We spent our first afternoon in San Francisco at the Golden Gate Park. We originally planned to visit the Japanese Tea Garden so that's where we had our Uber drop us off. It was less than an hour until the tea garden closed when we got there, so we decided to come back another day. Another part of the park I wanted to see was the Dutch windmills & tulip garden. They were on the complete opposite side of the park, so we set out for our very long walk. It was nice to be outside and moving after spending the majority of the day stuck in the airport and then cramped on the plane.
The weather was very nice (almost chilly, which was wonderful!!) so I didn't mind the walk from literally one end of the park to the other. I liked seeing all the trees & plants that we don't have in Oklahoma. 🌳🌻🌼 Wes was less impressed and complained that we should have somehow packed a moped or Vespa instead of walking. 😒 There were lots of small lakes and wildlife scattered throughout the park. The most random thing we saw was a buffalo conservatory. I think that is my favorite part of the park just because it was so unexpected!
We finally made it to the Dutch windmill and tulip garden after probably 1.5 hours of walking. It was a quiet spot for us to sit and take a break. Very beautiful! 🌷 There were tons of people at the park, but no one paid us any attention. I know Oklahoma is stereotyped (and even made fun of) for being overly friendly, but I sure did miss all the random hellos and smiles from strangers. About 1 in 5 people had a dog with them and even the dogs weren't social!! If it was a park here, I would have stopped to pet 10 different dogs and chatted with lots of strangers.
I was about to hail an Uber to take us back to the hotel when Wes suggested that we walk to the ocean. 🌊 It was only a few blocks away. We didn't get very close because we weren't dressed properly, and it was really cold. There were several people out on the beach and in the water...must have been locals. We saw Alcatraz prison! It wasn't the best view since it was so foggy. We tried to see the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was too foggy to see it as well.
We didn't go to the Golden Gate Bridge, but we tried several times to see it from where we were. I saw it a few times from our Ubers. The best view we got was when we were at the art museum. It was still obscured by trees, but I can at least say I saw it & got a photo. I would have liked to walk across it, but we just didn't have time during the day. It got cold and wet in the early evening, so we didn't spend much time outdoors after dinner.
We returned to the Japanese Tea Garden on our last day. It seemed so much bigger from the outside. It is actually pretty small. We walked around the entire garden in less than half an hour. There was no set path. I think the point is to just wander and let the scenery guide you. I really enjoyed it, so I insisted that we walk around it twice. I would have liked to wind around another time (there was so much to see!) but it was getting crowded and more difficult to easily maneuver around. My favorite feature was the Zen garden. The beautifully clear water in the koi pond was also very nice. Curiously, there was only one koi swimming around. There was also only one squirrel. He hopped up onto a rock and a crowd of tourists (myself included) ran over to take a picture of him. (Photo above)
The garden had a little café that served tea and light refreshments. We were going to stop in, but the line was outrageously long. Instead, we wandered over to the museum side of the park and explored over there. We saw a dance instructor giving ballroom dance lessons to his pupil on the bandstand stage. I wanted to ride the Ferris wheel but it was foggy out (again😔) so I knew I wouldn't be able to see much. We made it over to the de Young Musem and got into the café just as they were closing! We both ordered a coffee and went to relax on the patio. ☕After finishing our coffees, we walked through the museum's sculpture garden.
We spent several hours walking around on both of days we visited the Golden Gate Park but it didn't feel like I was there that long. I can actually say that I enjoyed the exercise! 🏃 I'll walk Athena and Zephyr around the neighborhood and be completely out of breath like I just ran for my life. I didn't think I'd survive walking up & down the hilly roads. I guess the cool temperatures in San Francisco made all the difference.
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