CitySightseeing The Golden Gate Park, Haight Ashbury,

Being gluttons for punishment we continue to drive around San Francisco on an open top bus in the freezing cold and after arriving back at Leavenworth St we catch the downtown loop bus to as we were going to go and see the Tutankhamen exhibition at the De Young Museum in the Golden Gate Park.

But in the end we changed our minds and will do that tomorrow. Our tour guide was so interesting we preferred to stay on the bus and hear what she had to say. Plus I was looking forward to driving through the Haight – Ashbury area – the site of the hippie movement back in the 60′s.

The free medical clinic still operates to treat victims of drug overdose, and it is at this clinic that the singer Janis Joplin was treated (before she became famous) when she OD’d.

The smoking of Marijuana is legal in San Francisco but you need to be issued with a Cannabis Card, which apparently is very easy to get.

The San Francisco Park Loop leaves from Union Square and on the way to the Park the drive goes past St Mary’s Cathedral, Japantown – San Francisco is the sister city of Osaka in Japan, Alamo Square and past the beautiful Victorian and Edwardian houses that include the famous “Painted Ladies” Victorian houses which were used in the opening credits of the TV series Full House. These beautiful Victorian houses are at 712–720 Steiner St. which borders Alamo Square park, and people come from all over to take photos.

Although the Painted Ladies were uses in the TV series the actual red door that the family used to come and go from the house, belonged to a house a couple of blocks over.  Ahhh the deceitfulness of the movie world.

The Architecture changed after the 1906 earthquake when the city was ravaged by fires for three days. Being unable to contain the fire, Firemen had to clear a large number of the Victorian style houses to create a fire break to try to stop the fires from spreading further.

The ‘Painted Ladies’

The Golden Gate Park

The Golden Gate Park was developed by John McLaren (1846-1943) who created an area that is enjoyed by millions of people today. The park is near the Haight – Ashbury district, know for its hippie culture and where the phrase ‘Psychedelic’ was coined.

McLaren disliked statues, which he called Stookies, and whenever the city fathers would erect a statue, McLaren would quickly surround it with groves so that it was quickly hidden from view. There is a  statue of Mclaren himself which was unearthed, like many others, after his death.

His vision was that there should not be and “keep off the grass” signs, the park was to be used by all, a place to lie on the grass in the sunshine and a place for children to run and play.

When he reached retiring age of 60 and refused to retire the city government received thousands of letters supporting McLaren and when he turned 70 he was exempted from retiring  and lived out his life until the age of 96 in Mclaren Lodge.

McLaren Lodge, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

Once you enter the Golden Gate Park you get to see the De Young Museum which currently houses the TUT exhibition, there is a glimpse of the Japanese Tea Gardens from the bus and the new, multi million dollar California Academy of Sciences which features an aquarium, a planetarium, a natural history museum and a living roof plus much more.  We intend to spend tomorrow in the park visiting these attractions and I will give you all an update tomorrow.

Then its back to Union Square and a quick trip back to Fisherman’s wharf where we stop off for Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl, at Bodums. Yummy delish and quite warming after freezing our butts off all day.

Scenes to and around the Golden Gate Park

The De Young Museum

The Conservatory of Flowers – Golden Gate Park San Francisco

The ‘Legs’ in Haight St

Tie Dyed Dresses in Haight St

Colorful Architechture in Haight St

Contrasting styles

Beautiful Victorian and Edwardian Architecture

Our Fantastic Tour Guide and More Architectural Delights

More tomorrow when we go to the TUT exhibition in the de Young museum, Golden Gate Park.