We got an early start today, and had breakfast at Ponzu, the restaurant attached to our hotel. It was good, but not up to the level of the dinner we had there previously. We bundled up and headed out for one of the attractions we were most excited about. On a side note, we saw a homeless guy yesterday with bare feet and a sign that read "Need $$ for socks." He was right outside a Walgreen's that was selling three pairs of socks for $2. We didn't want to give him money, but we did buy him some socks. I thought it would be interesting to see if he was there the next day, but we weren't going to be near that Walgreens. Today he had moved to a different Walgreen's, and he still has bare feet and the sign about the socks, although he has added a sign that says he's hungry. Bill and I wonder how many socks he has by now, and whether he has made a mattress out of them, since I doubt we're the only people to buy him socks. Interestingly, we saw another homeless guy with a sign that said "I won't lie, I need money for beer."
We took the underground train to get to Golden Gate Park, for the California Academy of Sciences. It was an aquarium, a natural history museum, and some other unique things all rolled into one. It was great! Although we read in several places that the crowds can be crazy, apparently that is not the case in early September. We did the aquarium exhibits first, and in our opinion they were better than those at the Aquarium of the Bay, which we visited yesterday. We watched the feeding in one of the reef tanks, then walked around and saw the other exhibits in the section.
Next, we headed to the Rainforest exibit. We had to go through an airlock to get inside, and we were speculating about why - to keep in moisture, etc. Turns out it was to keep the BUTTERFLIES inside. Yes, we said butterflies. Lots and lots of them, flying around free. Birds, too. There were also lots of plants and some trees, and small enclosures with poisionous tree frogs, lizards, snakes, tarnatulas, and more fauna from various rainforests around the world.
We entered on the bottom (forest floor) then went up a winding ramp around the edge, eventually making our way to the canopy on the third floor, where we were checked for hitchhiking butterflies before going down below the forest floor level into submerged forests, where we walked underneath the lake in the center of the rainforest enclosure. It was really amazing.
After the rainforest, we grabbed an overpriced but tasty lunch in the cafe, and headed up to the living roof. It was different than we imagined, and while interesting as a technology, it was a bit boring to look at it.
We went through the "Natural History" portion, which was mostly about African fauna, although there was also a live penguin exhibit. We watched another feeding, at the shark and ray lagoon, and headed out. Although there was also a planetarium (world-class, according to the literature for the Academy) we were not allowed to go in because they have a "no children under 6 years old" rule. Lame.
After going back to the hotel to clean up and relax for a minute, we were very excited to meet our friends Rani and Andrew for dinner at Tommasos, in North Beach. Yelp was right again - really great pizzas, and long lines if you get there too late. We just beat the rush.
The restaurant was located inside the red light district, and Rani mentioned that the peep show across the street was the only unionized, cooperative adult entertainment venue in the US. She mentioned that she knows some women who worked there and that they are all very "sex-positive" and the business is run in a fashion that is non-exploitive (to whatever extent that's possible at a peep show.) Since we had never seen a peep show, and because Rani offered to pay the $1 for us to get a glimpse, we left Liam with Rani and Andrew out front for a few minutes to check it out. The women seemed to like the fact that there was a couple instead of the usual creepy guy. It was not terribly exciting, but it was an entertaining way to spend a few minutes. We noticed that they flashed a lot more flesh in the last moment before the panel went down, no doubt to encourage us to feed in more dollars, which we didn't. We definitely did not want to touch any of the surfaces in the little booth.
All five of us then walked back toward the hotel, making a few stops and snapping pictures along the way. It was a lot of fun for the four grown ups, and a nice nap in the carrier for little Liam. It was the first time we really just walked aimlessly in the city, without any real destination or time frame. We walked by the really cool lights in the Louis Vuitton store, and took some photos. It was a long, but full day, our last in San Francisco. Tomorrow we head back to San Jose.
We got an early start today, and had breakfast at Ponzu, the restaurant attached to our hotel. It was good, but not up to the level of the dinner we had there previously. We bundled up and headed out for one of the attractions we were most excited about. On a side note, we saw a homeless guy yesterday with bare feet and a sign that read "Need $$ for socks." He was right outside a Walgreen's that was selling three pairs of socks for $2. We didn't want to give him money, but we did buy him some socks. I thought it would be interesting to see if he was there the next day, but we weren't going to be near that Walgreens. Today he had moved to a different Walgreen's, and he still has bare feet and the sign about the socks, although he has added a sign that says he's hungry. Bill and I wonder how many socks he has by now, and whether he has made a mattress out of them, since I doubt we're the only people to buy him socks. Interestingly, we saw another homeless guy with a sign that said "I won't lie, I need money for beer." 
We took the underground train to get to Golden Gate Park, for the California Academy of Sciences. It was an aquarium, a natural history museum, and some other unique things all rolled into one. It was great! Although we read in several places that the crowds can be crazy, apparently that is not the case in early September. We did the aquarium exhibits first, and in our opinion they were better than those at the Aquarium of the Bay, which we visited yesterday. We watched the feeding in one of the reef tanks, then walked around and saw the other exhibits in the section.
Next, we headed to the Rainforest exibit. We had to go through an airlock to get inside, and we were speculating about why - to keep in moisture, etc. Turns out it was to keep the BUTTERFLIES inside. Yes, we said butterflies. Lots and lots of them, flying around free. Birds, too. There were also lots of plants and some trees, and small enclosures with poisionous tree frogs, lizards, snakes, tarnatulas, and more fauna from various rainforests around the world.
We entered on the bottom (forest floor) then went up a winding ramp around the edge, eventually making our way to the canopy on the third floor, where we were checked for hitchhiking butterflies before going down below the forest floor level into submerged forests, where we walked underneath the lake in the center of the rainforest enclosure. It was really amazing.
After the rainforest, we grabbed an overpriced but tasty lunch in the cafe, and headed up to the living roof. It was different than we imagined, and while interesting as a technology, it was a bit boring to look at it. 
We went through the "Natural History" portion, which was mostly about African fauna, although there was also a live penguin exhibit. We watched another feeding, at the shark and ray lagoon, and headed out. Although there was also a planetarium (world-class, according to the literature for the Academy) we were not allowed to go in because they have a "no children under 6 years old" rule. Lame.
After going back to the hotel to clean up and relax for a minute, we were very excited to meet our friends Rani and Andrew for dinner at Tommasos, in North Beach. Yelp was right again - really great pizzas, and long lines if you get there too late. We just beat the rush.
The restaurant was located inside the red light district, and Rani mentioned that the peep show across the street was the only unionized, cooperative adult entertainment venue in the US. She mentioned that she knows some women who worked there and that they are all very "sex-positive" and the business is run in a fashion that is non-exploitive (to whatever extent that's possible at a peep show.) Since we had never seen a peep show, and because Rani offered to pay the $1 for us to get a glimpse, we left Liam with Rani and Andrew out front for a few minutes to check it out. The women seemed to like the fact that there was a couple instead of the usual creepy guy. It was not terribly exciting, but it was an entertaining way to spend a few minutes. We noticed that they flashed a lot more flesh in the last moment before the panel went down, no doubt to encourage us to feed in more dollars, which we didn't. We definitely did not want to touch any of the surfaces in the little booth.
All five of us then walked back toward the hotel, making a few stops and snapping pictures along the way. It was a lot of fun for the four grown ups, and a nice nap in the carrier for little Liam. It was the first time we really just walked aimlessly in the city, without any real destination or time frame. We walked by the really cool lights in the Louis Vuitton store, and took some photos. It was a long, but full day, our last in San Francisco. Tomorrow we head back to San Jose.
