What should we do in San Francisco?

We can't just visit the old haunts like Union Square, Fisherman's Wharf and Chinatown.  Those sites aren't at all what they used to be and we're always disappointed, plus we aren't children anymore and no longer delight in feeding the pigeons.  I should visit some of the museums I haven't seen.

Asian Art Museum

Asian Art Museum
This art museum is located near the Civic Center in the former San Francisco Main Library and takes  around 35 minutes to get there from the Outer Sunset on the Judah (N) Streetcar.  Admission is $10 for seniors.  Hours are 10 to 5 except on Thursday when it is open until 9 and on Monday when it is closed.  San Francisco Travel mentions a couple of apps for iPhone that will guide you through the museum's collections.

San Francisco Public Library

San Francisco Public Library
When we visit the Asian Art Museum we can go across the street to the new Main Library which was built in the same Beaux Arts style as the old one but is twice as large.  It opened in 1996 and I can't remember if I've been in it but I'm assuming it was open when I attended an ALA convention in San Francisco.  And in case we're worried about the next big earthquake while we are there:

"Its innovative seismic design is engineered to provide resistance to earthquakes up to a magnitude of 8.3. The entire structure rests on 142 base isolators, made with rubber layers laminated between stainless steel and stiffened with an internal lead core to dampen vibrations. In the event of a shock, an 18-inch space around the circumference of the building allows the structure to move independently from the ground."

Whitechapel

Whitechapel
 This bar, located a few blocks north of the Civic Center, specializes in GIN and offers loads of cocktails made with the stuff.  Its food menu is limited but they do offer a cheese plate and a charcuterie board.  We could go there for a snack and a taste of London.  Unfortunately it doesn't open until 5 pm!  What a waste of space during the day.

Ocean Beach
Running along the west coast of San Francisco, we can take the Judah streetcar from our AirBnB in the Outer Sunset and in 10 minutes it should drop us off a couple of blocks from the beach, or we could walk it in about 1/2 hour.  Then we could amble up the coast 1.6 miles to the Cliff House and Sutro Baths and then hike up to Land's End to take a photo of the Golden Gate Bridge, unless there is some June Gloom hanging around.  They say fog is common in May, June and July and I remember a lot rolling into Albany on August afternoons.

Golden Gate Park
The AirBnB on 29th Avenue is located about 4 blocks south of Golden Gate Park and we can take the #7 bus that runs on Noriega Street to Lincoln Way and 9th Avenue, right next to the San Francisco Botanical Garden.  We visited it the last time we were there but I'm always up for a garden, plus it's not overly expensive: $8 for adults and free if you belong to the American Horticultural Society or one of the 320 Botanical Gardens in their Reciprocal Admissions Program.  On the other hand, the California Academy of Sciences is overly expensive: $30.95 for seniors and they don't belong to the reciprocal membership program of the Association of Science - Technology Centers.  Neither does the Exploratorium ($24.95 for seniors and closed on Monday).  Too bad San Francisco isn't like Washington DC or London with all their free museums.  Do you remember all the bellowing alligators at Steinhart Aquarium?  Looks like they only have one albino alligator now.

Aquarium of the Bay
Located at Pier 39 near Fisherman's Wharf, the "Bay Ecotarium" costs $21.95 for seniors but is part of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums reciprocal program in case you belong to your local zoo.  (The Pittsburgh Zoo is an outcast and doesn't belong but the National Aviary does and offers a 50% discount.) . Unfortunately the reviews say it is touristy and small and not worth the admission price.  I enjoyed the Monterey Bay Aquarium many years ago for its emphasis on local sea life and was hoping for something similar here.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
I remember visiting SFMOMA when it first opened but haven't been back since.  This summer they have a special exhibition on the Surrealist René Magritte and that might be worth seeing.  The price of general admission plus the René Magritte is $30 for seniors.  If we were under 18 we'd be free...  Or we could invest in the San Francisco CityPass for $89 which includes 1) a 3-Day Cable Car and Muni Bus Passport; 2) California Academy of Sciences; 3) Blue & Gold Fleet Bay Cruise Adventure; 4) Aquarium of the Bay; and 5) Exploratorium OR San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.  But I'm not sure I want to be a tourist.

Golden Gate Park

If you go to San Francisco, besides wearing flowers in your hair, you must go to Golden Gate Park.

"Developed in the late nineteenth century, many years before the neighborhoods that surround it, the park offers over one thousand acres of gardens and forest, complemented by some of the city's best museums."

Cathy has noted that the San Francisco City Guides (soon to be our BFFs) offers a tour of the Japanese Tea Garden on Monday's at 9:30 a.m.  Yeah, it's a little early, but we should be able to get a seat on the cable car (do workers use the cable car?) just after 8 in the morning.  Then we can choose the bus (5L) or the N light rail (and we may not get a seat) to the north or south of the park and walk .3 or .5 miles to the tea garden.

Wouldn't that be a perfect way to start a day in the park?  The Tea Garden was created for the 1894 Columbian Exposition as the Japanese Village along with the Moorish Village, the Turkish Village, the Vienna Prater and others. After the exposition and more than two million people, two features were permitted to remain, the Art Museum and the Japanese Tea Garden. The Art Museum was eventually torn down in 1936.

The Midwinter Fair in Golden Gate Park, 1894

Somewhere there must be a photo of us as kids at the Japanese Tea Garden.  I don't remember that we ever had tea because it was always too expensive, but we admired the koi and climbed over the arched bridge.  And I don't remember it as near as crowded then as it was last time I visited. But at 9:30 a.m. on a Tuesday morning it shouldn't be too bad.  Do you think the cherry trees will be in bloom?



And after the tour (and hopefully some tea and a fortune cookie, invented here for the Pan-Pacific Exposition of 1915),  we can check out the magnolias in the Botanic Garden just across the street.  They have a free magnolia highlight map we can pick up or download.

Cathy remembers the California Academy of Sciences for the stuffed gorilla that terrorized her childhood, but it's been revamped, and now offers a Rainforests of the World dome, a 90 ft in diameter space with a pathway that winds up three flights around trees and past animals.  And they have a Living Roof with over two acres planted with native Bay Area flora.  Unfortunately, it's very expensive at $25 each FOR SENIORS.  Maybe we can find a deal?  Maybe we'll just look at what we can see of the building, designed by Renzo Piano of  Pompidou Center fame.  The bulk of the old building was razed for the new.

de Young Museum

And on the other side of the Concourse is the de Young Museum which has its origin in that 1894 Exposition.  It's was also razed and rebuilt from the ground up between 2001 and 2005, and I haven't seen it at all.  It's a lot cheaper at $7, and they have an exhibit on the Building of the Bay Bridge based on photographs taken during the 1930's by Peter Stackpole and supplemented with prints and drawings of the Bay Bridge construction by his contemporaries, many of whom earned their living under the auspices of San Francisco’s Federal Art Project.

Then somehow or another using SF Muni we can get ourselves to the Beach Chalet facing the Great Highway between the two windmills.  "Come to the Beach Chalet for one simple reason to see the Lucien Labuadt murals on the first floor. The restaurant was funded in 1936 by the WPA. In those days the first floor was a lounge, changing rooms and the restaurant was the top floor (as it still is today).
The art is impressive and tells the story of 1930's San Francisco. Don't miss viewing the decorative tile work and the carved magnolia-wood balustrade and newels in forms of sea monsters, octopus and mermaids. The whole building is a delight to view and should not be missed by anyone visiting the bay area." 

Somebody says it also has good beer!  I don't think we can wait that long for lunch, but maybe a picnic lunch and a beer (or something) here?