Exploring San Francisco
Though my focus here is exploration, most of the entries are about explorations that take place no further out than my back yard. But then earlier this month, I got an opportunity out of the blue to travel up the coast and explore San Francisco for a few days! I promised my husband I would take pictures since he was there for work, but thankfully I got help from my friend (and reader) Kendall, who came along for the adventure.
If you've ever had the privilege of going through The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, you will know that other than morning pages (three pages of stream of consciousness every morning), she encourages a regular practice of taking artist's dates, in which you take your inner artist out for a date. She discourages allowing anyone else to come along because of the danger of paying more attention to the other person than to whatever your inner artist wants to pay attention. It's not about paying more attention to yourself so much as allowing yourself to pay attention.
I can and do go on artist's dates alone, but it's a challenge to do them in unfamiliar places, because I invariably get lost. So although I was not alone on this trip, it definitely felt like an extended artist's date. And besides having the advantage of someone to talk to and experience the city with, we successfully navigated all around San Francisco for two whole days! We ate some amazing food, did a lot of window shopping, took all means of public transportation, were given impromptu tours by some gracious business owners and shopkeepers of their facilities (one designed by Frank Lloyd Wright!), were inundated with art and greenery, and basked in the cool windy climate that reminded us even more than the lines of Victorian town houses that we were not in LA anymore.
Here are some places I would recommend visiting on your next trip to San Francisco:
Jane on Fillmore is where I had the breakfast bowl pictured above.
Tartine Bakery and Cafe, though not ideal if you're trying to avoid dairy, did have one vegan teacake. And it was incredibly moist and flavorful!
Craftsman and Wolves was a great breakfast spot for finding some non-dairy options, both savory and sweet. Also picked up a jar of passion fruit curd here.
Dandelion Chocolate They know more about chocolate than anyone in Ghirardelli Square and you can try little samples from all the places their chocolate is sourced from!
San Francisco Hometown Creamery. You may think there are other ice cream shops you should try when in SF, but no, just this one will do. Trust me.
The de Young Museum and the Conservatory of Flowers are free every first Tuesday of the month, which happened to be our second day in town!
A shop designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. We were treated to an impromptu tour here. Though the upstairs was by appointment only, he had to show us this curious little door in the back, which used to be for the resident cat of the family who commissioned Wright to design the building. The machine with tubes was for sending up receipts/payments and sending down change.
The great thing about San Francisco is that even if you do get a little lost, there is plenty to explore in between the better known tourist destinations, which is how we found this last place on the list!
If you've ever had the privilege of going through The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, you will know that other than morning pages (three pages of stream of consciousness every morning), she encourages a regular practice of taking artist's dates, in which you take your inner artist out for a date. She discourages allowing anyone else to come along because of the danger of paying more attention to the other person than to whatever your inner artist wants to pay attention. It's not about paying more attention to yourself so much as allowing yourself to pay attention.
I can and do go on artist's dates alone, but it's a challenge to do them in unfamiliar places, because I invariably get lost. So although I was not alone on this trip, it definitely felt like an extended artist's date. And besides having the advantage of someone to talk to and experience the city with, we successfully navigated all around San Francisco for two whole days! We ate some amazing food, did a lot of window shopping, took all means of public transportation, were given impromptu tours by some gracious business owners and shopkeepers of their facilities (one designed by Frank Lloyd Wright!), were inundated with art and greenery, and basked in the cool windy climate that reminded us even more than the lines of Victorian town houses that we were not in LA anymore.
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| Some pictures taken by Kendall. |
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| Some pictures taken by me. |
Jane on Fillmore is where I had the breakfast bowl pictured above.
Tartine Bakery and Cafe, though not ideal if you're trying to avoid dairy, did have one vegan teacake. And it was incredibly moist and flavorful!
Craftsman and Wolves was a great breakfast spot for finding some non-dairy options, both savory and sweet. Also picked up a jar of passion fruit curd here.
Dandelion Chocolate They know more about chocolate than anyone in Ghirardelli Square and you can try little samples from all the places their chocolate is sourced from!
San Francisco Hometown Creamery. You may think there are other ice cream shops you should try when in SF, but no, just this one will do. Trust me.
The de Young Museum and the Conservatory of Flowers are free every first Tuesday of the month, which happened to be our second day in town!
A shop designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. We were treated to an impromptu tour here. Though the upstairs was by appointment only, he had to show us this curious little door in the back, which used to be for the resident cat of the family who commissioned Wright to design the building. The machine with tubes was for sending up receipts/payments and sending down change.
The great thing about San Francisco is that even if you do get a little lost, there is plenty to explore in between the better known tourist destinations, which is how we found this last place on the list!
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