Things To Do In San Francisco When You Are Not Dead Yet….

We are breaking for summer on Wednesday. The Boy is way way ahead of where he should be, and we are both in need of some rest and relaxation. In the spirit of summer and finding some enjoyment in life I have been looking for things to do in San Francisco when you are not dead yet.

I was talking to my friend Ruth, who is a big proponent of seeking fun and decompressing, and she asked if I had any idea what we might like to do in the city for the three week break we are planning to take. Nobody can find stuff to do for ten weeks of summer break, so we decided on a three week break, and not push too hard at school until everyone else is back at work. If we feel like an extra day off here and there, that is what we will do.

I can’t remember the last time I sat in a bar or a restaurant and worked on a drink or a meal. Partly because the pandemic has shut everything down, partly because celiac disease destroyed my ability to eat normally. I’ve got my celiac rash under control (it feels like rolling in stinging nettles while badly sunburnt, wrapped in pure sheep’s wool that is infested with some exotic kind of stinging ant, the only thing that soothes it is dead sea salt soaks in freezing cold water), but keeping it that way is a full time job. I don’t dare eat anywhere that isn’t entirely gluten free. I would love to sit in a café with an iced latte watching the ships come in. Small pleasures are so easily taken away. It’s not easy to find things to do in San Francisco when you are just some chick who refused to die.

So I tried to get tickets to go to the San Francisco Zoo. It seems like one of the kinder, more conservation minded zoos, and I thought it might be fun. You can’t get into SF Zoo with no ID. That’s right, no ID, no zoo for you. Hardly seems Sanctuary City minded, now does it.

The immersive Van Gogh experience looks wonderful, isn’t too far to travel, but is a shade under $50 each to go – the non peak tickets are not much less, and I am not going to be out there that late at night. Scratch Van Gogh.

I have vague plans for beach walks near the Presidio, for a trip to Golden Gate Park’s Japanese gardens, perhaps a little walk around the Maritime museum. I wouldn’t mind taking a trip out to Alcatraz island, but the boy isn’t keen. We will probably go to the Pier at some point. The Museum of Modern Art would be fun, but it’s indoors, and people don’t have to wear masks, so probably not an option. I’m kinda hoping to catch a Giant’s game, but we will see how the infection rate does once things open up.

Chinatown and Japantown are always nice to wander through. Haight Ashbury was very gritty and didn’t feel particularly safe when we last visited – lots of people who didn’t have a place to lay their head, and wanted interaction rather than live and let live. I have no interest in being harassed just walking around.

I suppose we will just have to roll around San Francisco all day trying to find a place to go.