We live in California now. We are a family of 5! And most Saturdays we try to explore something local. We the incentive of not knowing how long we'll live here...as a result, I think we've done more local sight-seeing here than we ever did in Durham!
Last Saturday, we visited some of the parks in San Francisco, starting with Bernal Heights. SF is known for its hills, and this was one of the peaks, I think! It was a gorgeous spring day, a fun little climb, and such a contrast to have a very naturalized park in starkly urban surroundings.
(We've got to start teaching the five year old some principles of fashion!)
The little flags in this tree reminded me of something similar I'd seen with Mom in Vermont, and which she'd seen repeatedly in Asia--I think they're a sign of Hindu worship. It made me sad to think about the darkness and ignorance of the one true God right here before me.
The tips of the Golden Gate Bridge are just barely visible rising from the fog in the distance here.
At the summit, there was some kind of official building enclosed with a pretty serious fence and marked with no-trespassing signs. In spite of this, several men appeared to have set up camp inside, and at least one was working on the detailed spray-paint murals covering the building. They seemed a bit annoyed by tourists.
I'd read that there was a swing at the top! There were only some rope remains when we got there, but John had fun experimenting with it for a bit while the children were more than happy to fill my pockets with wild flowers and rocks.
After that, we followed google to Buena Vista Park, another summit of sorts among the hills of the Mission District. The views weren't as sweeping, being much more obscured by trees, but the park itself was more cultivated and very pretty.
By this time, we knew a playground stop would be helpful, so we drove the short distance to Koret Children's Quarter on the east side of Golden Gate Park. This has become a favorite, with its giant rock slides in the side of a hill! After sufficient play time, we walked the short distance to Haight and Ashbury streets. I know they're famous, but they mostly made me sad. It's probably not the correct Biblical application, but the phrase "lawlessness will abound" kept circling in my head as we passed store fronts and people without the usual trappings of decorum and their eyes full of emptiness. We passed over to the next block to circle back, and the contrast was unreal. Quiet Victorians stood in rows, some with marble steps and curved windows and hardly a soul in sight. It brings home perhaps how revolutionary the events of Haight and Ashbury were to such a community years ago.
And we finished our evening at our new favorite Thai place in the city, Jitlada. It's the closest we've found to Twisted Noodles back in Durham, and quite possibly even better. It's only surprising that it took us so many tries to settle on this place, since there are so many Thai restaurants in the Bay Area. I had a yellow curry noodle soup this time, which was quite special!
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