San Francisco Artful Weekend (lots of photos!)

Friday, 10/22-Sunday, 10/24: Van Gogh, Legion of Honor, "Jesus Christ Superstar," de Young

Mr. E and I spent the weekend in San Francisco, with a focus on art experiences. We headed to the Amtrak station in downtown Sac around 3pm on Friday afternoon and both worked on the train to finish out for the week. Due to slowdowns near Davis and a disabled train closer to the Bay Area, we were delayed by about an hour total. Luckily, the bus connection in Emeryville is guaranteed, so we still could complete our trip to the drop-off point near the Salesforce Tower on Mission Street. We had a relatively short walk to our hotel, Le Meridien, on the corner of Battery and Clay. 

After checking in, we dropped off our bags but didn't unpack since we had tickets to Immersive Van Gogh and were running short on time due to the train delays. We finally figured out where to catch the appropriate Muni and took the train to Van Ness station, which put us right by the entrance to the Van Gogh. Since I had opted for the 8pm Flex tickets, we got two free posters and two cushions to use during our time in the experience -- very helpful for making the floor seating much more comfortable! The full experience is about 35 minutes, and we entered about halfway through a loop. So we settled into one of the designated spots on the floor and then moved to the other side of the room when the loop re-started so that we could see the full viewing from a different perspective. Such a creative use of technology, sound, and video to created this immersive view of Van Gogh's world!

Since we realized we didn't want our posters, I gave them to two older women who clearly were enraptured with the experience, and they were very appreciative. We made a couple of purchases in the gift shop (magnet, puzzle) and then took the train back towards our hotel. We decided to go to Bar 333 in our hotel for dinner and enjoyed some great food -- big shrimp cocktail for me, cheese board to share, and steak frites for Mr. E. Also a glass of prosecco and a few Manhattans to accompany the food. Unfortunately, the quiet tranquil bar became quite rowdy when a large group descended on the spot, but luckily we were towards the end of our meal at that point, so we closed out the tab and went up to our room for the evening.

Saturday morning provided some great views from our corner suite of the sun coming up over the Bay and lighting up the Bay Bridge.

Thanks to Mr. E's status with Bonvoy, we had vouchers for the continental breakfast at Park Grill on the 3rd floor of the hotel. The staff was very conscientious about verifying our COVID vaccination info, which we found to be true at each entertainment venue or indoor dining spot we visited. We enjoyed hot oatmeal, mixed fruit, orange juice, coffee, an English muffin for me, and two muffins for Mr. E (blueberry and bran, one of which we saved for later). Mr. E grabbed Starbucks across the street for his second coffee while I lingered in the restaurant reading the art book that was provided as the holder for the meal receipt.

Our destination for the day was the Legion of Honor, via Muni bus 38R, to see two very different exhibitions Color Into Line: Pastels from the Renaissance to the Present and Wangechi Mutu: I am Speaking, Are You Listening? The latter exhibit actually begins in the courtyard, with three large pieces that welcome visitors to the museum. 

The rest of the sculptures are interspersed throughout several of the first floor galleries, and the work also includes an original video in its own separate viewing area. The pastels exhibit is in the lower galleries, so we started our visit there and then finished with a tour around the remaining Wangechi Wutu works. We opted for lunch in the museum cafe, where I enjoyed a fresh Sonoma greens salad and Mr. E had the Croque Monsieur. Then a walk back down the hill to catch the bus back to our hotel, where we relaxed for the afternoon. 

Our evening activity was to see "Jesus Christ Superstar" at the Golden Gate Theatre. My counsin's daughter, S, is part of the cast as the Mob Leader, and she was actually the first person to appear onstage! So awesome to see her dance and perform in this show, especially since the original tour was cancelled back in 2020. 

After the show, we met up with her briefly as we and many other huddled under the marquee trying to stay out of the pouring rain, which had unexpectedly started up earlier than forecast. We decided to brave the mile+ walk back to our hotel and were quite moist by the time we arrived. Mr. E had just enough time to put in a food order at Bar 333, but I just headed up to our room to change, hand stuff up, and get dry and warm.

The rain continued all night and all day Sunday as well. We repeated our breakfast at Park Grill on Sunday morning and supplemented with Starbucks coffee and egg white bites for some protein. Then we figured out a Muni route to the de Young that involved a minimal amount of walking time in an attempt to avoid the rainy conditions. We arrived just about in time for our 11:30am tickets to see Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love, which had a free-to-the-public opening the day before. Such an exuberant and creative fashion designer! We really loved his aesthetic and approach not only to fashion but also to life, based on what we learned from the curatorial notes.

We followed up by touring Judy Chicago: A Retrospective, which provided an amazing overview of this visionary and ground-breaking artist's work throughout the past decades. She has such a strong vision and voice and unapologetically expresses herself through such a wide variety of media. Her pieces are definitely thought-provoking and sometimes disturbing, and that's part of what imbues them with such power and insight. The exhibition overflows into the lower entryway with a series of oversized banners hanging from the ceiling near the gift shop.

The cafe provided some yummy lunch offerings, including a roasted delicata squash salad for me, grilled salmon with roasted root veggies for Mr. E, and a plate of macarons to share. As we ate, we watched the rain and wind whipping the trees in the sculpture garden and plotted how to return to the hotel. I found a Muni option with a bus that picked us up right outside the de Young and then connected to a train, keeping us safe from the rain as long as possible. Our walk from the Embarcadero train stop back to the hotel was pretty short, but I still changed out of my jeans into yoga pants prior to check out so that I wouldn't be damp on our Amtrak ride home.

We opted for a cab for the short journey to the Amtrak bus pick-up since we didn't want our bags to get too wet. Luckily, the bus was already there waiting for passengers, so we could just transition directly from the cab to the bus and stay warm and dry. Our return train was also a bit late due to weather, and we didn't have any luck with a taxi when we got to Sac, so we braved the weather and walked from the station. Lots of stuff to hang up and dry out once we were welcomed home by Miss Calypso!

Such a great artful weekend. So glad we were able to have such amazing and diverse creative experiences to share!