It has been a while since we’ve had the chance to take a day trip.  Between knee injuries, brand new family members, the holidays, and having guests in town for most of January — we alternated between pageantry and stunned exhaustion.  It was an utterly delightful and amazing holiday season for us, and one we will not soon forget.

But, all that meant for this poor site was utter neglect.  Poor site.  I decided to ease back into the day tripping with a day to the Golden Gate Park museums — the De Young and the California Academy of Sciences.  This is an ideal way to spend the day if San Francisco is spitting rain and those you love and hold dear are staring at you to make some fun already. The De Young Museum is San Francisco’s resident art museum and the California Academy of Sciences is a mix of natural history museum, science center, aquarium, and planetarium.  There is something for everyone.

We start the day off by approaching Golden Gate Park from Inner Sunset, warm coffee cups in hand.  After a quick stroll in the park, your group can decide between the two museums.  After, a walk through the Richmond District to a fantastic Korean barbecue restaurant caps off the night.

Day Trip to the Museums of Golden Gate Park (5 hours, walk 1.5 miles)

What you’ll need:

1. For any popular exhibits, a prepaid ticket to the exhibit
2. Suitable shoes for walking more than a mile
3. Scarf
4. Jacket

 

Recommended Itinerary

1. From Inner Sunset, stroll through Golden Gate Park to the De Young Museum and California Academy of Sciences Museum
2. Tour the Museum
3. Stroll through Golden Gate Park to the Richmond District
4. Dinner at Korean Village
5. Evening stroll on Clement Street

 

 

1.       Stroll through Golden Gate Park to the Museum Complex

To get to Golden Gate Park, take the N-Judah MUNI Streetcar line to the 9^th Avenue and Irving Street stop in Inner Sunset.  Grab a coffee from one of the several coffee shops and walk one block north on 9^th Avenue to the Golden Gate Park entrance.  (See here for How to take the MUNI Metro.)

If you are driving, I would instead recommend that you park in the Richmond District north of the Park, preferably between 2^nd and 12^th Avenue, near Geary Blvd.  Walk South to enter the Park.  (Driving around the park and the museum complex will likely result either in divorce or crying children, particularly on a weekend.  It requires a pathological bravery.)

As an aside, which will probably end up being much longer than an aside, I can’t recommend enough that you leave your car at home for this day trip.  Until this trip, I hadn’t ever driven a day trip within the city, and…the car ends up being kind of a drag.  I preferred strolling around, holding hands, and discussing what you’ve seen in the museum, or noting a funny sign in an apartment window, or even killing time by telling each other funny stories as you wait for the street car to show up.  There is much to be said about taking the slow road home – a car would cut the time of this day trip in half, and what’s the fun in that?  Trust me, take the MUNI.

As I’ve said before, the Park is beautiful – more striking and more surprising than Central Park, and yet more casual than Prospect Park.  The hills make for stunning vistas and there are hidden gems tucked behind nearly every tree grouping. The museum complex is just off the main road that you’ll take into the park, and you may decide it is worthwhile to purposefully get lost on your way there so you can spend some additional time enjoying the landscape.

 

 

You cannot miss the museum complex, also known as the Music Concourse, as it may be the only segment of the park not meticulously planned.  It sticks out about as much as you’d think for a large brown conglomeration of trapezoids (that would be the De Young) and a glass and steel box with a grassy domed roof (the Academy of Sciences).

For some reason, the two buildings are flanked by a massive Greco-roman amphitheater on one and and a Francis Scott Key monument on the other (this makes no sense, so no need to question it.)  Hundreds of knobby, stunted trees in perfect rows fill in the concourse, with a major car-clogged street running through it.  (The term for those trees appears to be “pollarded,” and I’m floored that this is an intentional aesthetic rather than a gardener’s planting mistake.)  There is also a fountain or two for good measure.

Taken all together, your eyes don’t know where to land, and frankly, they don’t really want to land on any of it.

 

 

 

2.       Tour the Museum

You will likely quickly usher yourself into one of the two museums.

The de Young Museum is easily toured in a matter of a few hours.  It is great for those who do not like art museums, as the architecture is enjoyable and there is a tower viewing room that offers stunning city views.  The collection is not nearly as large as the Smithsonian or Met, so you’ll be able to wander through it all before your eyes start glazing over.

The Museum is closed on Mondays, and its popular exhibits do sell out.  We had attempted to see a Post-Impressionist exhibit there only to find out that it was sold out through the following Tuesday.  Not ideal.  Try to buy tickets on the museum’s website before your trip.  Adult tickets are $10, tickets for teenagers and college students are $6, and children enter for free.  Some exhibits cost more.

