ALA in SF

The backside of the Golden Gate Bridge, en route to

the Legion of Honor Museum (click on image to enlarge)

 

What a wonderful weekend. Not only was it the annual American Library Association (ALA) conference, but on Friday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that gay couples have the same right to marry as everyone else. And the perfect place to hear such glorious news? Why, San Francisco, of course, which was also hosting its annual Gay Pride celebration this weekend. Rainbow flags were flying everywhere and librarians gave gay rights lawyer Roberta Kaplan, who was already scheduled to give the ALA opening session keynote address, not one but two standing ovations. I doubt there was a dry eye in the place. Everyone was jubilant. We all had reasons to be proud this weekend.

As for ALA conference: lots of good professional networking and some interesting, but fun presentations. I saw the Today Show’s Al Roker, who keynoted breakfast on Saturday—a highly entertaining speaker. Tim and I sneak-previewed the new Martin Scorsese documentary, called The 50 Year Argument, about the New York Review of Books (excellent!). Plus I heard a fascinating talk about early 1900s librarians in Redondo Beach.

On Saturday afternoon, we played hooky and schlepped out to the Legion of Honor Museum to see the fabulous “High Style” fashion exhibit, on loan from the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Me, in my favorite Mary Blair skirt, in

front of a 1961 Arnold Scaasi evening

ensemble—as if! (A girl can dream,

can't she?) 

And Tim took in a Giants game on Sunday. 

Giants stadium: the view from Tim's seat

Everyone else was either attending the conference or cheering wildly at the Gay Pride Parade, which lasted the entire day. By the way, if you need to get across Market Street during the parade, go under at the BART stations. Otherwise, put on a crazy costume and join in the fun, because there’s no way to avoid the festivities!

Alcatraz Island

Alcatraz Island

Tim and I have been to San Francisco countless times, but never to Alcatraz Island. Known as "The Rock," Alcatraz served as a military base during the Civil War and then, more infamously, as a federal prison for the most notorious criminals, including Al Capone. The prison closed in 1963. Today the island is a national park, accessible only by ferry—a very hard ticket to get, by the way. Luckily we were on a Disney tour, otherwise we would have had to return the following Thursday!

The prison was fascinating to see. But even better were the gardens, left over from the prison employee families who lived on the island. The contrast between the stark concrete prison and the beautiful spring blooms was spectacular.

Prison entry

Watchtower

 Staircase up to cells

 Gardens on east side

Remnants from American Indian occupation in the 

late 1960s/early 70s

Tower

 Cells (exterior)

Cells (interior)

Cells side-by-side

Inside a cell, including escape hole in wall

 Looking from inside out

Spiral staircase

Ruins of the warden's home

 Gardens

Beauty vs despair

Gardens: home to wild egrets

 The view from the island: San Francisco and the Disney Wonder

(on left)

Walt Disney's Trains

Exhibit poster

Many people believe Disneyland would not exist if not for Walt Disney’s passion for trains. Some cite the influence of animator Ward Kimball, who owned and ran a full-sized locomotive in his backyard, and Ollie Johnston, one of Disney’s “nine old men,” who introduced Walt to narrow gauge model trains. Walt himself said he always loved trains and insisted, from its earliest conception, that whatever shape Disneyland ultimately took, it had to have a train running around its perimeter.

The Walt Disney FamilyMuseum is currently featuring a temporary exhibit--“All Aboard: A Celebration of Walt’s Trains”--that chronicles Disney’s lifelong interest in all things locomotive. Special programs are also occasionally presented at the museum in conjunction with the exhibit. Yesterday, for instance, was “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad:Building and Running Walt’s Trains,” a highly anticipated program about the trains at Disneyland. This was such a big deal that the Carolwood Foundation, the organization dedicated to preserving Walt’s railroad legacy, offered members the opportunity to take a 12-hour vintage railcar ride, Friday, from L.A. to the Bay, to see the exhibit and attend the presentation. We joined 20 other people, including folks from St. Louis and Orlando, on the trip.

Our train car, the Silver Splendor

Tim and I boarded the train at Union Station well before departure. Our car, the Silver Splendor, was built in 1956 and has a lounge, dining area, and galley downstairs. Upstairs is the glass-enclosed Vista Dome and table seating for about 24 people. We were early enough to claim one of the prime tables at the front of the dome, where, except for meals, we rode the entire trip. Fellow passengers cycled in and out of the dome area, depending on the view. As one member of the group pointed out, everyone was either a Disney employee, a former Disney employee, and/or a Disney fan, so our ears were constantly perked for insider Disney stories being shared around the tables.

Luggage and dining area downstairs

Downstairs hallway

Looking up the stairs to the Vista Dome

Looking down the stairs. Silent auction on the left.

I won a cup full of brass Disneyland conductor buttons!

View north of Santa Barbara. Note the Channel Islands

in the background.

Our car was attached to Amtrak’s Coast Starlight, the rail that apparently travels the longest stretch of coastline in the U.S. The weather was absolutely perfect: I don’t remember the last time the Channel Islands were so clear off the Santa Barbara coast. But for me, the best part was getting a rare glimpse of the Vandenberg airbase, the site of countless westcoast rocket launches. Tim and I still remember seeing mysterious contrails streaking across the skies when we were kids. “They must be launching rockets again out of Vandenberg,” my dad would always say, as if this was the most natural thing on earth. What a thrill to actually see one of the base’s still-in-use launch pads.

