De Young and then some

One of many beauties at De Young

Today was sort of my one whole day in SFO deal so I decided to do some sight seeing in the Golden Gate Park area. One of my friends lived there and I was lucky that my accommodation was taken are of. I also saved on renting a car as I did a cab to and from the airport and did not really need one while in town as my friend lived within walking distance to the park. I have been to SFO before so I took it easy and decided to enjoy the weather and the walk - walking around is not the best mode of mobility in Atlanta. Granted the park is huge and dotted with many attractions and restaurants along the way, but it does have enough real estate on there to facilitate picnics or biker groups, etc. My pick for the day were the De Young museum, Japanese tea garden, the Conservatory of Flowers and the Botanical gardens. Had not been to any of those before. The De young museum had a great exhibit on modern artists and the gift shop was to die for. I am going to say I probably spent about 3 hours in there and still did not see everything. They have a nice cafeteria - I tend to eat onsite where possible so I don't waste time trying to find a place to eat. They have a great viewing deck that I believe is a must if you are checking it out anyway. Fantastic views of SFO in all directions. The tea garden was right next to it and made for an easy transition from the museum to the botanical gardens. You can get some nice shots at  the tea garden and some unique buys but that's about as much as I found interest in while there. The botanical gardens was huge and probably wasn't the best time to visit as most of the greenery seemed to be not in full bloom yet. I did get in quite a bit of a walk though. Figured I'd catch the conservatory on my way back to home base but did not realize they closed early so missed out on it. The well-manicured lawn up front is a great sight. At this point, it was well into the evening and there were performers on the streets, people were out for some wining and dining and the cool evening breeze made the walk home pleasant.

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