SFO

We felt that we had exhausted what there was to do in Coeur d'Alene with Bryn and Luke, so we were glad to be heading to San Francisco, our favorite city in the U.S. We stayed at the Heritage Place Ghirardelli Square, managed by the Fairmount chain, in a residence that was, hands down, the nicest place we have ever stayed in. We had a two-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath apartment with a full kitchen and in-unit washer/dryer. The hotel provided complimentary wine and cheese every afternoon -- in an effort to sell time shares; a very nice continental breakfast every morning; access to a car, which we used twice; and a communal deck with fire pits that Ken and I used when we met up with friends who live in the city.





Our room wasn't ready when we first arrived, so we headed down to Fisherman's Wharf in search of street performers. Luke was fascinated by them, and he was more enthusiastic to get his picture taken with men in makeup than any of the characters at Disney World.

We saw sourdough bread being made at Boudins' Bakery.And on our way back to the hotel, we stumbled upon a very cool break dancing show. The dancers brazenly asked for $20 from spectators, and they picked up $100 just like that.


Our first morning in San Francisco, we went to the most wonderful science museum -- The Exploratorium. Every exhibit was interactive, and appealed to children and adults alike. In the very first exhibit, Luke had to adjust a sail attached to a skateboard in order for it to be blown by fans along the length of a table.
In a study on attention, the viewer of a video, concentrating on counting the number of times a basketball team bounces a ball in 30 seconds, doesn't notice a man dressed in a gorilla suit walking across the screen! In the funniest exhibit, only Luke was willing to drink from a clean water fountain fashioned out of a toilet. The sign that accompanied the exhibit read, "The water in this fountain is perfectly clean, and the toilet has never been used. So why do people usually hesitate before taking a drink? Strong emotional associations with objects or people can make it difficult to act rationally around them." Still, doesn't this look gross to you??There was a cool climbing structure that was marked for children "5 and up," and unfortunately, Luke fell down through the center of it, but he was okay -- just shaken a bit. The kids' favorite exhibit, in the gallery on light, was a porcelain tea cup that they tried to touch and pick up, but as it turns out, it was merely a reflection of one! What a truly great experience that made learning about science fun.
That afternoon we rode an open-air, 1950s Mack fire truck over the Golden Gate Bridge. The tickets were really expensive, and I wouldn't recommend it for that reason, but interestingly Bryn said the ride was one of the highlights of her time in San Francisco. Luke, meanwhile, fell asleep for most of the windy trip.
Day 2
On Sunday we went to a very large playground in Golden Gate Park, the Koret Children's Quarter, where we met up with a friend of Ken's from rowing, Nick Ondrejka, and his family. Nick has three children -- his oldest, Vina Mae, is nine, and Bryn warmed up to her instantly and very much enjoyed playing with Vina.
After the playground -- and delicious, $5 hot dogs from a stand by the carousel -- we went to the California Academy of Sciences which boasts the world's deepest living coral reef display. Bryn had fun playing "I Spy" with cards provided by the aquarium in which you tried to spot 25 different types of tropical fish among the coral. We walked through the aquarium and the rainforest and ate lunch where the cafeteria offers everything from Vietnamese spring rolls to spare ribs! Back at Ghirardelli Square, I took Bryn to get her portrait done by one of the street vendors. Unable to sit still for more than a minute, Luke stayed in the apartment where he was just as happy playing with his Matchbox cars, which he deemed important enough to put in the safe.That evening, after dinner, Nick met Ken at our hotel, so the two had a bona fide chance to catch up.
Day 3
While waiting in line for a cable car, I bribed Bryn and Luke with lollipops to get them to hug each other, with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. You can't see the bridge, and it looks as though they might be at each other's throats, but here's the result:We rode the slow cable car up and down hills, past Union Square, and to the end of the line at Market Street. From there we walked to the playground behind the Zeum, a new children's museum that was closed on Mondays. Then back toward Union Square where we caught a faster taxi back to the hotel. In the late afternoon we rode across the city to the Twin Peaks neighborhood to have a pasta dinner at Nick and Judy's house. Having dinner at the Ondrejkas' was another highlight for Bryn of our time in San Francisco.
Day 4
Ken woke up with a horrible stomach bug. We were scheduled to go to Muir Woods, but he couldn't make the trip. So now we have a compelling reason to go back to San Francisco -- and stay at the Heritage Place at Ghirardelli Square! Instead, we took the kids to the Bay Area Discovery Museum, a wonderful children's museum just on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge. The museum is housed in former military barracks, so it's comprised of a cluster of buildings. It's worth going to the museum just to take advantage of the outdoor play space and views of the bridge. For a solid 40 minutes Bryn and Luke commandeered a wooden boat with captain's quarters in the bow, a bell to ring, a ladder to climb to get to the upper deck, and, of course, a wheel.From there we started along a trail, which took us past a cross-section of a Redwood or Sequoia (don't know which),up a trail comprised of cut logs, and into a clearing with the most magnificent view of the Golden Gate Bridge. By this time Ken had gone back to the car to rest, so I'm afraid he missed the cool trail and amazing vista. Ken felt marginally better the next day, but for the remainder of our time out west, he was very careful about what he ate. What a bummer to get sick while on vacation.