Destinations

I feel so lucky to live near San Francisco so I can take advantage of the secret staircases spread throughout the city.  San Francisco is a walking town much the same as Paris is a walking town.

In the late 1980’s I discovered a book called “STAIRCASE WALKS IN SAN FRANCISCO” by Adah Bakalinsky.  Ever since discovering this book my friends and I drive to San Francisco once a month and take one of Adah’s staircase walks.  We can do one of the staircases in June and it looks completely different if we do it in January.  So, we try to not do them the same time of year.

San Francisco is a “walking city.”  Built upon 42 hills, it is surrounded by the Bay on the east, the Pacific Ocean on the west, a peninsula on the south and the Golden Gate Bridge on the north.  Within these confines, variety is constant.  Because of the hills you get breathtaking views of the city and the water, and the   hills accelerate changes in your perspective as one walks around corners or circles the ridges.  Some of the walks are quite strenuous, although I feel the terrific views justify the strain.

You simply cannot do the stairways without Adah’s book.  With book in hand we follow her guide and if we didn’t have the book we probably wouldn’t find most of the staircases as most are hidden and we are always so shocked when we look to our left or right and sure enough – there is a staircase taking us up or down to another street.

If you live near San Francisco or if you are visiting, all you need is two hours, a bottle of water and good walking shoes and you will have a wonderful time.

I needed to get out of town for a few days and decided to re-visit a resort I used to go to with family and friends when my son was little.  I had forgotten how much I liked the Flamingo Resort and Spa in Santa Rosa.  It is the perfect place to hide away from your hectic life for a few days. The rates start around $89.00 or $99.00 a night and they have regular rooms, junior suites, 1 bedroom and even a few 2 bedroom suites. Many of the rooms have refrigerators and microwaves. We had the luxury of having a 2 bedroom suite. It was great having that much room.  You can sleep up to 5 people and maybe 6 if they give you a rollaway .

The Flamingo is great for families of all ages. The pool is wonderful and they also have a hot tub. The hotel has reciprocity with the health club next door. Tennis is free there and you have to pay a nominal fee if you want to use the gym or take classes.  The resort also
offers yoga lessons on certain days of the week.

Go to www.flamingoresort.com for more details on what they have.

There is a lot to do in the area. For the kids (and adults), there is the Charles Shultz museum. The Russian river is not far away and you are also close to many of the wineries in Sonoma and Napa.  So there is plenty to keep you busy, or you can just stay in this little oasis and never leave!

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!