Lens-Artists Challenge 136: Subjects starting with the letter “S”

I enjoy our weekly challenges because they help bring back memories of fun photo outings. And, as I dig way back into prior years, I see how my photography has improved. This week Patti has given us the letter “S” and suggested many ways we could post on it.

I just dove into my archives and here are some memories that I enjoyed re-visiting.

In 2018, Marlene and I went with a Meetup group for a photo walk along the Embarcadero in San Francisco. It was a wonderful day topped off with Ben and Jerry’s ice cream (There aren’t any in Sacramento!). On the left is a probable homeless man sleeping on a bench. On the right is a sightseeing bus with lots of tourists. What a dichotomy of life.

Also taken in 2018 is a sunset with sunflowers taken in Yolo County.

Jumping to that infamous year 2020, we have a delectable sweet treat taken at the Isleton Asian Festival, a shed taken on a road trip and shadows on a gazebo at the UC Davis Arboretum.

Now for some recent pictures in 2021, I’ll close this post with a sidewalk at Coyote Pond in Lincoln and snow at Donner Lake. Both taken this year.

Thank you Patti for this fun challenge!

The road home: Leaving San Francisco

Are you tired of San Francisco? We weren’t tired of San Francisco, just tired of 2 1/2 days shooting the city’s beauty with our cameras.

The morning before we left, we visited the Aquarium Of The Bay on Pier 39. To our credit, we did not walk the pier and shop. We went directly to the aquarium, had coffee (And I had a Krispy Kreme custard filled donut! It had been a long time since I ate one.) and left town. I snapped some pictures while going over the Golden Gate, and we stopped at the viewing site on the other side of the Golden Gate.

I really enjoyed the trip. I had never visited San Francisco as a photographer and found the experience so different than being a tourist. We didn’t get to the zoo. Linda wants to go back, but I’m not quite ready for the wind and fog just yet. Maybe next month. You can never get tired of photographing San Francisco!

In this post, I’m going to show you the backyard of the hostel, the Aquarium and we’ll say good-bye to the Golden Gate.

 

On the road again: Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

After a day of driving and shooting, seeing most of what Linda wanted, we decided to visit Golden Gate Park the following day. I’ve been there many times to museums, but have never walked through the gardens. With 1,017 acres, Golden Gate Park is larger than New York City’s Central Park. 

Admission, I lived in New York City for 10 years and never went to Manhattan or Central Park. You can see NYC through the eyes and lens of Sherry Felix, artist and photographer, at www.port4u.net. So I really can’t compare the two urban parks on either side of the country. But, Golden Gate Park rocks with it’s many museums and gardens.

We began with the San Francisco Botanical Gardens, then the Japanese Friendship Garden and then finished up with the Conservatory of Flowers. Admission to each of these were reasonable, and they were beautiful in their own way. I can’t say that I liked one over the others.

We then drove down to the Presidio. Needless to say, we were tired when we got back to the hostel. We had dinner at their cafe, rested and then walked around the hostel grounds. It was beautiful there, being on the water.

The most difficult part of this post is selecting the pictures to show you. The Botanical Gardens represented many countries in its boundaries; the Friendship Garden brought us to a Japanese landscape and the Conservatory showed us formal gardens and different flowers.

So enjoy it through my lens, and make sure you visit Golden Gate Park when you visit San Francisco. My next post will show you some of the Presidio, the Aquarium Of The Bay and a good-bye to the Golden Gate.

 

On the road again: The hostel experience

It wasn’t a 5-star rated lodging experience, but staying at the hostel was a unique one. Linda had reserved a private room with bunk beds that had a shared bathroom. If you are, or know someone who is, over 70 years, a private bathroom during the night is a must. But, I wasn’t going to have that convenience.

We were lucky to be placed in the ADA kitchen that had only two private rooms, a shared living area, kitchen and bathroom. We shared this abode with a family from England: a mom, dad and their three young boys. The boys were amazingly well behaved and fun. For two days and nights we shared our space, keeping aware of the other’s needs.

What I was surprised at was the communal kitchen. Visitors had cubby space to store their dry food and refrigerator space for perishables. The kitchen was stocked with stove, pots, pans, plates, forks, etc. You could cook full meals there. We had the same in our ADA kitchen. Each morning, we took our hard-boiled eggs down to the kitchen and grabbed a bagel, butter and homemade jam. What a treat. Linda had peanut butter. Even though we brought enough for two dinners, we ate in the hostel cafe one night, and the food was delicious.

While we had a private bedroom, others shared rooms dorm style and lounged in the communal living room. Each night a family type movie played in the small hostel theater. This is definitely the inexpensive way to stay in San Francisco. Our room was $100. per night and fees went down from there for other types of rooms. All the visitors, a good many from outside the U.S., we great to speak with. They were singles, seniors and families with small children.

To be honest, I’m not sure I’d do the hostel thing again. Not because it wasn’t a 5-star experience, but I do like having a private bathroom.

In today’s post I’m sharing my experience at the Legion of Honor Museum (which was closed but you can see the outside, the Holocaust Memorial, the Sutro Baths and the view from Twin Peaks.