City Walks SF #29: Clement Street

Clement Street is basically a miniature Chinatown in the Richmond District. Several blocks along one street, featuring restaurants, bars, and shops. It wasn't terribly interesting as a walk, but we did follow the recommendation for a meal at the Burmese restaurant - one good dish, one not-so-good dish. (We skipped the Chinese food/donuts/hamburger shop though...)



The walk also took us by the Columbarium, where apparently people who ARE somebody are buried. (San Francisco doesn't have cemeteries in city limits.)



This is how foggy it was by the time we got home:



You can barely even see the hill behind our house:



Definitely ranks low on my city walk priorities.

Conservatory of Flowers

Upon the recommendation of CNA, I finally went to the Conservatory of Flowers today. Matt and I had passed it many times and never gone in, because we are cheap and he doesn't like flowers very much.

I must say, there were some very gorgeous flowers in there. I had some trouble with pictures, especially in the aquatic plants section, because my camera was fogging up from the humidity. But I think some of the pictures came out pretty well, and I made an album on Picasa.

Don't Watch This At Work (Without Headphones At Least)

Creatures Big and Small (at the same time)

Walking home this evening in the dark and a rather heavy mist, we stumbled upon the biggest snail I have ever seen. Just the normal kind you see in their brown shells, but its body, based on the part sticking out, looked as big as a banana slug.

I tried to take a picture with my phone, but sadly between the lack of a flash, poor resolution, distance from street lights, and precipitation, there isn't even a point in taking up picture-storage space on my blog with the picture. Too bad - you would have loved it.

This weather sure is getting us ready for Ireland!

Point Reyes in the Rain

Today was my last day at Point Reyes, so I picked up lunch at Perry's, a tasty deli, and headed up to the Giacomini overlook to eat lunch in my car in the rain. It was so peaceful and green and really made me want to go camping. I guess the city is overwhelming me a bit.






In the second picture you can barely make out the tides in what, as recently as when I started this internship, was pasture land. It was nice to see the beautiful results of restoration.

Driving through the redwoods today, I also felt guilty that I have not yet taken Matt to see Point Reyes. It really is gorgeous. Now, I just have to learn how to explore it while avoiding poison oak and ticks. I can handle rattlesnakes and scorpions, but this is unknown territory for me.

If you visit the Bay Area or Northern California, I highly recommend stopping by Point Reyes.

Matt's Garden Enjoys the Rain

Sea Lions! With Babies!