Day Before D-Day

28 August 2016

The jeep is all packed and I’m ready to go.  I need to add a few things to the backpack before I depart tomorrow.  I hope to leave around 10 am so as to beat the traffic on I-95.  My first night will be at Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Preserve State Park unless Tropical Low 99 follows me up the state.  I’ve already decided if it is pouring down rain when I get to the state park, I’ll pitch camp in a motel in either Haines City of Lakeland, Florida.  I don’t mind sleeping in the rain, hiking in the rain, but I do draw the line at setting up camp in the rain except on an emergency basis.

Tomorrow has been a long time coming.  I’ve been planning this trip for a year and seriously working on the logistics for 6 months.  I think I’ve covered everything, dotted the “i’s” and crossed the “t’s” so to speak.  The only place I don’t have reservations is Joshua Tree National Park but they don’t take reservations until October.  They assume you have to be an idiot to camp out at Joshua Tree in September where the temperature has been running around 101-106 F during the day.  The only consolation is night time temps are around 69-70F.
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I’ll try to post my first trip blog sometime tomorrow after I set up camp and get everything situated.  I’ll also try to include a few photos of the area.  Until then, adieu.

 

San Francisco – Day 7

26 June 2016

I admit I’m a wimp.  Today was the biggest gay pride celebration in the U.S. in San Francisco and I didn’t go to see the parade.  I didn’t want to fight the crowds along the route. Besides, I’ve seen two of these parades before and most people in costumes passed me on the way to the parade.

Instead, I headed first to the Legion of Honor Museum to see “Wild West: Plains to the Pacific”, art about the west, including early portrayal of Indians, cowboys – including Frederick Remington, mining – including a painting inspired by Brette Harts “The Luck of Roaring Camp”, and the national parks of the west.

Legion of Honor Museum at Lincoln Park.
Legion of Honor Museum at Lincoln Park.

Also at the Legion were art books and portfolios printed by the likes of Picasso, Man Ray, Miró and others.
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I then hopped a Muni bus and headed to the De Young Museum for “Printed Stories” of prints from the Anderson Collection of Graphic Arts and “Bruce Davidson: Gifts from the Collection”, photos by Davidson of the civil rights movement, a gang of New York, and scenes of Paris.

De Young Museum at Golden Gate Park.
De Young Museum at Golden Gate Park.

It was a busy museum day but fulfilling. I’m heading now to the steam room before our wine social at the guest house, and then an early dinner.

I leave tomorrow morning around 10:50 am and get back to Fort Lauderdale around 11 pm.

San Francisco – Day 6

25 June 2016

I was too tired to make an entry yesterday. Beach Blanket Babylon was its usual hoot with current political topics, popular media and celebrity bashing.  The only surprising thing was the dearth of Trump skits.  He made a brief appearance but not as much as expected.

Almost as much fun is watching the audience.  You can tell some small town Americans show up not knowing what to expect.  They have a shell-shocked look on their face after the first few skits. Eventually they figure it is all in fun and get into it but it’s an education for some of them.

Tom and I headed to the Embarcadero for lunch at La Mar, a Peruvian restaurant he wanted to try.  Their speciality was cerbiche, spelled with a “b”.  I had the halibut and it was very good. I also had one of their signature potato dishes topped with beets and asparagus.  The restaurant is on pier 1 1/2 (who knew) and overlooked the bay.

Lunch at Peruvian resturant called La Mar overlooking the bay.
Lunch at Peruvian resturant called La Mar overlooking the bay.

Before lunch, we cruised through the port building at Embarcadero and Market. It was jammed packed inside and out. All kinds of vendors were here and there was also an extensive open air market on the pier behind the terminal.

Open market at the port building, Embarcadero.
Open market at the port building, Embarcadero.

Tom managed a few purchases and I managed not to, although the temptation was great.

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Heirloom tomatoes at port building on Embarcadero.
Heirloom tomatoes at port building on Embarcadero.

Tom headed to the airport around 2 pm for his flight back and I headed to the Castro to eat my traditional hamburger at Sliders.  Just as I returned to the guest house, Dykes on Bikes roared past to Delores Park to start their own separate parade.  They will lead off the main parade tomorrow.

Over one million people are expected for the parade tomorrow and I have never seen such police presence. The Castro was blue with police officers.  The streets are packed and several pre-parades passed by the guest house.

I don’t intend to go to the parade tomorrow simply because I’ve seen two here in San Francisco and I hate crowds.  Instead, I am on my way to the Legion of Honor Museum and the De Young.

