Happy New Year everyone! I don’t have much for today. However, I wanted to post a favorite picture of mine. It was one of the first I took with my camera and I just got very lucky. The picture, as you see it, is upside down. It is a reflection in the pond at the Palace of Fine Arts here in San Francisco. I found the picture to be more interesting upside down, so here it is.
Previously, I posted Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park: The Aquatic Gallery part 2. You can find all the previous Conservatory posts here.
This time, in the spirit of the holidays, we’re visiting a different section of the Conservatory. To celebrate 140 years of Golden Gate Park, the Conservatory is hosting a Garden Railway Exhibit. The exhibit will run through March 13, 2011 and there is no extra charge. Even Thomas the Tank Engine puts in an appearance.
Continue reading “Conservatory of Flowers and the Garden Railroad Exhibit”
Previously, I posted Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park: Highland Tropics. You can find all the previous Conservatory posts here. This time we have made our way to the last section, the Aquatic Plant Gallery.
Anyone who comes to San Francisco should try to find the time to visit the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. Opened to the public 1879, it is the oldest building in the park. It houses around 1700 plant species. The orchid collection is said to be one of the best.
The Conservatory of Flowers is located at 100 John F. Kennedy Drive. It is accessible for motorized and non motorized wheelchairs. Strollers are not permitted inside, but there is a place to park them while you explore. As it is a greenhouse, it will be quite warm and humid inside. As it can be rather cold outside, be sure to wear removable layers. It is open Tuesday thru Sunday from 10am to 4:30pm. The cost is $7 for adults, $5 for ages 12-17, seniors 65 & over, and college students with school ID. $2 for children 5 – 11 and free for children 4 and under. Local residents receive a discount with proof of residency.
Note: On Sundays, John F. Kennedy Drive is closed to vehicular traffic. For those who don’t mind walking, you can just park on Martin Luther King Drive and walk to the Conservatory.
Today we’re visiting the Aquatic Plant Gallery. This section features lily ponds, carnivorous pitcher plants, and a whole host of bromeliads. I must admit that this was my favorite section, by far. I don’t know the names of a lot of the plants and flowers I’m posting, so if you know, feel free to comment and I’ll update accordingly.
There’s always been some dream-like quality in films from Tarkovsky, Lars Von Trier or Kurosawa which I found attractive beyond the visual dimension, and it has to do with the way scenes flow, details and locations reveal themselves.
I used to dream this way: I would find myself going from one somewhat familiar location to a completely different one, a construct of my imagination, which could not possibly belong next to the original place in the real world, like going from day to night by the flick of a switch.
Living here in California means zooming by unknown treasures at 75 mph.
Exploring a city like San Francisco makes you wonder whether it was conceived by Morpheus. Take Mountain Lake Park, just off Highway one at Lake street, the park borders the Southern edge of the Presidio, and I’d never have known it was there, hadn’t we in fact looked it up.
The trail which starts at the Lake goes on for several blocks, seemingly forever.
Within a large city, suddenly you find yourself in the woods, starting with a lake which once reportedly had an abandoned albino alligator as a resident.
Continue reading “Cityscapes: San Francisco in dream sequences”
I meant to post this sooner, but we got caught up in a rather heavy rain/hail/lightning/ mess, so I turned the computer off to be safe.
Previously, I posted Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park: Part 1, The Lowland Tropics.
Anyone who comes to San Francisco should try and find the time to visit the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. Opened to the public in 1879, it is the oldest building in the park. It houses around 1700 plant species. The orchid collection is said to be one of the best.
This time we’re going to visit the Potted Plants Gallery.
The Conservatory of Flowers is located at 100 John F. Kennedy Drive. It is accessible for motorized and non motorized wheelchairs. Strollers are not permitted inside, but there is a place to park them while you explore. As it is a greenhouse, it will be quite warm and humid inside. As it can be rather cold outside, be sure to wear removable layers. It is open Tuesday thru Sunday from 10am to 4:30pm. The cost is $7 for adults, $5 for ages 12-17, seniors 65 & over, and college students with school ID. $2 for children 5 – 11 and free for children 4 and under. Local residents receive a discount with proof of residency.
Note: On Sundays, John F. Kennedy Drive is closed to vehicular traffic. For those who don’t mind walking, you can just park on Martin Luther King Drive and walk to the Conservatory.
Amazingly, the Conservatory barely escaped disaster more than once. It had to have the dome restored after an 1883 boiler explosion and fire. It also managed to survive the 1906 Earthquake. In 1933 Structural instability caused the Park Commission to close it. The Great Depression meant a lack of funds preventing it from reopening until 1946.
The Potted Plants Gallery is home to hibiscus, cymbidium orchids, bromeliads, begonias, and much more. When I know the name of a plant, the pictures will be labeled. Not everything had a marker, so I was unsure of a few. Should anyone know the name of any of these unnamed plants, feel free to comment. I’ll update if necessary.
I hope you enjoyed some of these. I also hope they give you the urge to visit our fine city and see what it has to offer. I wasn’t born and raised here, however, I can understand the song “I Left My Heart In San Francisco”. 🙂
On Sunday, Lastech and I went adventuring in the city. San Francisco has many beautiful places and sometimes we like to be tourists for a day. We had never been to the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park, so we decided it was time. Now we wonder what took us so long. The day was sunny and the visit was beautiful. I took so many pictures that they will come in installments.
Anyone who comes to San Francisco should try to find the time to visit the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. Opened to the public 1879, it is the oldest building in the park. It houses around 1700 plant species. The orchid collection is said to be one of the best.
