17 February 2013 - Golden Gate Park

It is Sunday and the possibilities are endless. When I arrived, Robin handed me a folder full of ideas: places to go, things to see, restaurants, museums...you name it. So browsing through the Sunday paper and the folder over coffee, I became enamored of a day at Golden Gate Park. There was an article about the magnolias coming into bloom with docent led tours. Why not?  Plus there was a special exhibit of Dutch Masters at the de Young Museum which includes Vermeer's Girl With the Pearl Earring. 

On Sundays, many of the inner roads of the park are closed to cars so walkers, runners, bikers et al have lots of room. With less space for cars, we ended up parking at the far west side of the park. As we walked into the closest entrance to the park we found ourselves at the Children's Garden where the carousel is housed. What a find! A completely restored 1914  Herschell-Spillman Carousel with many different animals. First we took a ride. Then the operator allowed to stay inside and take pictures, lots of pictures, I might add. We rode a second time, and took more pictures. It was magnificent. Okay, I admit, I have 78 pictures of the carousel. I won't post them all here, but they were incredible.  Some favorites. 

 

 













Here's Robin with her favorite, the tiger. Especially appropriate since she falls into the Year of the Tiger through the Chinese Zodiak.  

The stag had real antlers. 

 

We emerged from that wonderland an hour later and cruised through the children's garden. My favorite part was a 30 foot long eel that doubled as a retaining wall at the back of the sand box.  I think she is beautiful! 

Could I do this in my yard?  First the back end disappears into the rock...

 Then the front end appears at the far end of the sand box. 

 Her expression reminds me of the Dragon in Shrek that fell in love with Donkey. 

We started walking toward the other end of the park to see the magnolias. After a brief detour though the AIDS Memorial Garden, we found ourselves between the de Young Art Museum and the Science Center. More serendipity. In front of a fountain in the courtyard, a young man was playing a cello sonata. We found a bench and sat for a while. He was really good. We soaked up the warm sun, did some desultory people watching, enjoyed the music then moved on. 

Our next stop was the de Young for a delightful lunch. Afterwards we took the elevator up to the top of the observation tower.  The tower offered floor to ceiling windows on all four sides with San Francisco as far as you could see in any direction.  

Once again, we headed toward the magnolias. 

By the time we finally made it to the botanical garden, we discovered that the docent led tour had just left. We hustled down the path and caught up with the very small group. It was a lot of fun. Our guide was mostly interested in showing the magnolias and getting us back, but as all of us kept asking questions and wanting more information on other plants, she became more animated and gave us a very interesting tour.                                    
 

We saw lots of magnolias in many shades of white, pink, fuschia and combinations of pinks. The moon was half full, hard to see with the bright sun, but I liked how it sits quietly in back of the flower.           

What was equally neat is that the proteus were blooming too. They look like big blooming artichokes. 

 

All these blooms are in different stages of their life span. Interesting how they change as they age. 
 
 

  

 Even as the old blooms dry out, the tips are still soft and feathery. But these are sold for the dried flower market. They are exotic no matter what stage they are in. 

After we finished the tour, Robin and I wandered around the botanical gardens. 

There was a lovely fragrance garden, but many of the flowers were not yet in bloom, and others weren't labeled. One of my pet peeves is unlabeled plants. Here is a cutie pie with nothing to tell me who he is. 

Another unnamed variety: a fern with bright pink new growth. How charming is this? 

  

 
There is a great Japanese garden in the park, but it closes early so we decided there was not enough time to see it properly. That gave us more time in the botanical gardens.


 
 








 
Continuing on, we watched a great blue heron fish for a while. 

This lake also had several coots swimming around. This was the highlight of my day!  I hadn't seen coots' feet before. WOW! Here's the coots...

 Now check out their feet! They are lacy and the markings plus the blue and green coloration is fabulous. I am totally enthralled. 

I want to blow this photo up and hang it some place where I can just cogitate on how wonderful this world is that could produce a bird with such beautiful feet.

By this time, we had been in the park all day, the sun was close to setting and it was getting cold. We left for home and a hot dinner. Another big day.