Day 23 - In A Golden Gate State

Having been extremely busy for the entire trip so far, day 23 was our first chance for a full-blown lie in... so we took it. All we saw of the morning was a brief moment of blurriness around 10am when we disabled our alarms, before falling straight back to sleep (why we'd bothered to set them in the first place, we're not quite sure). We finally dragged ourselves out of the oh-so-comfy beds for breakfast (or should we say brunch) shortly after noon. After a delicious feast of cereal, bagels and fresh fruit, we quickly changed and packed our bags, as today we were moving location once more - this time only further along the SF bay to Marin County.

However, before moving into our new house, we decided to have a day out with Alicia at Golden Gate Park in SF. The park, for those who have never visited, is fairly big... actually, it's astronomically big. Our first point of call was the De Young Museum which boasts an observation tower giving great panoramas of the surrounding area. In addition, the De Young presently features an exhibition by prodigiously prolific artist Dale Chihuly. Dale, as most of you probably know, is most frequently lauded for revolutionizing the Studio Glass movement by expanding its original premise of the solitary artist working in a studio environment to encompass the notion of collaborative teams and a division of labor within the creative process. With this in mind, we took the opportunity to take a look at his fine glacial achievements, and we were by no means disappointed. The exhibition was genuinely spectacular, you can see this for yourself below (we did actually take these snaps ourselves - as is the case with any photo appearing on this blog).




Also within the park is the 'Japanese Tea Garden' (the oldest of its kind in the US) so we decided pay a visit. The garden was quite simply beautiful - home to a stunning array of oriental architecture and a range of floral extravagance. After slowly meandering over the many bridges and walkways, we found ourselves sitting in the garden tea house enjoying a pot of Jasmine Tea and a couple of fortune cookies (apparently, fortune cookies were actually invented in that very garden!). Joe's foretold of a thrilling time yet to come, while John's simply told him that he has a charming and courteous attitude.





Following the reassurance about our future (and present) lives, we took off in search of the Shakespeare Garden. Now, this garden plays host to 150 different species of plant, all of which are mentioned at some point in one of Shakespeare's plays (Commenters challenge for the day: come up with Shakespeare quotes referencing a species of plant - no cheating!). We stood awhile and watch'd o'er the garden, until whence the moment came to parteth. Henceforth, we legged it out of the joint.


Next up was the Golden Gate Park Disc Golf course (yes, it actually has one... they're surprisingly common out here). We hadn't really come for a full round so just played a couple of holes to demonstrate to Alicia how it's done. However, we by no means claim to be experts - a point that was proven shortly later when we were testing out discs from a makeshift stall. During our brief test period, we both managed to send a disc flying powerfully into a large set of tangled shrubbery, intertwined with huge brambles and nettles. Thankfully, some of the embarrassment was saved as we each managed to retrieve the stray discs. Our new found fondness for Disc Golf (we've heard rumours that large groups of our freestyle fanbase are now getting critically worried about our allegiance to the sport... don't panic guys, we'd never do that to you) was then boosted as Alicia kindly treated us each to a driver!


The final stop in golden gate park was the buffalo field - where, you guessed it, resides a herd of buffalo. Having never been acquainted with these fury beasts before, both J's were eager to say hello. Sadly, the buffalo were not so eager, and wouldn't even so much as turn round properly for a photo.


Insulted, we left the park, and headed over to the Cliff House for a meal. Some may be shocked to discover that the Cliff House is a restaurant located on a cliff - quite how it got its name, we have no idea. With stunning views of the coast, we enjoyed a delicious plethora of culinary delights. John selected the 'Grilled Marinated Fulton Valley Chicken Breast' which was served up with chopped italian sausage, beans and spinach. Joe was so dazzled by his pasta shell dish that he cannot remember its full title or any of the accompanying ingredients. Alicia went with the Frutti Del Mare (fruits of the sea), another seafood pasta combination. After cleaning up the plates (we left what we didn't like), we gazed at the glorious sunset taking place over the ocean before leaving for Marin.



On the way to Marin, we had a brief stop to look out at the Golden Gate Bridge (which was thankfully much more visible than it had been on our last visit). Shortly later we arrived at Bob & Mary's, who are to be our new hosts as we settle down and relax for a few days. We've been informed that we'll be "operating at a slower pace" whilst here, a change for which we are ready.


Don't forget today's Shakespeare challenge,
All the best,

J & J'eth