Today I ventured to the west side of the city to Golden Gate Park, which more than lived up to my expectations. In fact, it was an almost perfect day except for one hiccup that I will talk about later AND the fact that the Husband wasn't there. It broke my heart a little that I couldn't share it all with him, because it was SO his kind of thing!
The adventure began with...what else... a trip to the bathroom! Anyone who knows me knows that my bladder is not that reliable at the best of times. Pregnancy has left me searching out public restrooms at every turn. I usually go, like, three times before I leave my hotel room, just to make sure my bladder is empty, and within four blocks I'm looking for my next stop. It's crazy! So thankfully there was a lodge at the foot of the park for me to relieve myself. (I'd already used the Old Navy bathroom on Union Street before getting on the bus. Honestly - best bathroom in town! Clean and never busy!)
Next up was the Conservatory of Flowers:
I actually made audible noises of delight and disbelief as I walked through, because everything was SO beautiful!
My next stop was the carousel. (I know! Another carousel!) It was kind of weird, because it was completely enclosed in a building. And the building was just a little bit bigger than the carousel, so it was like a case for the carousel. The photos really aren't anything special, so I will spare you.
Suddenly I found myself at the Botanical Gardens!
There was SO much to explore and, unfortunately, I was desperate for lunch, so I had to hurry through. All I could think the entire time was that one day I would visit again with the Husband and we'd spend more time seeing it all.
My lunch destination was the café at the DeYoung Museum where I forced myself to have a nice long sit-down and a healthy soup and salad. I was determined not to tire myself out too quickly today, so I tried to sit down whenever possible. Afterwards, I rode to the top of DeYoung's observation tower for more amazing views of the city:
That building across the way with the cool green roof is the California Academy of Sciences. I really want to go! I also want to actually see all the art in the DeYoung (there's an Impressionist exhibit right now), so I may just return to these two locations on Friday... We'll see!
But at the moment I couldn't resist what was waiting for me beside the DeYoung: The Japanese Tea Garden!
Again, I could not keep my reactions to myself! It was breathtaking!! And then this little guy and his partner were hanging out, eating out of people's hands:
At this point, even though I'd only seen the first third of this enormous park, I hopped in a cab to take me to the western edge, because that's where the ocean is! My destination was a place called the Beach Chalet, because my guidebook said it had fantastic views of the water. First of all, thank goodness I didn't try to walk it. That part of my guidebook is a bit condensed, so what didn't look too far away was actually more than 40 blocks! My friendly cab driver took a wrong turn when we hit the water, so we had a lovely drive along the ocean for a while before he could turn around. Oh, and he stopped the meter during that time, which was also nice. We chatted and enjoyed the trip until he finally dropped me off at my destination, which took my breath away because it was literally across the street from THE OCEAN! So I paid the driver (he didn't even charge me as much as the meter said before the wrong turn) and headed into the building where I encountered more beautiful murals and mosaics, both of which have been a theme during this trip. So I reached into my purse for my camera...
WHERE THE FUCK IS MY CAMERA!? Wait, let me rephrase that. WHERE THE FUCK IS THE HUSBAND'S CAMERA!?!
My heart stopped, tears sprung to my eyes and I immediately had a headache, which is still raging, by the way.
Obviously I'd put the camera down in the cab while paying the driver and forgot to pick it up! Not knowing what to do, I went upstairs to the restaurant where the hostess tried to help me a bit, but I had NO idea what the name of the cab company was, let alone the cab number or driver's name. After about 15 minutes of making a few phone calls (on my cell phone...ouch!) to various cab companies, I was no closer and completely distraught. One of the waitresses tried to assure me that the driver would likely come back once he discovered the camera, but I knew the driver was scheduled to go back to the DeYoung to pick someone else up and take them downtown.
I seriously didn't know what to do. I wanted to send a text to the Husband, because he is who I would normally turn to in moments of distress, but I didn't think it was fair to burden him with this while he was in the middle of shooting! He couldn't help and it would just put him in a panic. So after leaving my name and number with the restaurant, I started to cross the street to the ocean, tears streaming down my face. Suddenly I noticed a cab in front of the restaurant and realized that it was sitting there with passengers in the back, but no driver. Could it be? I went back in the building and who was there but the driver!!!! I almost hugged him!!!! Seriously, he said the people he picked up saw the camera, so he came back to give it to me before taking them on their way.
I can't describe how grateful and relieved I was. I'm sure you can all imagine! All I know is that I've used up my entire cache of good karma and must start stockpiling good deeds now for the next time I do something incredibly stupid.
Thankfully I had the Pacific Ocean to soothe my rattled soul. It was crazy windy and therefore quite cold, but I still took off my socks and shoes and walked along the beach, watching the insane kite surfers (or whatever they're called) risking their lives in the rip tide. I also dipped my toes in:
I wanted to share the feeling with all of you. Here you go:
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