Launch pad, Vanderberg airbase

California coast

Rounding a bend: looking toward the front of the train

Standing on the back "porch," watching the world

speed by. Yee haw!

We spent the night in Oakland’s Jack London Square and so took BART the next morning to get to San Francisco and the museum. En route, we stopped at the old Ferry Building, which was renovated into a public marketplace over 10 years ago. Lots of tasty temptations—a real destination spot the next time we’re in town. 

Looking up at the Ferry Building roof

At the museum, we went through the special train exhibit, which was wonderful, then waited on line for the program. I kept looking for Disney “legends," who might also be there for the event, but didn’t see anyone other than Carolwood and D23 members. We then entered the theater.

Walt and his narrow-gauge train

Walt's actual train

Three speakers were introduced: Bill Colley and Craig Ludwick, both of whom worked on the Disneyland railroad, and Sean Bautista, president of Hillcrest Shops that rebuild and maintain many Disney-related trains. I, of course, know nothing about the mechanical workings of locomotives, but even I was fascinated by all the talk of preserving steam engines and stripping cars down to the frames. Ludwick’s story about saving the Lilly Belle, the presidential train car Walt named after his wife Lillian, was an especially heart-tugging high point of the program. That is, until a surprise speaker was announced: none other than John Lasseter, chief creative officer at Pixar and huge train buff! He told a moving story about buying and refurbishing his mentor Ollie Johnston’s former Porter steam locomotive, the Marie E., as a way to help celebrate Disneyland’s 50^th anniversary in 2005. He then showed a short, but highly emotional film of 92-year-old Ollie driving the train around Disneyland—to this day, the only privately-owned train to ever ride around the park. (You can see the film at http://frankanollie.com/Movies/MarieE.mov.) By the time Lasseter finished, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. What a wonderful day for Disney and railroad fans alike.

***********

P.S. It’s now Sunday and Tim is aboard the Silver Splendor, heading back to L.A., while I spend the night in Sacramento. I have an early meeting here tomorrow morning, so took Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor line directly to Sac, instead of going home. The ride was scenic enough, but Amtrak is certainly nothing like traveling in a restored 1956 domed Pullman. I miss the Silver Splendor. . .

Silver Splendor, heading home

Tim, bidding me adieu

Sun setting over the California coast

From One Extreme to the Other

The San Francisco Bridge from AT&T Park

After driving home from Las Vegas (see below), we spent one day recuperating at home before hopping a plane to San Francisco for a couple of days. We stayed at my new favorite SF hotel, the Serrano—old world charm, located just five blocks from the Powell St. BART and Muni station. We took mass transit everywhere—always a nice change for us car-addicted Angelenos.

The Serrano lobby

Our first stop was AT&T Park to see a Giants game. Growing up in L.A., I never liked the Giants, the Dodgers' national league rivals. Still, even I have to admit that their stadium, built in 2000, is spectacular and may indeed have the most beautiful ballpark setting in the country, as the Giants claim. But it was cold, especially after the oppressive heat of Las Vegas. Quite a difference in temperatures as well as cultures, if one can say that Vegas has any culture.

Bundled up to watch baseball—note my red wool scarf

peeking out from under my sweatshirt!

The view of AT&T centerfield from our seats

The next morning, we decided to see the recently renovated Coit Tower, which sits atop Telegraph Hill in North Beach. Completed in 1933, the landmark tower houses an array of Depression-era murals commissioned as part of the Public Works of Art Project in the 1930s. To get there, we caught an old Italian trolley car on Market St. and took it to Greenwich St., off of Embarcadero, before then climbing some 400 steps (!) to Coit Tower. The views were worth it, as we panted up more than 400 feet to the summit. But, damn, what a hike for our poor old legs! Next time we'll take a bus.

Our ride to Embarcadero

Beware, all who enter here!

Our destination—so close, yet so far

The first of many flights—that's me 
grimacing in the lower righthand corner

Up and up we go—at least it was mostly shady 

The magnificent view along the way

Coit Tower, at last

A statue of Columbus overlooking the Bay

The back of the tower

The murals depicting life in Depression-era California

Mural detail

My favorite panels: The Library—shelving books

Marxist headlines in the library: "Hoover Aid Fights Airmail 
Fraud," "Destruction of [Diego] Rivera's Fresco at 
Rockfeller Center," "Thousands Slaughtered in Austria"

We did take the free bus, a few hours later, to the Presidio, where we visited the Disney Family Museum, which I saw and loved the last time I was in SF. Coincidentally, the Presidio was also the site of Off the Grid, a weekly family picnic event that features food trucks (one of our favorite things!), 5-9PM every Thursday night. I knew Bacon Bacon from a previous trip to SF and so made a beeline straight for their scrumptious BLT sandwich. We then jumped on the bus and the Muni subway back to the hotel and quickly fell asleep. We were back home the next day—July 4th—well before fireworks and BBQ.

Early Off the Grid crowd

Massive BLT—YUM!!

July 4th: Waiting for the 7AM shuttle to SFO