California - Here we come - Day 11

[Guest]

Day 11

We awake to a dull and drizzly morning. It really poured during the night. When Darrin got up around 3a.m. to use the bathroom it was bucketing down. So being British we just get on with it. There is a complimentary breakfast every morning so we tackle porridge oats, honey nut cornflakes, cranberry & orange juice, sausage patties and a hot boiled egg and toast. The bread (wheat) was unbelievably sweet! Still we are full – that’s what’s important.

We have tickets today for the Walt Disney Family Museum which opened last year in San Francisco’s Presidio. The Presidio used to be a military base for the US Army (think Aldershot) but these days the old barracks have been converted to offices etc. The block at 105 is the Disney museum. Diane Disney Miller – one of Walt’s daughters wanted to bring together artefacts and personal family items that told the story of her father.( Diane was the eldest natural daughter, her sister Sharon Mae had been adopted.) The museum opens at 10:00 a.m. and after presenting our e-tickets we leave our coats at the complimentary cloakroom. The only allowed photography is in the awards area – the remainder of the exhibition does not permit cameras or video and this is strictly enforced. We witnessed someone using their mobile to take a snap. The attendant CM made them delete the picture on the spot! So, any interior pictures that feature have been researched.

View from the rear of the property with Golden Gate bridge in distance:



If you listened to my feature in the Dibbcast show #9 November 2010 you’ll know the story of Walter Elias Disney from childhood to master entertainer, so I won’t take you down that road here. The items on show are personal to the Disney family and do NOT belong to the Disney Corporation. You may have seen one or two items at Disneyland park but they were on loan from the Disney family. There are birth and marriage certificates, private home movies, vacation pictures etc. But there are also many exhibits that show how the major films were created with commentary by those who worked with Walt. They even cover the famous 13 week strike by Disney’s animators and Walt’s feelings about all that.

Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix d’Honneur for Dumbo (1947):


The actual Oscar and 7 miniature Oscars for Snow White (1938) plus many other Oscars:



A replica of the lamp in the Disney apartment above the fire station, Town Square, Disneyland (to this day, a light shines constantly in the real location to signify Walt’s spirit) :



Walt’s Carolwood Pacific locomotive and cars that ran in the garden of his home:



An amazing model of the original Disneyland (before Splash Mountain was added). Note the Skyway cable cars running through the Matterhorn Bobsleds (Sorry but the model is so big that I had to do it in two “halves”) :



There’s so much more to this museum and if you are a true Disney fan, then I recommend that you don’t miss this if in the San Francisco area. The final section covers the “Florida Project” and Walt’s visions for an EPCOT city. It also covers his death and I must confess we were all misty eyed the end of it as were many other visitors. It was touchingly and tastefully done. The souvenir shop does NOT sell stuff you would get in the parks. It has its own unique merchandise and special limited edition pins. We got one of the 3 little pigs and the Big Bad Wolf – only 1000 have been issued!

This was one magical and wonderful morning. It was like visiting a shrine. I’d like to finish this section with a quote from Jim Smith who helped design the guide book of the museum because it echoes my feelings so well: “ I walked into The Walt Disney Family as a San Francisco tourist and left having learned about a true American genius, Walt Disney. I felt like I had met Walt and he himself led me through the Museum”.

We return to the Queen Anne for some chill time. The rain is persistent and the skies are leaden. No topaz coloured heaven for us today!
I realise I haven’t shown you the exterior of our hotel, the Queen Anne, so here you are:



Our “honeymoon” suite is the top floor where the windows just out of the left. That’s where I’m sat now at a neat little table tip-tapping away at this report. We need to visit a Post Office and to do this we have to walk over four blocks to Filmore Street and then down two to Geary Street. Downhill all the way – this will backfire on us in a moment! Having posted off cards and a package to a friend we now need the Holiday Inn on Van Ness Avenue. To get there we have to go back 6 blocks – all uphill and the gradients are not the kindest in the city. And they are by no means the worst! So we set off in appalling mizzle, hoods up on our Regattas. Along the way we pass the Catholic cathedral of St Mary of the Assumption. The first papal mass was celebrated by Pope John Paul II in the cathedral in 1987. Now I’m the first to admit I not religious in any way but architecture fascinates me. This cathedral is known as the “food mixer” or the “agitator” (as in a tub-style washing machine) and you can clearly see why:



However, inside it is so cleverly done. The stained glass from each wall is a fine ribbon and runs up to meet its sisters at the apex of the roof:



Above the sacristy there is a waterfall of metal rods which catch the sunlight and create a magical effect as if from the heavens :



And finally, the organ and its 4,000 plus pipes. Ingenious design:


In complete contrast we espy these two buildings which have been married together at some time. The paintwork and gingerbread and delightful:



So, on we troll and eventually after a stitch and maybe a major cardiac arrest, we reach the Holiday Inn at 1500 Van Ness. It’s here that we can buy the Muni passes for buses/trolleys/trams and the Muni (a sort of local underground – not to be confused with BART –Bay Area Rapid Transport). You can also use them on the cable cars which are normally $6 a trip. These are $20 each for 3 days. THREE days! London Transport take note!

