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Tuesday, June 7, 2011

San Francisco, part deux

We had tried to go to the Academy of Sciences on Monday.  Using the handicapped parking placard I'd cleverly remembered to bring along this time, we secured a spot and followed Big Cuter's directions on the pathways and there we were at the Bandshell, looking out at a plaza that had been a parking lot before the renovations began as we were leaving the state in 2006.  

You may remember the Bandshell from J'Lo and Matthew McConaughey's Wedding Planner, one of our favorite San Francisco love stories.  It was the setting for the bride-gets-into-the-taxi scene toward the end.

But we didn't want music.  We wanted Natural History right up until we hit the ticket booth and saw that it would be nearly $60 for us to enter.  That wouldn't get us into the special beastie exhibit.  That required its own admission fee.  We grimaced.  We groaned.  We turned away.  My heart was just a little bit broken.  Taking Big Cuter to a museum was one of my favorite ways to spend a Monday morning back when he was in kindergarten.  I'd been looking to reprise the experience.  Alas, $60 was just more than we could bear to spend for an hour's entertainment.  I wonder what families with kids do nowadays; our museums were free back then.


As an alternative, since the sun was shining and there was barely a breeze, we parked ourselves on a bench and watched San Francisco go by. 


Bicyclists were everywhere, including this one who looked like an ad for living in San Francisco.  Is this hipster cool or what?


Big Cuter spent the weekend trying to show me the difference between hipster and yuppie and I guess nobody is preppy anymore.  Who knew?  Are there still jocks and greasers?  Do I care?  Such was our conversation that long and lovely afternoon.

There were frisbees and skateboards 



and dogs and babies and hawks floating on thermals.  We stared in fascination as one and then two little birds swooped and pecked and annoyed the hawk who was hovering over their tree.  They were tiny in comparison to his bulk, but they were undeterred.  He'd glide over the tree and there they were, slamming their little selves into his body and his wing span.  Protection was their game and they were not giving up without a fight. They drove him away, only to turn whirl around and find a sea gull diving in where the hawk had dared to try.  They undercut his approach and he took off squawking.  The good guys had won the battle, and retired to the nest to check on the chicks.  It was high drama.

We helped a tourist locate the restrooms and admired fancy socks and well-behaved children and mocked poor sartorial choices and tonsorial disasters and then we Zip Car'ed back to Big Cuter's apartment and fell asleep.  

Sight-seeing is exhausting

7 comments:

  1. You demonstrate the basic tenet of a writer's philosophy: A day fully attended to and well-reported is a good day.

    Two requests, then. What is the difference between a hipster and a yuppie? And why would a very cool hipster be carrying his bike instead of riding it? I do admire his footwear. I'd guess that, before it became un-hip again, he was big on Swing dancing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. A hipster wears black and studs and weird shoes. A yuppie wears t shirts and jeans. At least I think so..... I'll get Big Cuter to chime in here so check back if you are interested.

    He's carrying his bike up the steps; it was his footwear that announced his HIP-ness.

    Or so it seems. Who can keep up anymore?
    a/b

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oy vey - I've apparently been christened the voice of a generation, at least for the purpose of the Burrow.

    Easiest way to do define it is through the following links.

    Hipster - http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hipster

    Yuppie - http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=yuppie

    My take: yuppies were more likely to have been jocks in school where as the hipsters were the arts/drama kids. At the very least, they each fulfill similar social functions in the 20s-30s world.

    ReplyDelete
  4. OK, then I'm a hipster. Was a Thespian in high school. ;)

    $60 per person! Are you kidding?! That's outrageous. Thank goodness the museums here in DC are still free (although, I suspect that will not be for much longer).

    Love the pixs!


    Megan xxx

    ReplyDelete
  5. Isn't Zip Car just the best?

    As for the costs, that's why I haven't been to the DeYoung. We go to SFMOMA on first Tuesdays when it's free.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Chicago has a City Pass which gives "free" admission to the city's museums. DC wins in my book for best freebies; I love wandering into and out of the buildings on the mall with all the other taxpayers - THAT is a good use of federal funds. Who else would save Dorothy's slippers or the LEM for me to see?

    Isn't it nice to have a "generational voice" to explain the world to us?
    a/b

    ReplyDelete
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