April 11-13, 2012Karen sent Lynn and Jamie on a little getaway to San Francisco. And despite the threatening weather the entire trip, we managed to cram in just about as much as was humanly possible, including some outdoor adventures. On the way north we discovered yet another restaurant in Paso Robles, Estrella: fantastic Latin American cuisine. We stayed at the Warwick Regis Hotel on Geary. Neat little place, like stepping back into another era. And their restaurant, La Scene Cafe was the perfect little spot for a before-the-theatre meal. Here are the other spots we hit, most of them pictured below. There are many photos on this page (about 165), so don't be surprised if it takes a moment to load.
 Sorry for the cell phone photos at the theatre; best I could do. The play, "Maples and Vine" turned out to be quite interesting (we went having no clue), a tussle between modern life and life of the 1950s.    We wanted to tell Matt B. that this is the railing we want beside the refrigerator.  Our first stop on the 12th was the Conservatory of Flowers at Golden Gate Park.        Does that not look like an eagle in there?...       Their special exhibit was a model of the old Playland at the Beach, a bygone era of seaside amusement that was located on San Francisco's West End. Much of the model is made from recycled "junk".  The sign is one of the original signs at the park.       Who are those extremely tall people?!         Ala the movie, "Big"...                  On the way to the California Academy of Science                  The De Young Museum (of Art). Later on you'll see some photos taken from the top of that tower.      "Lemondrop" lives in the Academy of Science gift shop. Supposedly the longest snake in such surroundings at 25 feet.    The Japanese Tea Garden. Beautiful place. And very appropriate food service of teas, finger sandwiches, sushi, etc.                       I think that's the largest Japanese Maple we've ever seen.          At the De Young Museum now...  From the top of the tower...    That's the Academy of Science with its "living roof".    This starts the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit...  The mannequins were amazing! Live-action videos of real people (some speaking, some not) were projected onto the "blank" faces of the mannequins. Unreally real. The odd colors in these photos were caused by how the camera "saw" the light. To the human eyes, the face colors were quite natural, real.    The muscles in fashion. There was also a skeletal outfit and a nervous system outfit. Is "outfit" the right term?...            After a nice meal at John's Grill, this was my view at Crate and Barrel for about an hour while Lynn shopped the place.  The Warwick, our home away from home.    At the NASA Ames Exploration Center...                AJ's birthday party is going to be a blast!  Hahn Winery (was Smith and Hook) in Soledad. Fantastic location overlooking the valley. The wines were good, too!   The resident beast.  And a guest beast.       Don't let their website fool you... Jekel Winery's tasting room is not open. Bummer. This used to be one of our favorite wines back in the 80s and 90s when the Jekels lived a couple doors down in Shell Beach. Since it was sold, well, never mind.  We both like exporing this collection of art galleries: Studios on the Park in Paso Robles.  The big restaurant find of the trip was Robert's in Paso Robles. Fantastic food and very reasonable prices. (Again, sorry for the cell phone shots, it's all I had.)    This wine was very good, and the winery looks to be very beautiful (from the website).  |