Monday, July 20, 2009

angry beast: the city in pictures

A group of us headed over to the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco last week. It has just recently opened back up after a long re-building stretch, and the reviews are mixed.

There's a four-story rainforest there, full of butterflies. It's also home to little poison tree frogs that are almost close enough to lick. Note to anyone planning on visiting, though: get your Planetarium passes early. By the time we got there, all the passes were gone. I was especially impressed by the new and improved Steinhart Aquarium: The fishies and jellies are always a favorite:

Afterward, we headed down to the fish market section of the Wharf for lunch:


Behold the paragon of San Francisco cuisine - fresh, hot, crustilicious sourdough bread (Can you hear the angels singing? Can you?):


And the bowl of fresh clam chowder served in an edible sourdough bowl. I mean, seriously. Don't even get me started:

From there, it was short jaunt over to Pier 39 to check out the sights (I love playing tourist in my own town):



Adam and Steve as mermen...only in San Francisco:No visit to the Pier is complete without a pow wow with the sea lions. The fragrance is, in all ways, striking and unique.


We headed to a different part of the waterfront, where a bunch of the old Playland elements are on display. Playland was a turn-of-the-century amusement park on the beach in SF, and, let me tell you...Folks were TWISTED a hundred years ago. (Mommy? Looking at Jolly Jack gives me a bad feeling in the pit of my tummy...):
Anyone who saw the old Tom Hanks movie, Big, will no doubt remember Laughing Sal ("Terrifying Children for nearly a Century!").

"See Susie dance the Can-Can!" (Do we have to?)


"Here's a quarter, Timmy. Now, run along and play with the Opium Den like a good little boy..."


"Safety word...SAFETY WORD!!!"

Suffice it to say that one of these afterward would not have been a bad idea:

4 comments:

  1. GREAT pics! Thanks for sharing. ahhh... the memories, especially of the pier and Funland..........

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  2. Yes, and we've totally lucked out with the weather as well. I'm starting to gear up for heading back to the dry country, though.
    lol

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  3. I hope that your "lol" is sarcastic, dear... nothing dry here! For this time of the year, it is all lush and green still. Last week the corral and round pen were under a mini lake.

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  4. Nice work with the camera. Keep it up.

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