Postcards from San Fran

It's possible that the Hyatt Regency on the Embarcadero is the most difficult hotel in the western hemisphere to drive out of (it sits at the confluence of three city streets, the primary depot for the California St. trolley, and an underground entrance to the subway), but we wouldn't choose another for the world.  Directly across the street is the promenade, the bay and really one of the great gatherings of cafes and restaurants in the city.

Off the backside of the Market pavilion is the must-go Hog Island Oyster whose main shop is up on Tomales Bay, just a stone's throw away from where we would land in two days at Point Reyes Seashore and station.  The sweet water oysters could break your heart they are so fresh…even the traveling partner agrees.

As a complete contrast in pace from the Embarcadero, the Tea Garden on the opposite end of the city at the Golden Gate Park, is not for those cannot recognize a little spiritual peace.  As we got there the following morning, this part of the park was open to the public for free for an hour and a great majority glided through still rambling on about phone headaches and last night's disappointing TV shows, all the while forgetting that a rock garden is there to absorb, not punish.  Still, many pockets of quiet beauty can be found by walking away from the bustlers.

Long rows of carefully considered rocks, one imagines, is there to present stillness and order; underneath a band of sequoias it becomes a well-tended to portion of nature and quietly does all its talking with silence.

For the second visit to San Fran, it's a bit ironic that we would claim the Asian outpost one of our favorite destinations, creating a world, as it does, that is culled from the other side of the world, yet recognizing the immediate rocky mountainous wooded landscape of the coastline.