"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." Albert Einstein

12 June 2015

Things to Do Between Sessions at #ALAAC15

This is the Bush Man. He's worth a trip to Fisherman's Wharf.
So, the sessions are done for the day, or haven't started yet, or your chosen session got cancelled? Not to worry - there are plenty of fun things to do and see in the city.

1. Golden Gate Park.  Without hesitation, this is my favorite place to go in the entire city. The park is three and a half miles long, so there's lots to see, and if you start on the eastern end of the park (the "panhandle"), you can walk all the way through to see the ocean! Also, there are bison living within the park, but I leave them for you to discover.

2. Green Apple Books. Who doesn't love a good book store? Green Apple Books is a store that has expanded into two store fronts, and a visit inside will show that the store works a lot like Ron Weasley's house - there are lots of strange nooks and crannies and stairways and secret areas.  It's really easy to get lost in this store looking for all the treasures.

3. Popos.  Privately owned, public open spaces are available all over downtown San Francisco. Many buildings are required to have this type of space, be it a roof top garden or a lovely cafe, and you are allowed to ask to be shown the Popo in any downtown building.

4. Mini Parks and Slides.  Not every mini park has a slide, but there are scores of mini parks scattered throughout the city.  Some of them are squeezed between residential buildings, and if you don't know what to look for, you might miss them.

5. City Hall. Right across from the main library is City Hall, which at night will be lit with rainbow colors in honor of Pride Month. Inside, however, you can find the head of the original statue that stood at the peak of the city hall building before the 1906 earthquake.  It's in a case, and it kind of looks like the Face of Bo, even if it doesn't talk.

6. Vibrator Museum. Yes, you read that correctly.  At the Good Vibrations store on Polk Street there is a small museum dedicated to the history of the vibrator.  It's free, so why not check it out?

7. The Bush Man. The Bush Man, or more specifically, his successor, is a man who gathers tree branches, then sits in the middle of the sidewalk and scares people as they walk by.  No, I am not making this up.  If you go down to the Wharf, you'll see people lined up along both sides of the street, watching the Bush Man scare people. The original Bush Man worked this same area for years, and it's rumored he was able to finance his children's college education solely from the tips he received from tourists and other passerby.

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