garage beneath Union Square--which we decided was worth the price rather than continue to drive past two-hour parking meters with no loose change and waste our limited time--I am not a shopper. I belong in neither Barney's nor Bloomindale's--not after my holiday filled with treats and their stores filled with gigantic ten-foot-high mirrors. I'll go back when I lose forty pounds and win the lottery. Or when I have any interest in clothes that don't have to survive kindergarteners armed with Sharpie markers, glue sticks and watercolors.
Thankfully the Disney Store (crayons for our little grand-daughter) was more my speed. Bloomingdale's was an educational color lesson: "That dress is blue. Can you say 'blue'?" The Ferrari store taught Rosie Rosebud to "find the horsie". And I think the salespeople in Tiffany's were impressed at our exercise of "don't touch" skills around their display cabinets.
Even though my sweetie and I agreed that San Fran, driving and shopping is a fairly toxic mix, even if certain other family members reveled in it, I did end up with a to-do list of activities that we might enjoy with the use of rapid transit and lots of green space to soothe us.
Anyone planning a winter/spring trip needs to know that Coit Tower is currently closed. Lombard Street is still crooked but the hydrangeas aren't blooming and they're the best part of the drive down. The new span of the Bay Bridge is open although it looks like they might not have attached all the cables yet. The old bridge is being dismantled, bit by bit, but any of us who remember the Loma Prieta quake might get the creeps seeing parts of the upper deck missing (again).
Which reminds me that I think they've maybe created some attraction on Treasure Island mid-Bay that I might have to add to my list of places to explore.
But you're never getting me to Pier 39, Union Square or those New York stores that migrated west again. Ever ever.
Except Tiffany's. Anyplace that decorates with aqua is okay with me.
Namaste,
Oh I haven't been there is such a looong time! I remember how beautiful it was and how much fun we had back in the day before kids and responsibilities. I may even have worn a flower in my hair!! Sounds like you made some great memories...until next time..;j
ReplyDelete