Friday, January 26, 2018

My 70th Trip Celebration

My 70th birthday, my 70th trip around the sun, is one I will not get to repeat.  As no one ever gets to repeat, we should all celebrate, and celebrate well!  Many of my friends had great parties, a few had quiet dinners, and I was undecided.  Finally, I chose to spend it in my favorite city: San Francisco, which made my birthday celebration turn into a weekend-long celebration.

Jim and I drove up the coast highway looking at giant waves left over from the week's storm.


Our first stop of the day was the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park.  I am pointing to Andy Goldsworthy's fault line and rocks in the entry way.  His work is one of my favorite things about the museum.


These are baskets woven by people who once lived in California.


This one has added bird feathers of many different kinds and abalone shell pieces.


We walked along the waterfront near the St. Francis Yacht Club enjoying views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco Bay including Alcatraz Island,




and San Francisco:


As I was treated to dinner at Greens Restaurant in Fort Mason Center, we watched the sky grow dark:






We stayed overnight near Union Square and took our 11th stairwalk Saturday morning around Nob Hill, just four blocks up and away.  At the top we asked to be shown into a private dining room of the Huntington Hotel to view Muybridge's 1878 panoramic photo of San Francisco and his Horse in Motion series.


The famous cable cars crossed our path several times.


At the Fountain of the Turtles in Huntington Park, a woman practiced her Tai Chi.


Before heading back along the coast to Santa Cruz, we met an old friend for lunch in Japantown, a new dining place for us.  It was a wonderful 70th birthday celebration in the city!