The Conservatory of Flowers is located at 100 John F. Kennedy Drive. It is accessible for motorized and non motorized wheelchairs. Strollers are not permitted inside, but there is a place to park them while you explore. As it is a greenhouse, it will be quite warm and humid inside. As it can be rather cold outside, be sure to wear removable layers. It is open Tuesday thru Sunday from 10am to 4:30pm. The cost is $7 for adults, $5 for ages 12-17, seniors 65 & over, and college students with school ID. $2 for children 5 – 11 and free for children 4 and under. Local residents receive a discount with proof of residency.
Note: On Sundays, John F. Kennedy Drive is closed to vehicular traffic. For those who don’t mind walking, you can just park on Martin Luther King Drive and walk to the Conservatory.
As I noted earlier, the Conservatory of Flowers was opened to the public in 1879. The architecture is said to have been inspired by London’s Kew Gardens. It is of wood and glass construction. The original wood used in construction was coastal redwood.
Once at the Conservatory you enter via the vestibule to the 60 foot high pavilion. This part of the Conservatory houses the Lowland Tropics plants. These are plants that grow in the low-lying tropical forests found in Mexico, Brazil, and Indonesia at altitudes less than 3,000 feet.
This area houses plants such as coffee, bananas, cacao, cycads, and a 100 year old imperial philodendron.
I hope you enjoy the following pictures and with luck, they will inspire you to visit the Conservatory of Flowers one day.
Next time we’ll explore the Potted Plant Gallery.
Russian Ridge is a part of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. This district manages more than 60,000 acres in 26 preserves. Of these 26 preserves, 24 are open to the public for hiking, cycling, and horseback riding. They are free to the public and open year round from dawn until dusk.
Continue reading “Hiking the Bay Area trails: Russian Ridge”
Sigmund Stern Recreation Grove is located in the Sunset District of San Francisco. It is located along Sloat Avenue between 19th and 34th Avenues.
The park was donated to the city in 1931 by Rosalie Meyer Stern and is named after her husband. Stern Grove is made up of three distinct areas: there is the Concert Meadow, the West Meadow, and Pine Lake Park. At 33 acres in size, it provides a wonderful place to take the dog or just go for a walk or picnic. The park is wheelchair accessible.
To get there:
From 19th Avenue, turn West on Sloat. Continue on a few blocks and turn right on Vale. Vale will take you to the gate and drive that leads to the parking lot.
The Concert meadow is where they hold the Stern Grove Festival. Since 1938 there have been free weekly concerts and performances in the amphitheater. It is the nation’s longest-running free, outdoor music festival.
Continue reading “Walking around Stern Grove in San Francisco”
Cataract Falls are located in the Marin Municipal Water District on the North side of Mt. Tamalpais and not far from the town of Fairfax. It is a seasonal waterfall that flows during the rainy season (Dec. through May). The best time to see the falls are right after a good rain. At other times, it’s just a trickle.
It’s ranked by many as a moderate hike, but as most of it involves stairs, one should be in decent shape. It’s a trail that is well worth the effort. It’s only a 2.7 mile round trip, but has a fair altitude change. The starting elevation is approximately 650 ft. It climbs to about 1100 feet in a half mile and on to about 1400 ft in the next .8 mile.
The trail and stairs can be slippery when wet, so use caution. The only way to remove the injured from the trail is by helicopter. A good trekking pole can help.
To get there:
Take Hwy #101 to San Rafael, and take the Sir Francis Drake Blvd. exit. Drive 6 miles to Fairfax, and turn left on Pacheco Rd. (may be unsigned, there is a sign saying “Fairfax” at intersection). Take an immediate right on Broadway, then first left on Bolinas Rd. Drive 7.8 miles to Alpine Lake, and park at the hairpin turn just after crossing the dam. Parking is limited, find a parking spot somewhere off the narrow road. The trail head is on the left at the hairpin turn.
You can also park at the other end of the trail, on West Ridgecrest Blvd. at the Laurel Dell picnic area. From the Mill Valley / Stinson Beach / Hwy #1 exit on Hwy #101 north of San Francisco, drive 1 mile to Shoreline Hwy. Turn left and drive 2.5 miles to Panoramic Hwy. Turn right and drive 5.2 miles to Pantoll Rd. Turn right and drive 1.4 miles to Ridgecrest Rd. Turn left and drive 1.6 miles to a small parking area on right. The trail is marked “Laurel Dell”.
The road is narrow and the day we went, we had to move tree branches out of the road. Also, be sure not to park facing oncoming traffic as tickets may be handed out.
Alpine Lake and the dam are beautiful when the water is flowing.
Once parked the trail follows the West side of the lake heading South.
This part of the trail is fairly easy. Don’t be fooled. It doesn’t last long.
Soon, the stairs begin and you start to climb.
The amount of greenery is incredible and worth the hike.
Soon, you begin to see the beginning of the falls. Some are small, others quite tall.
Today, Yosemite National Park is 120 years old. Thanks in large part to that wonderful explorer and naturalist, John Muir. According to the John Muir National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service) :
The “Father of the National Park Service”
John Muir was many things, inventor, immigrant, botanist, glaciologist, writer, co-founder of the Sierra Club, fruit rancher. But it was John Muir’s love of nature, and the preservation of it, that we can thank him for today. Muir convinced President Teddy Roosevelt to protect Yosemite (including Yosemite Valley), Sequoia, Grand Canyon and Mt. Rainier as National Parks.
That said, here are a few pictures in honor of that wonderful place called Yosemite.