At 8 pm, I was comfortably seated in the Marion Davies Concert Hall to see Michael Tilson Thomas conduct Brahm’s Symphony No. 1.  I have now heard the New World Symphony perform this piece, also with MTT conducting and the San Francisco Symphony perform it.  The San Francisco Symphony has a more mature sound, but I like the energy of the New World sound better.

Marion Davies Hall, San Francisco Symphony
Marion Davies Hall, San Francisco Symphony

The first part of the program was C.P.E. Bach’s Symphony in D major followed by Jörg Widmann’s  Trauermarsch for piano and orchestra, written especially for Yefim Bronfman who performed the piece.  It was certainly atonal and it seemed more written for percussion than just the piano, although Bronfman certainly percussed the piano!

I made it back to the guest house by 10:30 pm, had half a sandwich and turned in for the night.

San Francisco – Day 5

24 June 2016

Well, so much for Carmen. This was a modern interpretation and it just didn’t seem to work. It was almost an x rated version.  We left after the first intermission.

We had 10:15 am tickets to San Francisco Museum of Modern Art near the Moscone Center, downtown.  It had been closed for three years and recently reopened with vastly more space.  It is really a beautiful museum.  Almost every floor (7 in all) has a rooftop sculture garden.  It is light and airy and well layed out, but you could visit it every day for a week and probably not see everything.

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Their restaurant opens onto a sculpture garden as well and we had lunch there.

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Tonight is Beach Blanket Babylon if we can stay awake!

San Francisco – Day 4

23 June 2016

Monday  was hot, Tuesday was hot, Wednesday was cold. So cold I needed a blanket for the bed but the staff had failed to provide one in the closet.  I even looked in a storage closet I knew about and checked all around the guest house to no avail.  Finally, I put the bath robe over the bed and put a pillow over my feet.  The first thing this morning I got the staff to bring me a blanket.

I started the morning with the intention to go to Lombard Street.  I had passed it several times in previous visits to San Francisco but wanted to walk down it.  I caught the J line to Powell street and rode a cable car.  Surprisingly, there wasn’t too much of a line for the cable car and I made the second car.  I got off at the top of Lombard and walked down it.

Lombard Street
Lombard Street

Interestingly, it is not the crookedest street in San Francisco but it is probably one of the prettiest with all those flowers.

From the bottom of the crooked drive I walked to Fisherman’s wharf and ended back at the Municipal Pier, this time to visit the Maritime Museum. The museum is free to the public and is in the last year of renovation of the Art Deco facility, so there were not that many exhibits.  However, the WPA murals inside the building had been restored and were superb!

WPA murals inside Maritime Museum
WPA murals inside Maritime Museum

One interesting item was a restored whaling boat like the one you read about in Moby Dick.

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Yesterday, Tom and I saw swimmers and today there were two in the bay. That water had to be freezing.

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I then stopped by Ghiradelli Square and bought the chocolates that Tom lost yesterday on the street car.

The last thing I thought of doing was to go to the Exploratorium.  I knew it had moved into a new facility on the Embarcadero and had almost gone in a couple of times on previous trips.  This is the one originally started by J. Robert Oppenheimer of Los Alamos fame.  The facility is huge. It takes up one entire pier on the Embarcadero and the place was full.  Even more importantly, the kids were thoroughly engaged in the exhibits having a ball.

Exploratorium
Exploratorium

I ate lunch there overlooking the bay and then pulled a Tom Green and lost my Muni Pass for the week while in the Exploratorium.   I stopped on the way back to the guest house at Powell street and forked over another $40 for another pass.  It still will come out cheaper since I take public transportation everywhere in San Francisco.

More on Jenufa on my web site when I return home but it was a very interesting opera (and 1 1/2 hours shorter than Don Carlo).  Tonight is Carmen.

San Francisco – Day 3

22 June 2016

If you have seen a map of San Francisco, have you ever noticed a curve of land into San Francisco Bay near Fort Mason near the Presidio?  I was searching for something before the trip and I saw this and wondered what it was. (You can see it here, or Google “Municipal Pier, San Francisco.”) It is a pier and the location of the Maritime Museum, a national historical place.  The pier is actually a part of the national park service so the term municipal is misleading. Since that time, I read it is the best place to see Alcatraz from the city, the city skyline with Coit Tower and the Transamerica building.  It also has a not too shabby view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

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An article I read in the San Francisco Chronicle said the pier is decrepit and in desperate need of renovation but the cost is so overwhelming for the park service it would eat up the annual budget for all national parks.  It will probably be declared unsafe for pedestrian traffic soon and I wanted to see it before that happened.

