San Francisco: The Peace Surplus

Slow meandering walks through Muir Woods does wonders for the senses and the soul as it seems to recalibrate one's perspective of self and nature. It was a gently humbling and soothing place for me. No problem staying in the moment at this place.

http://www.visitmuirwoods.com/location.htm

San Franciso, ok, but the Pacific Northwest and Seattle makes SF look very dull, to me. I know I am in the minority, but I can never get excited about SF and I have spent a lot of time there.

And the islands. Gorgeous walks and views just 15 mins away.

YE: Just in passing, we are not all immigrants and opportunists in California. Besides, what is wrong with immigrants? And most of the country is bankrupt. We just admit it.

Where, pray tell to do live. What wonderful part of the country do you hail from??? : )

As for Chihuly...I used to hang out in his foundry in the 70's. I loved his connection to the sea. He has lost his original vision and has become in my opinion, a hack...evidence?? Bellagio Hotel. ARGH!! It is a huge amalagam of prefab glass. But that's just me.

It is not failed eyesight. He lost an eye in an accident.

Actually most of the COutnry is Bankrupted ~ Any state that does not have a balanced state  budget is actually bankrupt. You cannot continue to Rob Peter to Pay Paul, One day Peter is going to run out of money also.  To keep borrowing to stay almost afloat is not a way to do business & most of the States are doing just that.

 "Don't think I've seen a more noble summation of any life than the epitaph 'Oscar -- One Hell of a Weiner Dog.'"

This reminded me of Evelyn Waugh's The Loved One, also set in California. If you like dark, ascerbic humor, it's a good read, if you haven't already.

Maybe on the plain or train to your next destination. 

The only thing I really remember about San Francisco is Fisherman's Warf. I was there when I was 12. It was the eighties, when San Francisco was in the news all the time as the AIDS capitol of the world. My father bought me a seven-dollar grilled cheese sandwich because the raw, whole fish freaked me out. I remember the vein on his forehead popping out when they gave him the price. I told him I couldn't eat it. "It tastes like AIDS. I'm going to get AIDS if I eat this." Remember, I was 12 and receiving an education in a very small, very Presbyterian town. That's how we all talked. Even the adults.

Thankfully, my father's bulging vein pushed me past my close-minded fears. Maybe next time I'll go crazy and try the fish. 

So want to see that Epitaph about Oscar & take a picture of it ~ Will put it on my list. Am hopefully going to SF in Sept for this years Film Fest.

Every place, everywhere in the World, has its good and bad points. One of the joys of traveling is to savor the different aspects each location has to offer.

When in San Francisco walk around, ride the cable cars, visit Alcatraz, or drive down Lombard Street. It's always interesting to learn more about the history of a city, meet and be open to its inhabitants, look at the architectural designs, and taste the flavors an area has to offer. Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf and Ghiradelli Square all provide fabulous markets, restaurants, and shops for the sampling.

my parents were there this past fall for a Firends Wedding ~ THey loved it. Which surprised me I never thought my father would have as much as he did. They can't wait to go back there. They seem to have fallen in love with SF & Vancouver.

While touring Alcatraz an author was there signing his books about life on "The Rock" The autor lived there as a child his dad was a guard or something there & this guy's 1st profession was also a being a prison guard & well you guessed it  My dad was one for what was the Largest cell block in our state for 30+ yrs. they got to talking & well now this author know calls my parents when in the area & they meet up for dinner...   

When in San Francisco, one simply MUST eat at The Stinking Rose. Heaven on earth for garlic lovers.

http://www.thestinkingrose.com/ ;

Gorgeous, flying into San Francisco...lights, bridge. Eat sourdough French bread with a meal from the sea. And as Mr. Peterman says, much more....

Muir meandering, motes floating in sunstreaks catch my eye, and I stand transfixed among tall tall tall trees; scarcely a birdcall split the silence; I felt I should tiptoe in the silent unending cathedral of ancient? -- they seem so -- redwoods. Time-out-of-mind moments.... 

The Presidio captivates, too, its commingle of old and new; of resolutely different lives; its elegant architecture. And follow the coast to the magical spot where the fault, mother of earthquakes, roils the ocean.  On the beach, narrow even at low tide, black volcanic rocks, upthrust, call "Look at me!" unlike quiet wide-white beaches I knew.

High cliffs, grass-covered, stop just short of beach and rock, as opposite as how the sun sets here, from the other side of our land, where you drive past kudzu-covered chimneys, relics of burned sharecropper shacks. 

I house-sat one wintry month in a glass (yes) house on the edge of that cliff; daily at precisely five o'clock in the afternoon, deer appeared from I never saw where.  At first I held my breath, watching them eat grass, stopping at cliff's very edge, never once falling over, but they weren't threatened by my glassy presence. I walked inside, following as they moved toward cliff's-edge, an occasional one nosing against my wall. All seemed does, but they may've been simply pre-antler; in this I'm ignorant.  At five-thirty, as if by silent agreement, they disappeared into woods up-mountain, into Sonoma County.

