October 23, 2009
A Day at Golden Gate Park
I spent a lovely afternoon last weekend at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. It was a family day- the kids and my parents came out. We drove into the park and parked in the convenient underground parking. We had planned on going to the De Young Museum to see the Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharoahs exhibit. You can go straight into the museum from the underground music concourse parking lot, which is accessible from Fulton St at 10th Avenue.
The fee to see all exhibits is quite pricey, for kids from age 6 to 17, the fee is $16.50, for adults, $32.50. The fee was well worth it, as the exhibit was fascinating, featuring a huge collection of items recovered from the tomb of Tutankhamun, his royal family members, and various officers of the court. It provides remarkable insight into the short life of the young king, who died during his late teens under mysterious circumstances.
On display was a coffin inlaid with gold that was almost breathtaking. There was an extensive collection of gold and precious stone items, sculptures, jewelry, and furniture. I found it fascinating that we were viewing items recovered from Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, which was around 1500 BC. King Tut is on display through March 28th of 2010, take time to see it if you can, it’s well worth it.
After enjoying the exhibit, we went up to the observation deck where you can take in a 360 degree view of the whole City in a room where the walls are windows. Rather amazing.
We went outside and heard very loud house music coming from the park outside. There was a dance party going on and a large crowd of people dancing their cares away and looked like they were having a fabulous, carefree time. We walked a little further with an extra bounce in our step to the Japanese Tea Garden where we stopped in the little café and each had a pot of green tea, which was warm and refreshing, as the day was quite chilly.
The Bronze Buddha is the highlight of the garden for me. Majestic and beautiful, it evokes a sense of peace and well-being as you stare up at it. The Classical Zen Garden is another. It’s impossible not to feel serene as you wander through the garden, stopping as you cross a bridge over one of the ponds. There are many beautiful picture spots throughout the gardens. I, of course, forgot my camera!
The Japanese Tea Garden is open from 9-5pm daily, and the adult entrance fee is $5. Children 4 and under are free.
Posted by:
Pam Dakan
Tagged With:
de young museum,
golden gate park,
japanese tea garden,
pam dakan
and zen garden
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jon said,
December 18th, 2009 at 10:01 AM
the Bronze Buddha IS amazing. all bronze and what not. cool word, Bronze. right? as for the King Tut exhibit, i felt it was an overpriced experience - and more importantly, so did the group of 6, generally curious, teenage boys i took to see it a few months back. i hope the general fee subsidizes free tours for school kids at least. anyway, thanks for the reminding us what a great place the Bay Area can be.