There are two upcoming exhibits that I am excited about, though.  First, the Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico, by the people known as the Olmec, will run from February 19^th to May 8th.  The title explains it all – the Olmec carved massive heads out of stone.  Second, Balenciaga and Spain, will run from March 26^th to July 4th.  I admit that I actually squealed when I read the title.

 

 

 

The California Academy of Sciences is a bit more stressful and crowded on the weekends, but also a lot more fun and kid friendly.  Tickets for children over 3 are $20, tickets for teenagers are $25, and adult tickets are $30.  The museum adds an additional $5 ticket surcharge to each ticket purchased during “peak periods” which appears to mean “weekends.”  So, be careful, as this can add up to quite an expensive outing for the family.  (The museum does offer free days to San Francisco residents, see here for their list of 2011 free dates.)

That being said, it does pack a planetarium, aquarium, and 4 story rainforest all into one building.  It is an amazing feat, in quite a remarkable building.

 

 

 

3.       Stroll through Golden Gate Park to the Richmond District

As you leave your museum of choice, walk northwards towards the large Francis Scott Key memorial statue.  The northern park exit is very close to the museums, so you may want to spend some extra time in the park by doubling back to stroll past the Conservatory of Flowers, east of the museums.

Depending on the weather, the Richmond District will either appear to be a spectacular grid of sparkling, pretty houses under a wide blue sky…or as grey, indiscriminate houses veiled in gusts of mist that you will hurry past in a romantic huddle.  It’s either one or the other, without much middle ground.

The terrain in this part of the city is thankfully flat, and the neighborhood has the wide sidewalks and slow streets of the Upper West Side.  This is where families live and pay visits to their long time neighbors.  It is not odd to see a child riding a bike in shaky loops, or a man under the hood of a car in his driveway.  The Richmond district comes across as an idyllic urban suburb.

Walk four blocks along 10^th Avenue to Geary Blvd.  Geary will be the first major thoroughfare you come across, and it is quite unpleasant to walk on.   Korean Village is fortunately right on the corner of 10^th Ave and Geary.

 

 

 

4.       Dinner at Korean Village

Korean Village is one of several Korean barbecue restaurants on Geary Blvd.  Unlike other barbecue restaurants, the grill situated in the middle of the table is charcoal fueled rather than gas fueled.  A massive hood caps each table, creating a cozy, intimate atmosphere.  If it is a particularly misty night out there, a server will rush to your aid with a cup of warm tea…which you will subsequently coo and sigh into.

Korean dining is a fun night out, since regardless of what you order, your server will bring out a wide assortment of ten or more side dishes.  Even if you don’t like one thing, chances are you will like another.

If this is the first time anyone in your group has been to Korean barbecue, I highly recommend bulgogi – marinated, thinly sliced strips of beef.  It is the quintessential Korean barbecue dish, and for good reason, as it is very very good but not strongly flavored.  Your server will bring out the raw beef and grill it for you on top of your charcoal grill.  Eat the strips as is, or wrap them in lettuce leaves with other condiments.  There is no way to do it wrong.

For any vegetarians in the group, the restaurant’s menu is large and has many vegetarian dishes.  Some seemingly vegetarian dishes will come with a sprinkling of pork bits to add flavor, so make sure to tell your server that you would like your dish without any meat on it.  A vegetarian version of bibimbap is a good place to start – white rice packed with mounds of various vegetables and egg that you stir all together and flavor with a spicy, chili pepper paste.  You can add as much or as little paste as you’d like.

Once you group is satiated, it is time to walk back into the elements.

 

 

 

5.       Evening stroll on Clement Street

As you walk out of the restaurant, you’ll want to avoid walking any more on Geary Blvd than you have to – it is six lanes of auto traffic and a drive-thru Jack in the Box.  Instead, continue walking a block north on 10^th Ave to Clement Street, a pedestrian friendly street full of interesting shops.

If you are walking with a book enthusiast, definitely make sure to stop by Green Apple Books, a book shop that occupies two store fronts between 6^th and 7^th Avenue.  Each store is a labyrinth of new and used books, meticulously sorted into dozens of categories.  You can and will get lost in their endless collection.  There are also several clothes boutiques with interesting and cool selections, as well as design and art shops.

When it’s time to head back home, walk back to Geary in order to catch the 38L at Arguello St (one block east of 2^nd Ave).  The 38L is an express bus and makes limited stops along Geary and comes every 8 minutes.  The ride is quite pleasant compared to all the other buses I’ve been on in this city.  The bus will take you to Union Square in downtown SF, where you can transfer to the MUNI streetcars or BART.  Otherwise, you can transfer to other bus lines as it stops at all the major north-south thoroughfares.  (See here for How to take the Bus.)