Golden Gate Park

We spent Thursday night at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco. After breakfast at the hotel, the group headed to Golden Gate Park. Tom had planned a couple of stops where they could take their mom in a wheelchair.

The first stop was the Conservatory of Flowers. Opened in 1879, this is the North America's oldest existing public conservatory. The lowland and tropics and aquatic plant galleries were the most interesting.

From there, we walked past the De Young to the Japanese Tea Garden. The tea garden was originally built as part of a sprawling World's Fair, the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894. It is the oldest public Japanese garden in the United States. We had tea at the tea house and wandered through the gardens.


From there, we walked around Stow Lake and eventually ended up back at the cars. Although I have been to Golden Gate Park a number of times, I had never been to the Conservatory or the Japanese Garden before.

We finished the day with dinner at Fior d' Italia. This restaurant claims to be America's Oldest Italian Restaurant; it opened in 1886. Located in the North Beach section of San Francisco in the historic San Remo Hotel, the Fior specializes in traditional Northern Italian cuisine. The food has good. Sharon, Jack and I had eaten there a number of years ago. I had Linguine Tutto Mare (Prawns, Scallops, Calamari, Clams and Mussels).