Easter is my favorite San Francisco holiday. Sure, Halloween is fun but people dress in costume for Halloween everywhere. And Christmas is okay but it’s a bit lackluster without many light displays. But Easter … Easter in San Francisco is like Easter nowhere else and I love that about this city. Easter is The Big Hat Contest and The Hunky Jesus Contest at Dolores Park. It’s Big Wheel Races on steep streets (although I haven’t seen that since it moved off of Lombard Street a few years back). It’s different. And sunshine-filled. And bright with joy and silliness.

Tags: dolores park, easter, holidays, San Francisco

I’ve never actually done anything for Obscura Day but every year I think about it. Lots of things happen here in the Bay Area for this event so the options are varied. I’m not sure I’ll make it to anything this year either but I’m considering it.

What is Obscura Day?

“Obscura Day is an international celebration of unusual places. It is a day of expeditions, back room tours, & exploring hidden wonders in your own hometown.” In other words, it’s all about seeing a different side of some things in your area that you don’t always get to see. It allows you to be a tourist where you live which is something I try to do often here and is one of the things I love about San Francisco.

San Francisco Bay Area Obscura Day

Many of the 2012 events are already sold out but some of them are still open. Some of the options in the area include:

• After Dark Secret Tour of Alcatraz. This tour shows places that aren’t even shown on the late night tours. I actually think Alcatraz is a tourist attraction worth visiting.
• The Art Of Dark Scavenger Hunt at the De Young Museum. San Francisco has a surprising number of scavenger hunts in general.
• Play Old Pinball. There’s a great pinball museum in Alameda that’s fun anytime but for Obscura Day they’re opening up access to their oldest games. I recently played some old games like this at another pinball museum in Las Vegas.
• Zymoglyphic Museum Day. Frankly everything about going to this museum is unique!
• After Dark Under Old Sacramento. Okay, this one is kind of far from San Francisco but Old Town is kind of cute and it might be fun to explore the underground of it!

Tags: bay area, obscura day, San Francisco

I spent the beginning of this week down in the LA area with my two siblings. It was wonderful. The weather was mostly sunny and good. We took some no-computer time camping out at Channel Islands. We laughed a lot, because that’s what we do when we’re together.

On the first day that I arrived my brother was working so my sister and I mostly hung out at Venice Beach/ Santa Monica. A friend of hers was with us and we took lots of pictures and he filmed a music video and we soaked up the sun.

The next day we got up and drove down to the boat dock. We went to Santa Cruz, the largest of the Channel Islands. The boat ride took about an hour and was pretty nice with the best part being when we saw a pod of orca whales which are apparently rare in the area. When we got to the island, we immediately saw a fox. There’s a certain type of fox unique to the island and there are no predators there so they are very bold. We ended up seeing quite a few during our trip. We set up camp and then we went for an eight mile hike to the top of the inner ridge where we could see most of the way around the island. The first stretch of the hike was tough but the rest was moderate.

When we got back to camp it was still kind of early but it was also starting to get cold and no fires are allowed there so we ended up getting into our sleeping bags and getting into the tent. The tent was a new three person tent that I’d just purchased from REI and turned out to be a good one – easy to set up, kept us pretty warm. We talked for awhile, fell asleep and then got up at different times throughout the morning. After eating breakfast and taking down the camp, we went for another hike, this time along the coast. It was really pretty out there.

After that we went down to where we’d have to get the boat again. I napped while they went swimming in the cold water. Then I read a book while they napped. Then we took the boat back to the mainland. There was a group of dozens of school kids on the boat with us so it was crowded but we got seats inside this time (before we were on top) and it was a smooth ride. When we got back to the mainland we picked up a few cheesy souvenirs. Then we headed back to LA where we got Vietnamese food then went back to my brother’s place and watched TV.

My brother had to go back to work in the morning. My sister and I ended up shopping around Santa Monica’s 3rd Street Promenade and got lunch before she had to take me to the airport. We left really early because I wasn’t sure what LA traffic would be like. We hit some slow parts but I still got to the airport early which was lucky because my flight had been delayed til about 2 am but I was able to hop on the flight before mine and get home. I usually have terrible luck with planes so that was a happy change.

The best part of the trip was just getting to spend that time with my brother and sister. I was able to really appreciate in the moment what a wonderful time this is in our lives. We are all adults with enough money to go on little trips together. We are all doing pretty well in our lives, all on the cusp of bigger things but content enough where we are. None of us has kids or partners right now so it’s just us. It’s lovely and wonderful and I treasure it.

Tags: channel islands, los angeles, sibling vacation

Yesterday I went hiking with my best friend at a Mount Tamalpais Trail that is one of my favorite hiking trails in the Bay Area, a trail called the Matt Davis – Steep Ravine Loop. It’s a moderately tough trail that’s about 7.5 miles long and starts off with some serious climbing that I thought was going to beat me. In the end, I climbed the mountain and was rewarded with the last half of the hike which is a meandering, relaxing hike. The trail goes through beautiful redwoods with a creek running along most of it, the vegetation is lovely and there are views of the ocean that surprise you here and there throughout the trail. I brought back some photos for you.