We head back to the hotel exhausted and damp. At 4p.m., out comes the sherry in the lounge and we are soon say by the roaring fire chatting to 3 American ladies about travel and life in general. We mention we are on our way out to dinner and the theatre. They ask what we are gpoing to see. On Green Street in the North Beach area of the Faguzi Club – home of the Beach Blanket Babylon.



You just cannot come to SF and not see this show. It’s political satire performed and sung by the most talented cast. Started over 30 years ago it is such a tradition that part of Green Street is now known as Beach Blanket Babylon Broadway. Beforehand we head for dinner. We ate at this restaurant on the corner of Columbus and Stockton 7 years ago when it had a different name. These days it is called Panta Rei (Everything flows).



Our meal was simple. Darrin went for calamari, shrimp and sliced zucchini (courgettes) in a light tempura batter with a spicy tomato dipping sauce:



I chose a simple pizza Capricciosa – the topping was prosciutto ham and black olives.



And a 2004 Chianti Riserva made it all complete.

The Beach Blanket Babylon show is stunning as ever as Snow White (who gets called Snow Board, Snow Blower, Snow Job, etc etc along the way) as she searches for true love and her prince. To do this she must travel the world and in doing so she meets various characters and politicians who dispense dubious advice. Think “Spitting Image” meets musical. The cast are so quick with their costume changes and so we get Bill & Hilary Clinton, Barak & Michelle Obama, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Elvis, Lady Ga Ga, Octomom (the woman who had 8 kids by fertility treatment|) Justin Bieber, Amy Winehouse, Sarah Palin (absolute spitting image) and all of them excruciatingly funny and spot on with their remarks. The Barbara Streisand sequence had me gagging for air as I laughed so much. They had Freddie Mack and Fanny May as the inn keepers from Les Miserables, Madonna doing a “Wicked” number and the black lady who was Glinda the Good Witch has a voice that knocked your socks off. They even managed to work in the “bad boy” Charlie Sheen. Confused? Well, if you haven’t seen it it’s hard to explain. As I say, it is the best entertainment for miles around and you can order drinks whilst you watch – there is no intermission. It starts at 8p.m. and runs for an hour and three quarters. We ached with laughter. So near the truth. They Like any theatre they don’t permit photography so pictures here are from research. The finale is famous for its hats. One if San Francisco and the other was Snow White’s wedding cake complete with 7 dwarfs! Book now.





Index

[Eeyore rocks]

Wow another fab day.

The Queen Anne hotel looks lovely.

Walt Disney Family Museum is now on my todo list.

Thanks for sharing.

[Guest]

Love the photos and report as always! I want more than ever now to visit the Disney Museum. Looks like Mark & I need a trip to San Fran in the next year! (Too bad it wasn't when you and Darrin are there... sigh.)

I didn't know about Beach Blanket Babylon, it sounds like a hoot.

Your description of walking uphill there cracks me up as I've done it myself and you're right... it's no easy feat! ha! You will work up those calf muscles walking around San Fran. In fact, we walked all up stairs (from the bottom) to the top of a hill where Coit Tower sits. I would surely have a heart attack and drop dead now, but, at the time I was in my late 30s and a lot healthier. ha!

Glad you're still having a wonderful time. I LOVE the buildings in San Francisco. So quaint. You two have done SO much in the time here in the good ol' U.S. I'm so happy to see that it's all been to your liking. (Except maybe Carmel! )

[Guest]

P.S. I loved seeing all of Walt's Oscars! WOW...that's impressive.

Also, I loved the church. I'm a huge fan of old churches (though this one isn't that old). It's lovely. Stained glass is so amazing!

I enjoyed Walt's apartment too. I've always wished I could get in the one at Disneyland. I can get into Club 33 and can't get into Walt's apartment. Such an injustice. ha!

[AliciaB]

I Enjoyed Reading This (':
Sounds Really Good
Must Have Been A Great Day

[Guest]

Your trip just keeps getting better! Thank you so much for documenting and sharing. You've opened my eyes to the many great sights in California that I've been missing out on. I'm going to have to visit some of these locations! In particular Beach Blanket Babylon, which I'd never heard of before.

[jolloyd81]

I have loved reading your trip reports - I visited California a couple of years back and thought I fitted in a lot.

Reading your reports however make me determined to go back - your trip has been fabulous, and theres so much I want to see.

[joandwayne]

Its great seeing things on your trip that people don't normally do. I didn't know about the Disney Museum in SF. I will have to see if we can get there when we are in SF.

[sueandco]

Geoff,

We hope to go to SF in 2013 and already planned to go to the museum but now you've given us something else to do with Beach Blanket Babylon it sounds fantastic.

[Guest]

I really want to visit Walt's museum - this is definitely on my future to do list.
Great day!