Great Escapes: San Francisco and Haight Ashbury

San Francisco is not exactly a short hop from the UK.  It is a full on long haul, leg cramping, jet lag inducing 11+ hours in the air.  After taking so much time and effort to get somewhere, it would seem sensible to make the most of the time there when you eventually arrive.

This is exactly what I wanted to do when I visited San Francisco on route to Lake Tahoe earlier this year.  I am fortunate enough to have visited the city on a couple of previous occasions and have already taken in many of the go to tourist spots.  I have always stayed very centrally and visited the likes of Golden Gate Bridge, Pier 39, Fishermans Wharf and Lombard Street. These are all fun places to go, but on this occasion I wanted to absorb some other lesser visited areas and stay a little further off the beaten track.

The Parsonage.

Choosing a place to stay when travelling these days can feel overwhelming.  Air bnb, Trip advisor, Google, all offer a mind blowing amount of choice.  The more I travel, the more I realise my requirements are less about standard luxury (although of course that is lovely), and more about originality and quirkiness.  Both of these criteria were met at The Parsonage in Hayes Valley.  A beautiful Victorian mansion which has been lovingly transformed from a family home into a unique and very comfortable urban inn.

This was a lovely place to stay for many reasons.  There are so many thoughtful details in all the beautifully furnished rooms.  The beds are plump and comfortable and each room has its own marble bathroom.  The 2 communal parlours and the dining room are equally beautiful. Full of art and books, and lovely places to be if you don’t want to sit in your bedroom.  The breakfasts were a real treat and set us up perfectly for a day of walking and sightseeing.  Delicious fruit salads, sourdough waffles and a very Californian crustless quiche, crispy kale and roasted tomatoes.

Apart from being stunning The Parsonage was in just the right location as it enabled us to walk almost everywhere. We were especially keen to explore the Haight Ashbury and Mission neighbourhoods which were literally on our doorstep.

Haight Street and Haight Ashbury

Haight Ashbury was made famous by the hippie movement in the 1960’s.  In 1967, ‘The Summer of Love’ occurred, and up to 10,00 people sporting the hippie fashions of the day converged in this neighbourhood. There is still plenty of evidence of this vibe in the types of shops and other establishments lining the streets, and certainly the ‘artistic’ community which inhabit it.

From where we were staying were able to walk the whole length of Haight Street right into the heart of Haight Ashbury.  We did this with our cameras, pausing regularly to take pictures of the wonderful architecture.  Most of the dwellings are wooden, colourful and Victorian.  Many of the houses have provided homes to famous artists and creatives over the years. Unlike most of the rest of San Francisco The Haight was not overly damaged in the 1906 earthquake so there are some fabulous examples of original buildings.

One of the highlights was a block or two away on Waller Street.  I had seen lots of pictures of the ‘Four Seasons’ houses on instagram when I had been doing my San Francisco research. I really wanted to see the for myself.  They didn’t disappoint.  Each house displays one of the four seasons on a medallion on the second floor between, the front windows.  The blue snowflake representing winter was my particular favourite.

Anyone who knows me or who has read Changing Pages before will know I am rather fond of books and bookshops.  Whenever I travel I always make a point of finding local bookshops.  Its a good place to find local authors and travel guides but just a lovely way of understanding a neighbourhood. As you would imagine such a creative area as The Haight has a wonderful bookstore  The Booksmith is on Haight Street and is a lovely independent store with a gloriously eclectic collection of books.  It also plays hosts to an extensive programme of author events.  I had a happy time wandering through the shelves and tables piled high with authors both familiar and unfamiliar. Another joy of book browsing and buying when travelling is the array of new books and authors you are exposed to.  I bought a collection of poetry by the late American Poet Mary Oliver. She had died just a few days before our trip and it felt an appropriate book to buy.

The array of colourful vintage shops selling clothes, records and other paraphernalia on Haight Street is perfect for some window shopping.  There are of course plenty of places to buy healthy and less healthy food and lots of cafes to rest walk weary legs.  We called into a small cafe for our coffee fix only to discover the Armenian owner’s daughter lived very close to us in our little bit of London, and he had visited and knew the area.  The world is definitely becoming smaller! He was very complimentary about he English education system!

Golden Gate Park

Another favourite thing to do when travelling is to go for a run in the local area.  It is another great way of discovering and learning the geography of places.  If I had not still been recovering from a broken wrist I would definitely have gone running in Golden Gate Park.  As it was I settled for a very pleasant walk.  The park is a 3 mile strip of land which was apparently once dominated by sand dunes.  It was reclaimed in the 1870’s and went on to become San Francisco’s largest park. Today it houses boating lakes, a Japanese tea garden, various memorials, flower gardens and sports fields, playgrounds, and a herd of buffalo (I know!), two windmills, and the very large de Young Memorial Museum.  I was disappointed not to see the Buffalo but very pleased to see spring flowers and shrubs like the magnolia in the picture.  Although it was early February this was a welcome reminder that spring was on the way. Golden Gate park would be a beautiful place to spend a day with a picnic in the summer sunshine.

M.H. de Young Memorial Museum

The de Young Memorial Museum is conveniently located in Golden Gate Park and is well served by public transport if you are not up for walking.  On this occasion, we didn’t actually explore the museum.  We wanted to climb the spiral tower which is part of the museum and free to enter.  From the top the views across San Francisco span from ocean to bay and are completely stunning.  Unfortunately you will have to take my word for it, as for some reason I didn’t seem to take any pictures!  I do recommend the tower though. Its very peaceful at the top and we had it almost to ourselves.

We had a wonderful couple of days exploring a different side to San Francisco.  It reminded us again how important it is to sometimes step away from the well trodden paths