To get to Ridge Winery from Cupertino you must travel 4.5 miles uphill, along a narrow switchback road, past vineyards and open space, to an elevation of 2300 feet. Reaching the top and looking east, you have a grand view of expansive “Silicon Valley”. The Santa Cruz Mountains and the Pacific Ocean lie to the...Read More

San Francisco has 4 carousels, each one distinct. Three of them are antique works of art—amusements that have been lovingly preserved and maintained. The fourth, a relatively new carousel, has bells, whistles, and lights, making it a glittery representative of San Francisco’s playful side. The Looff Carousel, in Yerba Buena Gardens, was the first to...Read More

Perhaps you have already noticed the larger-than-life sculpture of Father Junipero Serra on a hillside near Hillsborough as you drive north on Highway 280. Father Serra was the Franciscan missionary who established the first 9 missions in Alta (Northern) California from 1769 to 1784 for Spanish King Charles III. Artist Louis Du Bois designed the...Read More

Sir Norman Foster, acclaimed British architect, and his firm, Foster & Partners, are currently juggling multiple commissions in the Bay area. Foster’s success is due in part to his long-term advocacy for technologically advanced buildings that serve the client, while remaining environmentally sensitive. Foster & Partners has proposed two skyscrapers for San Francisco’s Transbay Project...Read More

The Puya Raimondii plant from South America blooms only once in its lifetime, and then it dies. Ordinarily this plant, also called the “Queen of the Andes”, doesn’t bloom until it is 80 -100 years old. Thus, every time this species blooms, it attracts attention. The Bay area has experienced blooming Puya twice in the...Read More

Once upon a time there was a tranquil lily pond in Golden Gate Park. It was just off JFK Drive, near the California Academy of Sciences, and was a pleasant home to ducks and fish, turtles, and frogs. Then someone, or something destroyed that equilibrium. The lily pond became a dumping ground for an invasive amphibian,...Read More

  At Walt Disney Family Museum.  Walt gave this bronzed hat to his mother for her birthday.  He fashioned a heart shape in the crown and filled it with violets.  It was cast from one of his favorite hats.    Read More