Amy and Shawn in SF - 2

Sunday brought a new day and new opportunities for views and photography. We started with breakfast at the apartment and then headed to the Presido where there is a military cemetery. It looked like a good photo-op with all of those while headstones all lined up in rows against the green grass with the bay as a backdrop-

And added bonus to a day out with Amy and Don is watching them take photographs-

Next we headed into town to the base of Telegraph Hill. And since exercise was part of this whole agenda, we parked at the bottom and started climbing the stairs to the top through the gardens and houses that perch on the side of the hill. That's it just below with Coit Tower on top. The stairs we climbed are up the right side of this picture. For perspective, the hill is about as high as a 25 story building.


Every time Max and I climb these stairs, the gardens show us new life. It was obvious that Spring had started in SF and these trees were displaying it in full bloom against the blue sky.

At the top we all went up to the top of Coit Tower to see the 360 degree panorama of the city that this tower offers.

From Telegraph Hill we finally ventured into the one area that Shawn requested, China Town.
I "go" to Chinatown a couple of times a week- I have a patient there- a 90+ woman who is very lovingly cared for by her daughter and granddaughter. I might also add that she is sharper than a lot of 20 somethings I have met- amazing! So I do know Chinatown- or at least the challenges of parking, hiking in Chinatown. It was fun though to go as a "tourist" on this day- you see the world differently. Shawn had been amazingly patient while Amy, Max and I took hundreds of pictures. Shawn wanted to see Chinatown and eat in a "hole in the wall" Chinese restaurant with "ducks hanging in the window. Places like that are quite common in Chinatown and it didn't take us long to find one- actually we found more than one- not hard to do in Chinatown.




But after standing in front of the window looking at the grease dripping off of those ducks, we decided to sample Dim Sun instead and found another hole in the wall not far away. Dim Sun is a favorite for Chinese on weekends and place was packed. There were only a couple tables of people that were not Chinese. The waitresses kept bringing plates of food, but when we asked what they were, the answer usually came back in Chinese, or at least a heavily accented English that we didn't really understand. Nonetheless, we did sample several plates, some of which were pretty good, and some that weren't. I'm still not sure what one of them was. It was kind of like a gelatinous lumpy pudding with a fishy taste. That one didn't get eaten.

You don't "eat" in Chinatown for the food- it is rather the experience- the noisy, smelly, lively experience of another world- It's not hard to find better food in other neighborhoods- any other neighborhood- but there is no place that matches the frenzy of the experience!

You might guess that Lucas and I found an array of pictures to take, both of people and places.


But my favorite was at the edge of Chinatown- where east meets west- or rather where Chinatown connects the beginning of "beat"- North Beach- the birthplace of the beatniks!
And at this corner of the world a woman is hanging her "wash" out to dry!



And we just photograph it!

From China Town, we drive up to Nob Hill and visited Grace Cathedral, the large French Gothic Episcopal church that Max and I attend. I should have had a tripod for this shot, since it was pretty dark in the church, but even though it's a bit fuzzy, you can get some idea of the inside of this place.

After a few more pictures we headed off to one of the many French bakeries that dot the neighborhoods in SF for some coffee and a quick snack and then finally back to our apartment.

Don didn't want to stop at the French Bakery (and we all know how persistent Don can be when he doesn't want to do something- we also know how futile his protests are when I do want to do something). See Don thinks you stop at cafes, coffeehouses, restaurants because you are hungry! But it has not much at all to do with hunger- but rather the stopping- the pausing- the sitting outside a cafe on a busy San Francisco street. I love the stopping! The sitting! The pauses! Everything zooms so quickly by I am almost always looking for one excuse or another to stop- and rest- and talk- or think- or read...

But before dinner we decided there was one more photo-op that Lucas needed to see, so we all drove down to the Palace of Fine Arts, an amazing structure that was originally build for a World's Fair, and was then restored into a park.


After a walk around the palace and numerous pictures, we headed for one of our favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner.

It was the end of another busy day and we when we got home it was time for Lucas and Shawn to pack for their early departure the next morning. Thank you Amy and Shawn for sharing this adventure with us! We can't wait for another.