San Francisco, Photography & a Giant Flying Bear (1/4)
A solo California road trip begins with old friends, a camera and one very unexpected day by the bay.
FROM THE TRAVEL ARCHIVES: I took this California road trip in 2010. This story has been lightly refreshed from the journal I kept at the time, with a few memories added from the perspective of 2026. Places and businesses can change, so check current details before planning a visit.
That year, I made the somewhat difficult decision to forego my annual international trip, but I knew I still had to get away. I find that I need to escape for a bit every year to refresh, as I think is probably the case with most everybody. So I pondered, thought, Googled and decided it was time to explore more of California. It was long past time that I spent some time in San Francisco and finally saw the giant redwoods, Big Sur and the coastline between LA and San Francisco.
I packed up the Blueberry, fed Jack the Cat some extra treats and headed north.
I hadn't done a road trip just for fun in a while, so I was a bit excited. I escaped Los Angeles and headed up the 5 toward San Francisco with NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! keeping me occupied as I scurried up the freeway. The drive itself was pretty uneventful. I think the most dramatic moment came when I took one of my notorious fuel gambles and barely snuck into a gas station after the fuel light had been on for more than a comfortable amount of time.
I'll never learn.
My friends Fran and Loren lived on Lombard Street, so I crossed over the bridge, forked over my $6 toll and eventually found a parking spot. I had originally met the two of them through Team in Training for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and it was wonderful to see them again and see their new home, along with the resident adorable animals, Jessie and Ella. We went out for dinner, caught up on things and then headed back to rest up for a day of fun and frolicking in the city.
Fran had become very interested in photography over the previous few years, so we decided it would be fun to have a photo day and simply walk around San Francisco taking pictures. I was always taking photos anyway, and at the time I was also playing around with the Hipstamatic app on my phone, so this sounded like a perfectly good way to spend the day.
Our first stop was the Fort Mason area, where we had some lovely views of the Golden Gate Bridge. The park above the fort was filled with dogs having a blast catching balls and Frisbees, tourists on bikes and joggers. We snapped photos while Fran told me more about the neighborhood, and as we looked down toward Marina Green, we noticed something a wee bit wacky.
There appeared to be a giant floating bear.
Oh yeah. We had to go check that out.
We headed down the hill toward the Green and discovered that the giant bear was a kite. We had stumbled onto Family Kite Day, and there were kites of all sorts flying over the waterfront. I don't think I had ever seen that many different kinds of kites in one place before. Some were ornate and elaborate enough that I found myself wondering whether they could possibly fly and, if they could, how on earth anyone got them into the air. But they did. Some seemed to float while others danced above us, which of course gave us something entirely new to photograph.
One guy had a couple of trick kites and some of the most amazing control over them I had ever seen. I first noticed him while I was taking pictures of the bear. I turned around and discovered one of his kites hovering about a foot behind me. It stayed there for a bit and then flew away. He continued doing the same thing with other people, holding the kite remarkably steady. At one point he hovered it near a little boy. The boy reached out and touched it, and the kite flew away like a butterfly.
Awesome.
Farther along, there was a tent where kids could make their own kites. It was such a joy watching them get their creations into the air. What had started as a day of wandering San Francisco and taking pictures had unexpectedly given us a whole sky full of subjects.
We continued walking along the shore toward Crissy Field and Fort Point, looking for different angles to photograph the Golden Gate Bridge. We passed more happy dogs on the beach and watched a parade of sailboats out on the water. The bridge was putting on a nice show with the fog, so lots more photos were taken. Eventually Loren came to meet us, and after all that walking we headed off for a snack and a chance to rest our feet before dinner.
Dinner that evening was at Hyde Street Seafood and was a lovely end to the day. The next morning we had brunch at Rose's Cafe before it was time for me to say goodbye to Fran and Loren and their wonderful hospitality.
Then the Blueberry and I headed north.
Aside from quick jaunts up to Napa and Sonoma, I had never been north of San Francisco before. Somewhere ahead were the giant redwoods I'd heard about all my life, and I was finally going to see them for myself.
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San Francisco, Photography & a Giant Flying Bear (1/4)
I headed north from Los Angeles expecting a few days with friends, photography and some time exploring San Francisco. I wasn’t expecting a giant floating bear—or the waterfront kite festival responsible for it.
