Diego Rivera, the Palace of Fine Arts & the Castro Theater

No, that's not the answer to one of Johnny Carson's old Karnack skits (hopefully, most of you remember those classic jokes on the Tonight Show). Last Tuesday we headed out for a day trip to San Francisco. It was a beautiful, bright, sunny day in The City. Lou had found a few more things for us to do – see a Diego Rivera mural at the San Francisco Art Institute, visit the newly renovated Palace of Fine Arts and see a movie at the art deco Castro Theater.

There seems to be no end to the diverse and interesting things to do in our northern California city by the bay. This photo was taken out the car window as Lou wound our way through the downtown streets.

The San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge between some city skyscrapers

Our first stop was the Art Institute on Chestnut Street. I have never seen so many pale, skinny, oddly dressed young women in my life! Everything from orange & lime green mixed together to purple hair to thrift store chic – oh, well, guess it goes with the territory in the art world. The lighting on the Rivera mural didn’t allow for good photos but there was a small exhibit of modern art by the students. Here is a photo of one object d’art – I just don’t get it.

I'm open to any help in interpreting this "work of art" - sex must be involved

From there we headed to the Palace of Fine Arts for a stroll around the lake. I’d never taken the time to really enjoy the architecture of the area. I’d only been there in conjunction with a trip to the Exploratorium as part of a school field trip where my main concern was counting heads to keep track of the kids.

The Palace of Fine Arts

Just a gorgeous winter day in San Francisco

We drove by the old Alhambra Theater, which is now a fitness center, before stopping for lunch at Mel’s Drive-In on Lombard Street. It was like stepping back in time with the vinyl booths, formica tables and juke boxes.

A fun place grab a burger and a tuna melt

“Burlesque” starring Christina Aguilera and Cher was playing at the Castro Theater. We arrived close to an hour ahead of time and literally drove around for 40 minutes looking for somewhere to park the car that allowed longer than two hours. We finally gave up and parked in a two hour space so we wouldn’t be late for the movie. The theater is beautiful and the movie was lots of fun.

I wanted to see the movie more than Lou – and he wanted to avoid a parking ticket more than see the end of the movie. He willingly left about 20 minutes before the end to move the car. I called him when it ended and walked outside to be picked up by my own private chauffeur!

The art deco exterior of the Castro Theater

Some of the ornate interior design of the theater

Usually I try to get these little travel reports posted within a day or two. All during the day I kept feeling that I might be catching a cold. The next morning I woke up with one of the worst colds I’ve had in a long time. I can’t remember being so congested and stuffed up and miserable. Between work, being sick and an overnight trip to Reno for Valentine’s Day that I wasn’t about to cancel, today is the first day that I’ve actually felt like I’m back among the living!