A VISIT TO THE DISNEY

San Francisco's newest museum is the Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio. The Presidio was an Army base, possibly the most beautiful Army post in the entire United States. It was decomissioned in 1994 and is now a national park site and part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It has restaurants, housing, a golf course, views of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco, and is home to many small businesses and such notable businesses as Lucasfilm.

The Walt Disney Family Museum opened a few weeks ago. When my friend Kirsten invited me to a corporate party at the museum, I immediately said "yes."



We arrived at the museum a bit early and decided to walk over to La Terrasse restaurant to have a drink. La Terrasse is at the Main Post, next to the Presidio Transit Center. If you take the bus to visit the museum, this is where you will arrive. To our delight, it was Happy Hour at La Terrasse. Happy Hour wines (there were 6 choices) are $5 a glass and all beers are $1 off. We each enjoyed a glass of wine. We were tempted by the bargain-priced appetizers, but resisted, knowing that we would be eating at the party.



The museum occupies two of the Presidio's historic buildings. The entrance is at 104 Montgomery Street, a barracks building, right on the Main Post. A second adjacent building behind it, the Riley Building, was previously the military post's gymnasium. There is plenty of free parking right across from the museum.

Although we did not have time to thoroughly take in the museum, we had enough time during the reception to view the more than 900 awards that were presented to Walt Disney throughout his career, including 29 of his 32 Academy Awards. The most intriguing Oscar is a special one with one regular-sized Oscar and seven small ones...awarded for Disney's feature-length animated film, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

We spent about an hour browsing throught the museum's 10 galleries. It was not enough time to view each exhibit in any detail or to listen to the audio presentations and view the video presentation, but it was enough time to leave us awed at Disney's work. We were advised by our hosts to be sure to visit gallery 9, where there is an enormous model of Disneyland as conceived by Walt Disney; we were not disappointed.

The museum is a personal tribute to Walt Disney by his family and includes much memorabilia from his personal life, much the same as is found in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum in Boston and the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa. It incorporates the latest of technology into the exhibits to create a wondrous environment.

You've no doubt noticed that I have no photos of the museum galleries. I do not know whether photography is allowed inside the museum, but decided that, as a special guest, it was not appropriate for me to take photos. When I return, I will find out if photography is allowed and promise to post any photos I might take.

I will be back soon to spend the day here.

A few details:

*The museum is open every day except Tuesday and a few holidays, from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
*Admission is fairly expensive at $20 for adults, $15 for students/seniors, $12.50 for children ages 6 to 17, and free to children under 6, accompanied by an adult.
*Tickets can be purchased online in advance. They are timed at entry times every 15 minutes. If you want to be certain to get into the museum at a specific time, or if you are visiting on a holiday, weekend, or during a school vacation, it is probably a good idea to purchase your tickets in advance.
*The museum café is operated by Wolfgang Puck. Judging from the tasty creative food that I ate at the party, which was catered by Wolfgang Puck Catering, this is where I am going to have lunch when I return.
*Not yet open in the museum is a movie theatre which will be screening Disney favorites and other special interest films.

URBAN TAVERN: MY NEW FAVORITE DOWNTOWN SF

I met Janet & Harriet for lunch in San Francisco the other day when Janet was at a two-day conference at the SF Hilton.



Since Janet was the one with the tightest schedule, I decided that we should try the relatively-new (one year) Urban Tavern which is right in the Hilton, with its entrance at 333 O'Farrell Street.

Not only was Urban Tavern the perfect location, it turned out to be a beautiful restaurant with delicious food. And, many very reasonable choices for a budget-priced lunch. The dining room is attractive and quiet, even when it is full, as it was the day we dined. There is art throughout, including this lovely horse.



The menu offers a mix of pub and comfort food...I am sure to many of you these two categories are synonymous and I agree.

Janet and I ordered the Express Lunch, priced at $10. It includes a cup of soup (it was Cream of Celeri Root that day) and half a sandwich..sandwich choice of Pulled Pork, Pastrami, or French Dip.

Janet chose the Pulled Pork.



My choice was the Pastrami, a grilled sandwich with melted Swiss Cheese and Sauerkraut.