The view is pretty spectacular.  Here’s the view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the pier.

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Here’s the view of Alcatraz from the pier.

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And here is the city skyline.

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It is a shame the cost is so prohibitive to repair and probably the foot traffic is not significant enough to justify city monies. There was a sprinkling of foot traffic, some bicycles, Segways, and some fisherman, but not much else.

Tom Green is sharing my opera tickets this trip. He decided he would like to see the pier also, so we took the J line to Civic Center and the boarded the 19 bus to Hyde Street pier.  What we didn’t notice was we got the bus going the opposite way. In our defense, the 19 line was on a one way street, so there was only one place to board.  As we were taking the grand tour of the 19 line, a woman got on in an American flag jump suit.  We found she was from New York and Miami, so the outfit fit.

After we got off and back on the 19 line in the correct direction, we made it to the pier. Tom and  I walked the pier and then headed to Ghiradelli Square at the foot of the pier and had lunch.  We then spent a small fortune on Ghiradelli chocolate and someone who I will not name left their chocolate on the street car as we headed back to the guest house.  In any case, we boarded the 19 line to retrace our steps and who gets on the bus with us at another stop but old glory herself.  Long may she wave.  We did to her as we got off.

About the opera….  I’ll post my review later on my website when I get home but just a few words here.  The opera was Don Carlo and this was new to me.  It was 5 acts with 2 intermissions and ran for 4 1/2 hours!  You needed an iron butt to sit through it but I have to admit it didn’t seem that long. I think this opera had the greatest collection of male voices of any opera I’ve heard. Tenors and bassos were amazing. The lead soprano (Elisabetta) was good but the soprano cast as Eboli (yea, I also think the virus) was better. As a matter of fact, I would have sworn Elisabetta in the first act was different from the Elisabetta in acts II, III, IV, and V.  Either that or she warmed up to the music.

Tonight we dine at Petit Crenn, one of Dominique Crenn’s restaurants.  She was voted one of the best female chefs in America (seems sexist to me, why not just say best chef).  The opera tonight is Jenufa.

Twin Peaks Day Hike

21 June 2016

A couple of years ago, I ran across a web site by Bill Choisser describing an urban day hike to Twin Peaks, the second highest mountain in the city of San Francisco.  I carefully made notes for the hike and following his route, I made it to the top.  It almost killed me.  It’s a 700 foot climb in elevation to 910 feet, straight up.  Yes, it’s paved most of the way, with stairs in several places, but it’s a killer if you are not in shape.

Sixty-two steps!
Sixty-two steps!

I later met Bill and his partner and treated them to dinner in the Castro.  Strangely, Bill grew up in Fort Lauderdale and went to Pinecrest as a kid when it was on Broward Blvd.  You can read his hike description at http://www.choisser.com/hiking/twinpeaks/html.

I decided to retrace my trip and fortunately I didn’t have to rely on my notes (they got soaked with sweat and were virtually unreadable by the end).   Bill made the web site readable on the iPhone and iPad so I could easily follow his description this time.

You start on 18th Street and Castro. You immediately walk past the Harvey Milk School and get to view some interesting mosaics done by the students.

Harvey Milk School mosaics.
Harvey Milk School mosaics.

The walk takes you through some wonderful neighborhoods and everyone seems to be quite the gardener.  You get to see plants totally foreign to south Florida because of the very temperate climate of San Francisco.

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On Douglas and 20th Streets you take your first set of stairs.  There are 92 steps and you walk next to an apartment complex with no internal stairs to each apartment since the 92 steps allow you entry into each apartment.

Ninety-two steps to the top apartment.
Ninety-two steps to the top apartment.

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Spiral stairway over Market Street.
Spiral stairway over Market Street.

Eventually you make your way to Corbett and Hopkins. Hopkins is a steep climb, probably the steepest of the trip. When you look back, you see a little reddish brown house at the bottom.  The house is notorious for runaway cars crashing into it from loss of brakes down the steep grade. Bill relates one went through the entire house and hung off the other side as it crashed through the outside wall.

Hopkins Street House
Hopkins Street House

Next are four sets of stairs. The first is 40 steps, the second is 62, the third is 34, and the last is 55 (not that I’m counting). It’s at this point you are at the Trailhead to Twin Peaks.

Now you get to climb to the peaks and then you get to climb each peak.  Bill says the names of the peaks are seldom used but the south peak is Noe Peak and the north peak is Eureka Peak.  Sutro tower is not on either peak but off west of the two.  A drive forms a figure 8 around the peaks and this is where the danger comes in.  There have been many traffic fatalities from speeding  cars interacting with day hikers.

