The Love of Ganesha on Haight Street

Still in the Haight neighborhood in San Francisco.  This was a colorful store to go into, so many items for sale and there was even a side altar room dedicated only to Ganesha.  No photos were allowed there...darn...me being the religious type and all.

So many bangles and elephants I thought that I was in India.

The Haight

Maybe you are not old enough to remember Haight Ashbury in San Francisco and the scene that it was in the 60's.  Maybe you are and just don't remember them.  Either way you can still visit the Haight and get a sense of the now upscale hippiness that it still offers.  Vintage clothing stores, Ben and Jerrys Ice Cream, music shops, Himalayan stores, you name it.  I was there in 1968 (with my mother - OI) to visit.  I was 15, a prime age for exploring. 

There are still lots of Victorian houses painted in lively colors. And now for a little time travel.  Here's the corner of Haight Street and Ashbury Street in 1968. 

That's me on the left with the stripped dress on.  I was buying a copy of the 'Haight Ashbury Tribune'

from a real hippie. 

Lands End

We drove all the way out from the Golden Gate Park until we hit water.  Here we found the 'modern' ruins of Sutro Baths and Point Lobos.  Sutro Baths were built in 1896 and were the first public bathhouses in California,  They were named after one time mayor Adolph Sutro.  In 1966 they burned down while they were being demolished.

This is Carrie posing when we finally got out to the point. 

A Floral Interlude

Public Sculpture Garden - de Young Museum

Only this one piece of sculpture captured my eye and the lense of my camera. 

Corridor Pin, Blue

Claes Oldenburg, Coosje van Bruggen
1999

A View from the Other Side - Hamon Tower

Still atop Hamon Tower in the deYoung Museum in Golden Gate State Park. 

This is looking south onto the Music Concourse. 

We were lucky enough to have a local high school band performing in the band shell so we grabbed some Annie's Hot dogs and sat down and rested while we ate.

This is a mother and her child pointing out where she used to live in San Francisco. 

Hamon Tower at de Young Museum of Fine Arts

Hamon Tower is free and open to the public to get a 360 degree view of San Francisco.  It was quite extraordinary and the day was sunny and clear.  This first photo is one of my son's fiance silhouetted against San Francisco. 

 Above you can see part of the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance.

 And facing downtown, the Transamerica Pyramid in the financial district.

Tomorrow a view from the other side.

de Young Fine Arts Museum at Golden Gate Park

  The next few days I'll be showing some photos taken at the de Young Museum of Fine Arts in San Francisco.  We didn't actually go to view the exhibits but went up into Hamon Tower that is open and free to the public.  It has fabulous views of the city.  Below are some hanging sculptures that played off of the light.  I'm sorry to say I did not get the artist's name. 

Final Random Shots in the Japanese Tea Garden

So I realized that I don't have that many photos of the actual plant life in the gardens because I was enamoured with the pagodas, statues and bridges.  Here are some final random shots in the Tea Garden.

Buddha says, "The way is not in the sky.  The way is in the heart."

Beauty Everywhere

Still inside of the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.  This is a beautiful pagoda-ish covering that you walked through to get to another part of the gardens.

And of course the beloved Cherry Blossoms!

Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park

First we are going to take a stroll for the next few days in the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate State Park.  It was a lovely day and we got there first thing in the morning before the crowds.  Of course the Cherry Blossoms had already bloomed but the garden didn't lack for beautiful horticulture. 

The pagoda that is in my opinion, the jewel of the garden was a Buddhist Shrine moved to the gardens in 1915 after the Panama-Pacific Exposition. 

The Japanese Tea Garden was built and planted in Golden Gate Park for the 1894 California Midwinter International Exposition by Makoto Hagiwara.  Over the next few days I'll continue to post photos from the gardens. 

Back Again

This is a 'teaser' photo of the Grand Tetons in Wyoming taken from the window of the airplane on my flight from JKF in New York to the San Francisco Airport.  I just returned from a week of visiting and sightseeing with my son and his fiance who live in Oakland.  What a grand time we had!  Many more photos of the trip will appear over the next week or so.  Hope you enjoy!

Standing Guard

This dog's name is Lightning and he is a trained police dog in New York City.  This officer was kind enough to let me photograph them this weekend as they were on watch in the Subway system of New York.

I've chosen this photo to stand guard over my blog until I'm back.  I was away for the weekend, hence no photos and I'll be in CA on vacation for a week.  See you when I get back with some new and different photos.