Watching the birth of a storm far out at sea, seeing its approach, slow and steady, was another magic.  I'd often done that on the Eastern coast, but this was different in intensity, in hue-change, and it lay low, close to the ocean, unlike storms I'd seen spawned before.

Certainly worth the trip, and Berkeley offers treasures next door to San Francisco. Including the bookstore whose wooden steps are worn by thousands of feet; some, the "Beat Poets" who read there.

After San Francisco we drive up the coast.  Who's with me for a culinary binge through Sonoma and Half Moon Bay?  I'm still saving up for a road trip to The French Laundry with Sir Boyscout.

http://www.frenchlaundry.com/

I just realised that in all of my trips to SF I have never once ridden a trolley.  Now we have to go back...Larks?

Nachista...why does everyone rapture over San Francisco? I mean it is a lovely city and it has lots of fun things to do, but so does Portland, Seattle and Vancouver. And they are less crowded and nearer to nature.

I guess I don't see it because I spent so much time there as a kid. I had two second cousins who were professors (one at Berkely and one at SF State) We used to go up at least once a month.

I am a real Northwestie. Can't beat all that water, and the islands in Puget Sound (Vashon is the island I spent my summers on) And what glorious mountains and hiking. And beautiful all round.

Speaking of Northwest...here's some books:
Primitive Art  by Franz Boas

Indians of the Northwest Coast  by Gerber

Beyond Tradition by Lois Essary Jacka

Here's some of my favorite web sites. I go and drool over all the great art I can't afford.

http://www.pacificeditions.ca/gallery.php

http://coghlanart.com/   ; Check our Norvel Morreseau. I have a couple of his works. I bought them 30 years ago for next to nothing.

Oh, and loved the comment about Lucy my co-typist. She is actually 14 lbs now, so imagine a cat three times that size fighting me for keyboard space.

Thank you for the links, I am scribbling them down now.  Holly, don't get me wrong, I can find a lot to love about most cities I visit.  San Francisco just seems to offer me something new and exciting every time I go.  I live near nature and its great, but sometimes it is also great to get away from nature and get lost in the marvels of man's modern engineering feats and beautiful architecture.

I've got friends in Portland and Seattle and I also love both of those cities.  My brother is moving to Seattle next month so I plan to be visiting that area a lot more.  In Portland I like the Chinese and Japanese gardens there and I've caught a few shows at the Roseland.  One of the longest road trips of my life had us driving from Utah to SF, from there up the coast, through Redwoods, To Portland, then to Seattle, then to Vancouver, and then back to Utah.  2 weeks of camping in the rain, wet but fun.

We found a hiking path in Olympic National Park that was completely covered in this super spongey moss.  We took our shoes and socks off and walked barefoot until the moss petered out and it was back to rockky trail...it was a very interesting sense experience.

Chista,

I'm in. (fists)

Our mission: to get Nachista on the trolley, while it's moving. . . 

Well if you want a horror movie, then yeah let's try to get me to jump onto a moving object, just have the EMTs ready off camera.

Of course if you win this...

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv-dream-home-2009-giveaway/package/index.html

San Francisco would be a lot closer.

Nachista  ~ Well you know I'm in & don't worry no Larks were harmed in our first trip so maybe that luck will hold out... ( And one really could have been seriously harmed by the combo of caffine & garden equipment)

An item in the San Francisco Chronicle today mentioned a local coffee joint that serves vegan donuts and maple-bacon lattes made with real bacon.

And that, my friends, is a nutshell of what makes this city so lovable.

Ok Nachista...read over your walking tour. I think maybe you may have something there.

I got to thinking about all my trips as a youth...very culture oriented..the DeYoung, and other art museums, the opera, etc. All things I enjoy but I missed the quirkiness of SF.

The next time I go, I will give your walk a try.

I actually will be in SF next Monday, but just the airport. I will be on my way to the best city in North America...NEW YORK!!! Now talk about quirky ; )

Holly I understand what you mean about growing up in a place and it not being as shiney and wonderful as outsiders think it is.  The important thing is to EXPLORE.  Go everywhere, try everything.  Do the highbrow stuff and then go do the cheesey touristy stuff, but just DO it.

Opera?  Nah, I like to go to the Ballet in San Francisco. 

SF airport, I remember getting in on a late flight (about 2am) and my friend getting us lost in some random, scarey neighborhood and when we stopped to ask directions the guy asked us if we wanted a hooker.  Almost as good as the time we got lost in the garment district in L.A. at 1am.

Oh and Holly, when you do the walking tour...take a friend.  Its O.K. by yourself, but 2 or more companions make it a party.

Georgia,

The City of San Francisco should hire you to write promotions for their visitor's bureau. I wanted to drive, take a train, a plane or even hitch-hike there right away after reading your wonderful descriptions.

You have a wonderful eye to take in visions and a grand voice to communicate them. Very nicely done!

Georgia...I agree, Nachista would make a great travel writer. And she is so funny too. I think she should definately do some writing.

Nah, I'd make a crappy travel writer, I'd get people lost...and not in the fun way, but thanks anyway.

Peter, your praise means a great deal, and I appreciate it -- and you, your words, your photographs.  Lovely to be multi-talented.  Eve