Tags: bay area hiking, matt davis steep ravine, mount tam

I’ll be spending the day hiking here:

The photo is a 2009 picture I took from the same trail. New photos to come after the hike!

Tags: hiking, hiking trail, north bay, San Francisco

Here are some photos of the trip to Vegas that I’ve mentioned a million times this week.

Getting There

We had a super early flight and couldn’t check in yet when we got to Vegas so I was grumpy.

But after I took a nap I was a happier camper.

Inside The Hotels / Casinos

I already showed you all the free things we did at the Bellagio. Here are some other highlights from indoors:

The Pinball Hall of Fame

We went to see this free museum which is off the strip. It is filled with old arcade games, mostly pinball machines. They have index cards on them telling the history of the machine, a bit about the game, info on the artist and game designer, etc. You can get quarters to play the games, which we did. I also played Ms. Pacman, which I excel at, and I beat the high score on the machine. (I had about 112,000.) Woo-hoo.

Out on the Strip

The new City Center buildings are so wacky.

Tags: las vegas, Travel

I have dropped hints here and there that my vacation over the past few weeks exhausted me. I tried to remain upbeat because I definitely value the time that I got to spend with my siblings. That’s always a joy. But the truth is that I don’t like vacations. You aren’t supposed to say that. Everyone loves vacations. You aren’t supposed to complain about having extended time away from home. But I love my home. And although I love to see new things, I don’t love traditional vacations.

I Love My Life

I have set up my “real life” in such a way that it really is the life that I want. I love the city where I live. I love the schedule that I keep. I love the work that I do. I love the friends that I have. I’m not saying that I never want to get away but for the most part, I want to be living the life that I’m living. I’ve got no desire to get away from it and miss it when I’m not in it.

My Ideal Vacation

I do want to travel. I want to see other things and other places. I want to spend time with people I know who live in other parts of the world. But the truth is that my ideal vacation is an impossible one. Because what I would love would be able to take a vacation once every month or two but one that only lasts for three days and requires absolutely no travel time. Let me explain.

Travel Problems

I have had more than my fair share of travel problems and it always makes me kind of dread the travel part of a trip. This sounds like an exaggeration but I kid you not … family and friends often wonder if they should book a separate plane from me because I have had so many problems. Like that time a group of us tried to take the normal one hour flight from San Francisco to Vegas and there was a freak snowstorm so we circled over Vegas for awhile and ended up in Phoenix for the night. Doesn’t sound bad? Last year when I was coming back from the East Coast, I went to check on to my plane and was told that the plane didn’t exist. What? I had my boarding information and the confirmation number and the exact info on the plane’s times and everything printed directly from the site but apparently there is no such thing as the flight path that I was booked on; my plane literally did not exist … it took me more than twenty four hours to get home. So, I’d prefer to avoid travel. I’d like to just be able to beam from my home to the spot I want to be in, spend three days there and beam back.

Why Three Days?

I love doing new things. I love seeing art galleries and live performances and various sights. I like walking around in new places and encountering new things. But I don’t like doing it day after day after day. I guess I’m an introvert at heart. People assume I’m extroverted because I’m personable and I do love talking with people but I get my energy from the time I have alone to process and reflect … being with people drains me a little bit at a time and too many days in a row of doing thing after thing after thing makes me cranky. I think it would be ideal to spend about three days in a cool place doing all of the fun things like aquariums and hiking and urban exploring and so on and so forth, then to beam home and have time to process, write about the experience, relax, organize the photos from the trip, etc. And get back to my real life.

Since This Isn’t Possible …

Obviously, this isn’t possible. I can’t beam myself from one place to another. And I’m not going to go to far away places that I want to see (Reykjavik, New Zealand) for only three days because I realize that’s a waste of time and money. I’d rather waste a little energy and have the longer experience. Nevertheless, I wish it were possible and I’ve been thinking a lot about what types of general vacations I prefer that would be more in line with my travel style. Some ideas:

• Travel to close by places for three days. Weekend trips are fun. I can see flying to San Diego for three days (minus that whole plane travel problem) and enjoying it. If I can get people to meet me for three days in a place then I’d be happy. Actually, I think the Vegas trip I just did for four days with Mom and Sis would have been ideal if it hadn’t fallen right on the heels of so much other travel.
• Plan downtime. For longer trips, I think I actually need to start planning several days of downtime in a row each week. It’s hard for me to do this because if I’m traveling with someone else then it feels like such a party pooper to say I’m staying in my room alone for three days. But the truth is that I’d be a much happier travel if we did stuff together for three days and then I hid in my room for two or three days and then resumed doing stuff.

