Golden Gate Park and a Japanese Tea Garden

Pagodas, ornamental and real ones.

 Finally!

In the last few weeks, we have manage to settle down and start enjoying life in the Bay Area. The unpacking is done and the house is (almost) in order. We know where to get groceries from and who to call if the house falls down.

We (meaning I - Husband is a pro in navigation and driving) navigate our transport options to San Francisco and find that going on a weekend is easy. Going early is the key. Californians here start late. 10.00am is a good time to arrive in San Francisco and so we decide to explore a little. We did a couple of trips (read my first foray into local San Francisco here http://www.davestravelcorner.com/journals/destination-north-america/far-madding-crowd-half-day-jaunt-san-francisco/) but on our second trip in, the one place that caught my eye was the little Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park.

Golden Gate Park (https://goldengatepark.com/) is wonderful. There are so many things to do here, including bird watching (the latest foray was the arrival of the blue herons that drew huge crowds), pedalo-ing (peddle boating to the British uninitiated), rowing, museum visiting, outdoor gallery browsing and general relaxing with outdoor music to boot. The California Academy of Sciences (www.calacademy.org) is here as is the de Young Museum (https://deyoung.famsf.org/) (which incidentally has a children's programme, great cafe and garden that houses some amazing sculptures and installations to wander through if you don't wish to pay the very high entrance fee). There is also an amazing San Francisco Botanical Gardens (www.sfbotanicalgarden.org/) if that tickles your fancy.

So. It's everything in London but in one huge park. To top it off, if you come early enough, street parking is free all day.

We were on a scouting mission never having been the park. I knew the CA Academy of Sciences was a whole day affair (and then some!) so we decided to leave that for another day. What I really wanted to see was the Japanese Tea Garden (http://japaneseteagardensf.com/). We had missed the gardens (and the park) a few years ago when we visited and I really wanted to see this Japanese oasis in the middle of San Francisco.

It was relatively busy around 11.00am on the Saturday we visited but not overwhelmingly so. (We noted the crowds queuing later when we left around 1.00pm and realised that earlier was better!) The Japanese Tea Gardens is one of the more affordable places to visit in the park, coming in at $8 per adult and youth (with a lower cost if you are an SF resident) and $2 for a child between 5 and 11 years old.

Drum Bridge

The garden is about 5 acres big but you wouldn't feel it from the landscape and architecture. The little pathways you follow, streams and bridges you encounter, with trees and shrubbery beautifully designed to allow peace and tranquility to automatically wash over you when you enter is sublime. The garden is divided into different parts with little gardens, streams, brooks and ponds guiding you through the park, stone pagodas and actual ones dot the garden to make you stop and say a prayer or meditate for a few seconds. The significant areas are the Drum Bridge (worth a climb), the Rock Garden, the Tea House and the "Treasure Tower" Pagoda.

A bit of history as to why there is a Japanese garden in the middle of SF: The tea garden was originally created as a “Japanese Village” exhibit for the 1894 California Midwinter International Exposition, the site spanned about one acre and showcased a Japanese style garden.  When the exposition was over, Makoto Hagiwara, a landscape artist and immigrant, found a way to turn the exposition into a permanent park and expanded it to its present size, pouring all his effort and wealth into it. He became caretaker of the place and upon his death in 1925, his children became its proprietors and caretakers. as he had become. Hagiwara's contract with John McLaren, superintendent of the Golden Gate Park, gave him and his family the right to live on the grounds for a century but a dark part of history overshadows this beautiful gardens. During WWII, anti-Japanese sentiment arose and Hagiwara's family were evicted from the gardens and sent to an internment camp. After the war, no compensation was awarded to them. In 1952 the gardens were re-opened and in a spirit of reconciliation, the Hagiwara provided minimal assistance in the beatification of the gardens. 

The garden is truly an oasis of calm. Even with the throngs of people watching the koi in the pond, walking among the beautiful cherry blossoms or visiting the karesansui (Japanese Rock Garden), it still puts you in a beatific state of mind. I can imagine the Hagiwara family taking tea in the tea house perched at the entrance overlooking the park and it gives you a sense of joy when taking tea in such wonderful surroundings. 

Also known as the Wishing Bridge. 

Golden Gate Park has an amazing amount of offerings and more than one visit is definitely required. For the moment, the Japanese Tea Garden lingers in my mind and makes me want to go back to linger a while longer at the karesansui or watch the koi swimming the pond.

*there is no food sold in the park, only snacks and tea at the tea house (a sit-down affair), which will require a wait for service and if the small tea house is full so do bring snacks for your little ones (and the not so little ones) to avoid having to exit the park early! If you need to leave, the de Young Museum cafe is just round the corner and doesn't require entry into the museum to enter the cafe. Also, food trucks nearby sell a whole host of takeaways if you fancy a lie down in the sun and listening to the free music by a busker.