San Francisco has always captured our hearts! We had a full day scheduled with Marla and our good friend, Lea, on this wonderful crisp spring day.

With Lea as our “chauffeur” I was able to enjoy the interesting architecture of “The City” with the juxtiposition of old and new.

We made a reservation at “Scoma’s”, an old favorite seafood restaurant in Fisherma’s Wharf. Having it’s own wharf makes parking a breeze.

My nephew Mika joined us with his partner Meg, and his son, Elijah. He is recuperating from a fall when he and his band were in Scandinavia. Marla can now eat seafood after getting approval from her last allergist visit. She’s trying the scallops.

Meg loves a beer!

Lea in front of the entrance.

A fishing boat on Scoma’s pier. In the distance is the sailing ship Ship Balclutha, a 1886 Scottish built, three-masted, steel-hulled, square-rigged ship, in the nearby San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

The now closed Aliotto’s restaurant in the background. It was a family favorite for years. Read what happened to it here.

My last meal at Aliotto’s was in 2018 with Stacy and her family. It was shortly after my Mom passed away.

We drove by The Palace of Fine Arts, from the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exhibition. This has always been a favorite area of ours.

If you are new to exploring San Francisco, this is on Baker Street just off of Marina Boulevard.

I love driving by all the historic buildings on Fell Street in the Panhandle heading into Golden Gate Park.

Because I was a passenger, I could really enjoy the area.

We passed the iconic de Young Museum on our way to the parking garage. Click on the highlighted link for the fascinating history of de Young Museum.

Lea told us about a fabulous fashion exhibit at the de Young Museum so we made reservations.

We walked by the focal point of the plaza, the “Bandshell“, which was a gift to the city from sugar magnate Claus Spreckels in 1899.

We didn’t have time for a visit to the Japanese Tea Garden on this trip.

We had a little time for exploring the de Young’s Sculpture Garden before our exhibit entry..

The Sphinx sculptures by Arthur Putnam near the museum entrance. Read about their interesting history at this link.

A gignatic 1878 bronze vase by Paul Gustave Dorn. Click on the history link here.

Marla pets a seemingly tame lion. Little is known about the 1906 bronze lion sculpture that sits contentedly upon a rock near the de Young Museum except that it was created by R. Hinton Perry and donated to the park by Shreve & Co.

The pond in front of the de Young museum entrance almost looks like an impressionist painting.

A sleeping Mallard duck.

Time for our museum visit.

The architecture of the de Young is fascinating!

The outdoor luncheon area at the de Young’s Sculpture Garden.

Join me next week as we visit a fabulous exhibit,…”Fashioning San Francisco: A Century of Style.”I think you’ll love it!

Photos: Dick Gentry. Not to be used without permission.