So we’ll see. I don’t have any trips planned for the near future. I try to go somewhere for my birthday each April but that may not happen this year. And the next big trip I have planned is just a summer weekend at Yosemite. So it’s a non-issue for the time being. And I did enjoy my trip, despite these gripes.

Tags: ideal vacation, introvert extrovert, Travel, travel styles, vacation

We spent some one of our mornings in Vegas at the Bellagio to check out some of the free things that there are to see there. Of course, everyone knows about the water fountain show, which we actually didn’t get to see because we were there too early (although I’ve seen it in the past) but there are also lots of other free things to see at this Las Vegas hotel right now:

Chihuly in the Lobby

My mom is a big fan of glass artist Chihuly. I have seen his work at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco, the botanical gardens in Phoenix and the lobby of the Bellagio. Here’s what it looks at the Bellagio right now (with my mom and sis):

Chocolate Fountain

One of the chocolate shops in the Bellagio has a 27 foot tall chocolate fountain on display behind glass. Delectable!

Conservatory of Flowers

I’ve seen this free floral exhibit before but only at Christmastime. Right now the display is set up for Chinese New Year and it’s totally different from what I’ve seen before. Beautiful.

Cirque du Soleil Sculpture Display

There’s a great art gallery exhibit right now at the Bellagio called The Art of Richard MacDonald. The artist makes stunningly detailed bronze sculptures inspired by the acrobatics of Cirque Du Soleil shows. I’ll do a full post with lots of pictures later but here’s a sneak peek:

Tags: bellagio, free things to do, las vegas

People who have extra room to spare in their homes have started to take advantage of that fact to earn a little bit of income. They rent out their space to short-term travelers, offering them better deals than local hotels with the added touch of a personal stay in someone else’s home. This works best for people living in tourist destinations because there is an endless stream of visitors who want to pay to stay with them. It also works best in cities like San Francisco and New York where many of the visitors are from foreign countries as staying with locals seems to be something that Europeans and other foreigners find more appealing than other Americans do.

Two new bits of news came out about this recently that show off the differences when it comes to doing this in New York and doing it in San Francisco:

1. AirBnB founder staying in others’ homes throughout 2010. The first bit of news is that the founder of the website AirBnB has decided to spend the rest of the year staying in the homes that are listed on his site. AirBnB is a San Francisco based website that allows people with space to connect with travelers. It’s a great site that I’ve used myself. It offers some measure of safety and security for connecting strangers from different locations and many of the homes on the site are homes that are ideal for visitors to stay in. The guy who runs the site is going to test it out himself by staying in various homes throughout San Francisco for the rest of the year and reporting back on his experiences. Most people that I’ve heard comment on this think it’s an interesting, fun experiment.
2. New York may legislate against short-term vacation rentals. The second bit of news comes from New York and is about new legislation there that may stop people from being able to use sites like AirBnB. If it passes, this bill would ban all short-term rentals that are for less than one month at a time. This means that individuals who are interested in renting out their room to travelers aren’t legally going to be able to do so. Plenty of people in New York are riled up about the controversial legislation but it does point to a difference in general between how this type of thing is dealt with in NY as compared to CA.

Tags: airbnb, ca vs. ny, renting out room to travelers, west coast vs. east coast

I’ve recently started checking out the details that are available on Jetsetter, the travel section of the Gilt Groupe website. Gilt Groupe is a deals site similar to Groupon except that the deals are immediately available (rather than requiring a minimum number of purchases before going live) and the deals are for high-end luxury items.

For example, the deal that’s happening right now is a deal that gives you a low cost on rooms at La Valencia in La Jolla (just outside of San Diego). La Valencia looks like a stunning resort with ocean views, lush landscaping and a history of association with Old Hollywood stars like Greta Garbo. You’re the one that will feel like a star with plush accommodations like these though. The deal allows you to book a room starting at $205 / night which is low for the San Diego area especially for a nice hotel like this one.

Amenities at this hotel include:

• Amazing rooms, many of which have ocean views.
• Whirlpool tubs in some rooms.
• Plush linens that you can sink into for comfort.
• Pool and jacuzzi on site.
• Fitness center.
• Aromatherapy toiletries.
• Concierge services.
• On-site massage therapy services.
• 3 terrific restaurants on-site.
• Walking distance to the beach.

I’ve never actually stayed in La Jolla but I’ve spent time there when staying in San Diego and definitely think it’s a great place for a vacation. The last time that I was in San Diego I went kayaking on the ocean at La Jolla, a popular activity here along with surfing and other water activities. La Jolla also offers shopping, golfing and other resort-style activities.

This is just an example of the types of deals that are offered on JetSetter. They’re offered for a few days at a time (this one can be purchased for another three days or so). They are available in exotic locations as well as easy-to-reach American cities. For people who want to enjoy luxury travel, this seems like it could be a smart buy. What do you think of Jetsetter so far?

Tags: gilt groupe, jetsetter, la jolla, luxury hotel deals