Eureka Peak from Noe Peak.
Eureka Peak from Noe Peak.

From either peak you can look west and see the Pacific Ocean.  A look to the northwest shows the Golden Gate Bridge.  Due North lies the city with a good view of the Transamerica pyramid building, and a straight shot view down Market Street to the Embarcadero.

Transamerica building and Market to Embarcadero.
Transamerica building and Market to Embarcadero.

I had my water bottle, day pack and I stole a banana and tangerine from the guest house so I paused on Noe Peak for refreshments.  Both peaks have steps made from cross ties but you still need to be careful going up and down. My first hike, I fell going up Noe Peak and hurt my knee. I’m pleased to say I made this trip without damage.  I must also be in better shape.  It was a lot easier this time but I do admit it was disheartening to see several joggers running up the stairs past me.

Proof I was there!
Proof I was there!

San Francisco Day 1

20 June 2016

My day started around 4:30 am EDT and is now winding down at 10:00 pm  EDT.  Needless to say, I’m a little wiped. The first “good” news was the flight was delayed 1 hour.  The other “good” news was I was number 1 on the upgrade list for first class.  The bad news was it was a direct flight so there were no options for others to change to another flight.   Alas, I flew economy. The best news was they threw caution to the wind and used up a lot of fuel to keep us only 45 minutes behind schedule.  The 6 hour flight turned into a 5 1/2 hour flight.

I immediately purchased the week long Muni pass at the information desk and took BART to Civic Center.  It was a $20 round trip on BART versus a $50 one way taxi ride. From the Civic Center, I hopped the Muni to Church Street and walked three blocks to Parker Guest House.

The guest house has been in operation since 1997 and I’ve been staying here since 2000. It’s location, location, location.  I’m 3 blocks from the underground Muni, one block from the “J” line and 4 blocks from the Castro.  I can literally be anywhere in San Francisco in 30 minutes, with transfers.

Breakfast room of Parker Guest House
Breakfast room of Parker Guest House

The house now has absentee owners (they moved to the Russian River) and it has suffered over the years from a little neglect even before they left, but I still come back year after year.  They have a wine social in the evening and you meet world travelers.  Breakfast is excellent and the staff are very competent and friendly.  The ground are really nice.

Grounds do the Parker Guest House
Grounds do the Parker Guest House

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I had scheduled a 3 pm massage at M Spa, a nine minute walk from Parker.  Matthew was unusual.  I would tell you he had no massage experience except he hit every sore muscle and relieved a great deal of pain. He would also talk to himself and even chant during the massage.  Whatever, it worked.  I had a bad case of swimmers shoulder and he certainly helped that issue.

From there, I walked to the Castro and had my obligatory martini at the Twin Peaks Bar at Castro and Market.

Twin Peaks Bar
Twin Peaks Bar

I did some shopping and as I walked down the Castro, the Bank of America allowed a makeshift memorial to Orlando on the outside and sidewalk of their building.  A little further down, someone had written in chalk the 49 names of the victims on the sidewalk.  It was very moving.

Orlando victims' names.
Orlando victims’ names.

Tomorrow, I hope to climb Twin Peaks for the second time. I brought a day pack, my camera, water bottle and boots.  Stay tuned. You may be sending flowers for a funeral.

Mural Tour of Central Avenue, St. Petersburg, FL

21 May 2016

Holley and Jim had gotten us tickets for a walking tour of Central Avenue arts district.  It’s a lot edgier than the beach front of downtown St. Petersburg with lots of kinky and kooky stores, restaurants, and the home of Florida CraftArt located at 501 Central Avenue.

The tour was to start at 10 am and we were promptly welcomed into the Florida CraftArt store for a quick look around at what was available for purchase by local artists.  The tour was led by the executive director of CraftAft, Diane Shelley.  She normally doesn’t do the tours but she was training someone, so we benefited.

Diane Shelly (blue dress and straw hat in center) leading the tour.
Diane Shelly (blue dress and straw hat in center) leading the tour.

A lot of the tour was built around the block of 6th St and Central.  It was scheduled for demolition (the entire block) and development but then the bottom fell out of the real estate market.  It sat undisturbed and vacant and falling into disrepair until someone had the idea of asking the landlords of the buildings to offer the space for artists to live and paint for 1/2 of the price of their rent.  They agreed and it took off.

Holley being devoured by a shark!
Holley being devoured by a shark!

