Destinations

Thursday-
My artistically talented niece enjoyed our visit to the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park to see the Dale Chihuly Exhibit. Even if you aren’t a fan of Chihuly, this is pure spectacle.  Hard not to say “wow!” at least a few times. Back to Marin for dinner at P.F. Chang’s in Corte Madera.

Friday -
There is historical significance at Angel Island State Park out in the San Francisco Bay: this location was home to Miwok Indians long before Westerners arrived, but is probably best remembered as an immigration center & later the sight of a detention center where Japanese Americans were interred during WWII. But we were seeking fresh air and exercise to ward off the addition of extra lbs which was a natural conclusion to all of this eating we’d been doing all week. So we took the 20 minute Angel Island Ferry ride from Tiburon and spent a couple of hours taking in the views of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Mt Tamalpais and the boats on the bay while hiking at our individual levels of comfort. Angel Island also offers kayak &  bike rentals and a guided tour of the island by motorized trams.

Life is short, and this vacation even shorter.  So, we ate dessert - first! - at Double Rainbow where we got creamy cool ice-cream and hot fudge sundaes.

We had arrived at the last night we would spend together & had our farewell dinner at another local institution: Marin Joe’s.

Since no one had room for any more eating after this meal, we decided it was time for them to go home, which they all did the next day. But the memories that were created live on, and so do the extra pounds we acquired…..so worth it!

Monday-
for views of San Francisco while watching the boats come and go, lunch at Sam’s Anchor Cafe (in Tiburon) can’t be beat. Still serves the best Ramos Fizz.  Took a drive out to the coast. Spent a bit of time in the “western” town of Pt Reyes Station, gateway to Pt Reyes National Seashore. Drove out to the Pt Reyes visitor center and took the (short) Earthquake walk where you can still see evidence of the 1906 quake along the San Andreas fault line. Before heading back over Mt Tamalpais, we drove past the Bolinas lagoon and stopped to take a brief walk along beautiful Stinson Beach. A wonderful store in Pt Reyes Station: Toby’s Feed Barn. For Oysters, barbequed, broiled or raw: Farm House & Deli - Olema.

Tuesday-
A good alternative to often crowded Muir Woods in Mill Valley is Armstrong Redwood State natural Reserve in Guernville (Sonoma County). Flat trails made it easy even for the octogenarian in our midst to take a walk amongst the redwoods. From here, we headed east to Safari West in Santa Rosa. Reservations are required for a 2 1/2 - 3 hour Safari offered at 9:00 am, 1:00 pm, or 4:00 pm. Optional BBQ lunch and/or dinner is available at an extra charge.  It is possible to spend the night in one of the several luxury tents scattered around this Wildlife preserve, which I’ve been told triples ones fun (as well as cost).  Even for me, who has had the privilege of traveling to Africa on multiple occasions, this safari tour is a lot of fun.  We saw giraffes, wildebeest, cheetahs, exotic birds, and even white rhino!

Later, we opted for dinner nearby at Cricklewood  in Santa Rosa. Somehow, eating meat while about to view animals at the preserve wasn’t all that interesting to my vegetarian niece.

Wednesday-
The mountain was a huge hit with my nephew, and so we returned to spend a bit more time and to go for a hike. We had fabulous weather the entire week, but this day was truly glorious. The boy was happy! Mt Tam lunch at Mt Home Inn.

To be continued…

This summer I had the opportunity to host my Boston-based mother, sister, teenage niece & nephew for 8 days in my ‘backyard’ a/k/a The San Francisco Bay Area. The challenge wasn’t so much ‘what to do’ but rather, ‘how to do it all’. A multi-generational trip is, in itself a neat trick, but keeping my 16 year old nephew content while spending a week with his mother, sister, aunt and grandmother was another dog & pony show altogether. What I had in my back pocket: San Francisco, Marin & Sonoma Counties.  Couldn’t - and didn’t -miss.

Saturday - West Coast Live -San Francisco’s Radio Show to the World. Think variety show on radio.  The venues change, but the format remains the same: from 10:00 am - 12:00 noon Saturday mornings you and your friends/guests can sit in the audience of this live radio broadcast.  Be prepared for some audience inter-action!  The day we attended, jazz singer Paula West performed; Leah Garchik from the San Francisco Chronicle discussed her column and new book; Mike Greensill filled in for host Sedge Thompson while performing his usual duties as house pianist; Roger Reese discussed the play in which he was appearing at the time. Reservations are recommended….good clean (mostly) family fun! www.wcl.org. Since the show was broadcast from the ferry building we were able to enjoy the San Francisco ferry plaza Farmer’s Market following the show.  We grazed on fresh organic fruit and cheese and had soft -shelled crab sandwiches.  Yum! Farmer’s Market. Following this we stopped at Crissy Field, near the Golden Gate Bridge, where we discovered a public art exhibit on climate change called “Cool Globes”.  We were able to wash down all of this culture with a cool beverage from the Warming Hut. Back in Corte Madera that night we had dinner at  Izzy’s Steak & Chops of Marin. After dinner, the kids were happy to browse the best independent book store in the county, Book Passage. And this was just Day One!

Sunday -
Mom had requested brunch at Lark Creek Inn and she was not disappointed. My little downtown of Larkspur couldn’t be more charming were it in Provence.  We strolled and window shopped before heading into San Francisco for the 5:00 pm matinee performance of Beach Blanket Babylon, a San Francisco institution. My mother and sister had previously attended this show - my mother more than once - but since it is always being updated, it never gets old.  Sundays are the only time that under 21 year olds can attend, and for my money (well, my mother’s) it was worth the extra charge for reserved seats upstairs. We stayed in the neighborhood for a great Italian dinner at Ideale in North Beach.

To be continued….