Search This Blog

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/

6 comments:

  1. Hi, Janet!

    Happy M-day, dear friend! How's my buddy Benny today?

    I admire your coloring book illustration of McCovey Cove, and I like the pictures you took from the water beyond the right field wall of the Giants' Oracle Park, the section of the Bay named after famed Giants first baseman Willie McCovey. The statue of McCovey is awesome, and it's nice that they honored another Giant hero, Lefty O’Doul, by naming a bridge after him.

    Thanks for describing your experience at the stadium recently. Seems they have it all figured out. I hope you and your hubby cheered loudly enough to make up for the sparse crowd. :) Looks like you had perfect blue skies for the game that day.

    Mrs. Shady and I love to visit museums, and we would be ecstatic visiting the ones you have in SF. The museums you mentioned, the de deYoung Summer of Love exhibit, the Fine Arts museum, Wax museum, Maritime museum, Modern Art, Academy of Sciences, Asian art, Jewish museum, African Diaspora and Cable Car museum, would all be of interest to us. After a day of exploring all of the above, we would surely need to stop for refreshment at the Ice Cream museum. :) Yessum, SF is a cultural mecca, and it's too bad the facades of the buildings need to look like Fort Knox to discourage theft and vandalism.

    Enjoy the rest of your day, dear friend Janet, and I'll be back tamale for your N-day essay. It's a long long long shot... but I predict the entire post will be devoted to Niagara Falls (or maybe the river Nile). :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello my friend! Truthfully, we are not museum goers as a rule but the Summer of Love caught my eye. I have gone to the Academy of Sciences on field trips with the kids when they were in school. I know you were joking with your "N" guesses but I hope I can interest you just the same. Benny is keeping me moving and is beginning to make his own choices about where he wants to walk.

      Delete
  2. I wonder if another reason for lack of store-fronts for museums is to keep sunlight from damaging displays?

    When we were in SF last time we visited the WWII Submarine Museum (USS Pampanito, I think) near Fisherman's Wharf. Since my husband is retired Navy and submarine sailor, they gave him a hefty discount on admission.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's great! You could be right about the sun damage but a few of those museums were in downtown SF which I would think doesn't get too much sun because of all the tall buildings.

      Delete
  3. A very nice coloured page of your favourite spot. It is on a nice spot being right on the water and I bet, my brother would like to see that stadium. I am partial to the museums and would love to see them. The reason why the windows do not show inside is because the sun would do major damage to the art pieces. The main area may be nicely lit but the galleries are climate controlled and away from sunlight.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That makes sense, Birgit. The coloring was fun to do as I watched the Giants on TV - LOL.

      Delete

I'd love to hear your thoughts!