After this trip to San Francisco, I don’t think I’ll ever buy or order fish the same way again. On our last morning, we eat breakfast at the Mandarin Oriental. Is the smoked salmon from wild or farmed fish, my daughter asks the waiter. “I’ve never been asked that before,” he admits and goes to find out. Wild salmon, he reports. Reggie nods approvingly.
I can’t remember the last time I rode in back. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t leading the way. But in this case, this weekend, I’m following—following the passions of my 25 year old daughter Reggie Yemma and her boyfriend Dan Foldes, who live in San Francisco. All I did was book the hotel
This is a wonderful place to visit. (Full disclosure—my daughter Reggie is working as an AmeriCorps volunteer here this year). There’s no charge and the work they do is amazing. The windswept day we visited, there were 25 patients (yes this is a full hospital with vets who do detailed blood work, x-rays, ultra sounds and keep copious records that have made this Center respected for the research it has done)
We’ve chosen well for our two 14-year-old traveling companions and ourselves. Not only do we hike up to the crater but we’re also treated to lunch and wine tasting (the teens too) at the Cantina del Vesuvia where the grapes on the vines look too perfect to be real. We eat on a covered patio overlooking the vineyards and feast on local foods — salami, cheese, bread and olive oil and the most delicious pasta made with fresh tomatoes grown here at the vineyard. We go for a stroll in the vineyard with owner Maurizio Russo and can’t resist purchasing some of the excellent wine and olive oil.
I don’t think there is anything you might want to try that you can’t find in San Francisco. Last night, we sample a restaurant on the Embarcadero, about a block from the restored Ferry Building home to the bustling farmers market selling and explaining their local goods
I’m at San Francisco’s Exploratorium (www.exploratorium.edu ) which, when it opened in 1969, served as the prototype for museums becoming places for an interactive experience. That continues today as the museum staff work on what the museum will be when it moves to its new digs on Piers 15 and 17 on the Embarcadero in 2013
Ready to play dress up? If you stay in a kids’ suite at the Hotel Diva (www.hoteldiva.com) on Union Square, your little princess can do just that with sparkly shoes, a pink boa, jewelry and a drawer full of “gowns.” If you have a prince, he can play Wii among other things. Whimsical wall art suggests “Keep calm and eat a cupcake” Or “Keep Calm and Rock On.”
The 45 member staff and 800-plus volunteers here are responsible for rescuing some 800 animals a year—elephant seals, sea lions, harbor seals and the occasional whale or dolphin. People who spot a stranded or sick animal call (415-289-7325) and the staff mobilizes for a rescue. The center is responsible for 600 miles of Coast all the way from Mendocino south to San Luis Obispo, and since 1975 has rescued over 13,000 marine mammals
For those heading to Orlando this spring break — and millions of parents and kids do (www.visitorlando.com) — there is an ever-growing array of unique VIP adventures to help you get away from the crowds and, hopefully, up the memory quotient. Some are inexpensive, requiring just a little advance planning, but others can cost big bucks, not including park admission, of course.
At a farmer’s market, kids can learn that food in season is more nutritious and tastes better because it is fresh. They can “eat greener” by opting for foods that are local rather than flown or trucked across the country. At the San Francisco farmer’s market, you can taste a kind of pear you’ve never seen or a Quince and ask the farmer how it’s grown.
TakingTheKids