Harriet ordered from the Small Bites portion of the menu. Small Bites are $5 each or 3 for $13. Her choices, which were more than she could eat, were Deviled Eggs, prepared three ways; Hobb's Bacon "Tato Tots", and Warm Cheese Puffs.



Another tempting budget offering is the daily lunch special, priced at $7. On Monday it is a Vegetarian Specialty, Tuesday is Spaghetti & Meatballs, Wednesday is Irish Stew, Thursday is Mac & Cheese with Ham, Friday is Rice & Beans with Grilled Chicken, Saturday is a Beer Sausage Sandwich with a mug of draft beer, and Sunday it is Pork Posole.

I love Urban Tavern's attention to detail in every aspect of the restaurant. My tea cup rested in a special saucer where the indentation for the cup was off centered, allowing room for my spoon, tea bag, and lemon. All that was missing was a cookie.



We were content in this lovely dining room.

During the lunch hour, the service was quick and efficient, but, at the same time, we were not rushed by anything other than our own schedules.

The dinner menu offers a selection of Small Bites at the same price as at lunch, a three-course Prix Fixe Menu for $34.95 as well as a full menu of tempting Starters and Entrées, most priced well under $20.

For the month of October, 2009, Urban Tavern is participating in Perfect Pairings, a collaboration between the restaurant and Meals-on-Wheels. The day we dined, for each order of one specific soup and one wine, the restaurant donated a $1 to Meals-on-Wheels.

I plan to return often to Urban Tavern whenever I am downtown San Francisco. Just a block or so from Union Square, it is perfect for a relaxing meal while shopping downtown. It is a great choice for before or after theatre. And, it is ideal for a business meeting.

Beverly Dubrin's WHERE-TO-GUIDE: SWIM A MILE 2009

Beverly Dubrin's WHERE-TO-GUIDE: SWIM A MILE 2009

SWIM A MILE 2009

On Saturday, October 3, 2009, I, once again, participated in the Swim A Mile for Women with Cancer. It is a fundraiser for the Women's Cancer Resource Center in Oakland, California. This year, I raised close to $4000 with contributions from friends and family. I thank all of you who sponsored my swim so generously.

The swim takes place at Mills College in Oakland and goes on for two days. It is both inspiring and sad to participate.

Each year I have more names of people to honor and remember. There is a special wall on which participants can post the names of the people they are swimming for.

My youngest honoree is Janet who was diagnosed two years ago and who has already had a recurrence. Her spirits are great and her determination to live her busy life is awesome. She was there to cheer her mother, Harriet, and me on as we swam in her honor. Here she is by my honor/memory signs.







I shared a lane with Harriet for the swim.



She started a bit before me and paused to greet me as I joined her.



Janet took several "action" photos of the two of us. I especially like this one of us passing one another. I only hope my Walnut Creek Masters swim coaches don't see this and decide to critique my form!!!



At the end of the swim, each participant got a spin on the Cancer Education Wheel. Janet took Harriet's spin and won a prize!



We also posed for pictures.







Then it was time to enjoy lunch. Many local restaurants and caterers generously donate food. The selection changes throughout the two days, but there is always more than enough to satisfy everyone...swimmers, volunteers, fans.







The chips on this platter were especially intriguing. We decided that they were made with flax seed but we could not figure out what the red ingredient was. At any rate, they were great with the guacamole! We think it may have come from Café Gratitude, a live foods café, with several northern California locations.



The Swim A Mile is the only all-swimming fundraising event that I know of in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since swimming is one of my major activities, I am honored to be able to participate. I appreciate that it is a totally non-competitive event..you can swim the mile (72 lengths of the pool), walk it, kick, float, or do whatever suits you. There is always a group, WCRC staff I believe, who walk their mile.



There are volunteer lap counters who keep track of you and who will track your time as well. Of course, there are lots of people there to cheer us on. And, lots of activity too...anouncements as each person finishes, noise makers to cheer on swimmers, music, and just a good time for two days.




For those not familiar with the Women's Cancer Resource Center, it provides FREE resources and support services to women with cancer and to their families and friends. Being diagnosed with cancer is a shock to even the most informed of people. WCRC is there to help them along their journey.

Here are closeup photos of the names of those for whom I swam. In addition to my own personal list of people, I have the names of those for whom my sponsors asked me to swim.






Thanks all of you!