The CraftArt building was the first to have a mural.  It was completed in 2012 and it still looks in excellent shape.

Mural on the back of the CraftArt building. Completed in 2012.
Mural on the back of the CraftArt building. Completed in 2012.

Once the idea took off (and eventually backed by the mayor and city hall) other buildings were painted.  Most of the murals are not done with regular paint from paint stores but from either auto or airplane paint sources.  Much of it is spray can (Diane would tell us the number of cans used on a particular mural) or done the old fashioned way by brushes.

This mural was so popular, it became the city icon.
This mural was so popular, it became the city icon.

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Artists began clamoring for space and many became nationally known for their work. Eventually, organizations got involved and AARP has actually sponsored several artists and projects.  One of which is to give AARP members ideas about second careers in life.

Mural sponsored by the AARP. This portrays the founder of the AARP as part of "What to Do In Retirement" series.
Mural sponsored by the AARP. This portrays the founder of the AARP as part of “What to Do In Retirement” series.
The center of this represents a hurricane that struck St. Pete just as the artists were brought in to do murals. It's an entire building wall.
The center of this represents a hurricane that struck St. Pete just as the artists were brought in to do murals. It’s an entire building wall.

Donnelly is a name that kept appearing.  He’s done several in the 6th Street/Central Avenue area.  One of his more famous is the one below.

Donnelly has done several murals in the area. This is one of his more striking.
Donnelly has done several murals in the area. This is one of his more striking.

Most artists don’t use their real name.  The reason is most started doing graffiti when it was illegal. Instead, they used street names as Pale Horse and BASK.

Pale Horse (right) and BASK (left) are street names of artists.
Pale Horse (right) and BASK (left) are street names of artists.

Diane says much more is planned for the area and now the area has become far more upscale because of the murals.  The city has now sanctioned the idea and even touts it on advertising for St. Petersburg.

The tour was hot and sweaty but CraftArt provided water.  I suspect as the summer gets into high gear, the walking tour will begin much earlier.  This is well worth the time and the price of the ticket.  On the whole, Miami Design District probably has better art, but this is more diverse, scattered through the 6th St/Central Ave area and probably better known.

A Day at the Dali and Chihuley Museums

20 May 2016

I got a good nights sleep.  It’s hard getting used to the dearth of traffic and sirens in St. Petersburg. It’s like the town is deserted it’s so quiet. You can walk across a street without taking your life in your hands.

Hampton Inn and Suites does a very nice breakfast for free.  After breakfast, I strolled around downtown before everything opened.  It was peaceful along the harbor.

Early morning stroll
Early morning stroll

Jim, Holley and I met in the breakfast room and we did a leisurely stroll to the Dali Museum, just a few blocks from the hotel.  The site is certainly stunning.

Dali Museum and grounds
Dali Museum and grounds

Holley had a coupon plus Jim and I qualified for the senior rate.  The first view of the inside of the museum is stunning.

Staircase inside Dali Museum
Staircase inside Dali Museum

The permanent collection is said to be the largest collection any where in the world. In reality,  about the same amount was on view as in the old museum I visited many years ago.  There was also a Disney and Dali temporary exhibit but I have developed a dislike of Disney so I didn’t spend much time there.

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Grazzi restaurant for lunch
Grazzi restaurant for lunch

From Grazzi,  we walked to Paciugo Gelato and Caffe, the number 1 “restaurant” in St. Pete according to TripAdvisor.  It was pretty special.  I had coconut, coffee and mocha, and sea salt caramel.

Next, Jim and Holley treated me to the Chihuley Museum. The collection was not as extensive as the exhibits at Fairchild Tropical Garden but were worth seeing. He certainly knows how to market his work and the shapes and colors of glass are spectacular.

Chihuley Museum
Chihuley Museum

Dinner was at the Parkshore Grill. Jim had steak and Holley salmon and I had the shrimp cocktail.  We’ve kinda eaten our way through St. Pete.  After dinner we walked around and ended up at the American Theatre to see a production of songs from the “drunken” American Song Book.  There was a piano player, a torch singer, a saxophonist/clarinetist and a drummer – all superb, playing to a sold out audience.  Did I mention the booze flowed freely with the songs?

Songs from the "drunken" American song book
Songs from the “drunken” American song book

The performance was held in the lobby of the theater so everyone could see and hear quite well and we were all steps away from the bar and bathrooms (not sure which was more important).  We were their initial performance with two more nights to come.  They were excellent.

Tomorrow, we do a walking tour of murals of St. Pete and then head for home.  St. Pete is a very neat city and I’ll be back.