Janet's Smiles

Thursday, April 15, 2021

A to Z 2021 – M is for McCovey Cove and Museums

If you’ve read my posts you may know that I am a San Francisco Giants fan and probably should have figured that I would try to get them in this A to Z somehow. Since the coloring book had McCovey Cove, I decided to use that as my intro.

We are very fortunate to have a great friend who has a boat and has hosted us a couple of times on trips around the Bay. Each time we go we take a break at McCovey Cove which is a little cove in the bay next to Oracle Park, where the Giants play. It may be an “unofficial name” but everybody around here certainly knows about it. During games the cove is filled with people in boats and kayaks trying to catch a home run ball.

If you look closely you can see that the scoreboard has changed from one picture to the next. The newest one is on the bottom. HUGE screen.

Also in the cove is a statue of Willie McCovey.

There is also the Lefty O’Doul bridge, named after another famous Giant. The bridge rises to let boats pass through. It is really interesting to watch it. You can just see one coming through on the right. The parking lot to the ballpark is across the street so you have to walk over that bridge to get to the stadium. We take the train though so don’t really get to that side much.

We went to our first game since the pandemic last weekend. It was so much fun. The Giants are being very cautious and you have to show proof of vaccination or negative Covid test taken within 72 hours of the game along with your id. Seats are separated a lot as they are only operating at 22% capacity. There was no one sitting directly in front of us or directly behind. There was no one else in our row so we never had to cross in front of anyone if we had to use the restroom. The concession stands were open but you ordered from your seat and then they notified you when your food was ready. It was very well organized and I felt comfortable being there.

M is also for Museums and there are a lot of those as well. I mentioned the deYoung Museum when I talked about the exhibit for the Summer of Love. It is located in Golden Gate Park near the Japanese Tea Garden. When I drove by there recently they were having a Freida Kahlo exhibit.

On the way to Lands End we saw the Legion of Honor Fine Arts Museum

Along Fisherman’s Wharf I mentioned the Wax Museum but there was also the Maritime Museum. The building looks like an ocean liner and was built as part of the New Deal Works Progress Administration in 1939. Imagine if the American Jobs Act gets passed, we could see more things like this happening.

There is the Museum of Modern Art located in downtown and the California Academy of Sciences, also in Golden Gate Park. There is an Asian Art Museum, a Contemporary Jewish Museum, a Museum of African Diaspora and even a Cable Car Museum which I tried to go to but couldn’t really find.

I got all excited when I saw there was a Museum of Ice Cream but when I went to take pictures there was a lot of construction going on in the streets around it and besides being closed, it didn’t have any windows for me to look in. Another disappointment, but maybe I’ll wait a while and try again for that one and the Cable Car Museum.

I keep thinking that these museums will have windows like a storefront but they are all in buildings with minimal signage. Maybe because they don’t want people breaking the glass to get in and steal things. That would make sense!

Anyway, that’s my “M” and I’m sticking to it. Hope to see you tomorrow for “N.” Any guesses?

Disclaimer notice. The coloring book pages are from the inserts the San Francisco Chronicle put out and I mentioned them in my theme reveal so you can go to that to get the info about the artists if you are interested.

from WordPress https://scr4pl80.wordpress.com/2021/04/15/a-to-z-2021-m-is-for-mccovey-cove-and-museums/

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

A to Z 2021 – L is for Lombard Street and Lands End

Lombard Street might be something that you would recognize as a San Francisco landmark. It is said to be the “crookedest street in the world” with 8 turns. It was originally a straight road but it was so steep that people were afraid to drive down it!

I drove down to the bottom but obviously I couldn’t drive and take pictures so I went around the block and found parking at the top of the hill. I got out and walked about halfway down.

I am lucky to be able to get these shots early in the morning and during the week before the crowds come. On the weekends sometimes there are long lines of cars waiting to go down this hill. So much so that there is talk of having to pay a toll or get a permit! I know I would be torn about living there; is it worth the inconvenience of having so many cars driving by or is the view enough to compensate for that?

Lands End is the other “L” I have for you, especially if you are someone who likes hiking trails. When we went to Immigrant Point Overlook the other day, Lands End was on the schedule as well. I tried to make things easier for my hubby by mapping out a route of several spots to hit in one sweep.

Because it is not easy for Bill to walk on all the trails, he let me out and parked to wait for me to explore and take pictures. I didn’t want to stray too far and take advantage of him so there is lots out there left to investigate. As you can see by the signpost, there are several different paths that you can take and they lead to many interesting spots.

I did walk a short way down one path because I was looking for the labyrinth but it turns out I was in the wrong part of the trail. No worries, once again I got some gorgeous views and the sun was out!

I was amazed by the size of that boat going toward the bridge. Then again, I’m amazed by the Golden Gate Bridge too!

Lands End is certainly a fitting name for this spot. I know that anybody who likes to hike would have an excellent time exploring all the different trails. One leads to the memorial of the USS San Francisco, a WWII cruiser that was involved in the Battle of Guadalcanal. And sometime I may even go back to try and find the labyrinth!

from WordPress https://scr4pl80.wordpress.com/2021/04/14/a-to-z-2021-l-is-for-lombard-street-and-lands-end/

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

A to Z 2021 – K is for Kerouac Alley and Kite Hill

Hello and welcome to the letter “K” in our A to Z Challenge this year. In an effort to be completely transparent, I am using one of the locations that was a disappointment for me, Kerouac Alley.

I mean, reading the description that Wiki has for it and even looking at some of the pictures that Trip Advisor has made it seem like a really cool place to go and it filled one of the more difficult (for me) letters in the challenge. When I got there, it was early in the morning so admittedly none of the shops were open yet, however, I didn’t even attempt to go down the alley to look for the inscriptions that are supposed to be there.

My initial disappointment was in the street sign itself. The other side had a bunch of stickers over it so you couldn’t even read the name. This side had no stickers but it did have an electrical wire wrapped around it. I mean, come on folks.

Looking down the alleyway, I could see someone standing around there and since I was by myself, I didn’t think it would be smart to go down.

City Lights is a famous bookstore and it would have been nice to be able to go inside but it wasn’t open yet and, again, there was someone standing around (I purposely avoided taking his picture) so I didn’t feel comfortable getting any closer.

So all in all, that was not the exciting experience I was looking for, but as I said, in the spirit of transparency, I’m including it. Maybe if my husband had been with me we’d have ventured farther down the alley.

Then I had to scramble to see if I could find another “K” spot. OMG I did and what a good one it was! Much like the Ina Coolbrith Park, Kite Hill Open Space is tucked away in a corner in the middle of a residential area.