i left my heart in san francisco
a day wandering through golden gate park
it was june 2023, and i’d just come out of six months of healing from foot surgery.
for context: i’d gotten both of my bunions removed that year (glamorous i know) and i spent most of my 2023 stuck in bed…living in pajamas…icing my foot…and watching the world go on without me.
i did one foot at a time to be extra safe...and it takes six months (give or take) for each foot to heal. i got my left foot done in january, which meant the first half of the year was a blur of recovering from surgery and feeling kind of stuck (more on that here).
with the second surgery scheduled for july…that left me with exactly one month of semi-normalcy in between.
so…i took a spontaneous weekend solo trip to san francisco.
sooooo it was my first full day there…a gorgeous saturday afternoon…i’d just finished thrifting around haight-ashbury with no real agenda…just roaming around and seeing where the day would take me…and in the midst of wandering around…i suddenly found myself in this very enchanting…fairy-tale-esque park that i later learned was golden gate park. i’d never heard of it before and my mind was fucking blown!
i’m the type of person who’s very easily impressed by nature and flowers…so any kind of pretty scenery always has me losing my shit a little. like…i will stop dead in my tracks over a mushroom or cry over a patch of wildflowers. it’s one of the more whimsical parts of my personality. and when it comes to parks? like, a nice, solid, lush green park? bitch…don’t even get me started. i’m obsessed.
so a little background: golden gate park is essentially san francisco’s version of central park in nyc and consists of 680 forested acres, 130 acres of meadows, 15 miles of drives, and 33 acres of lakes (wow) (that’s a lot). it was also built on sand dunes (what??) and they have their own herd of bison (super random but i fuck with it)
also i love those kind of parks in metropolitan cities where you’re so surrounded by sooooo much forestry you forget you’re even in a legit metropolitan city…literally the best kind of escape.
i walked past fields of daisies and dandelions and little ponds that looked like oil paintings…sunbeams filtering through the branches…the fresh air thick with the smell of eucalyptus…the place made me feel like i was walking through some kind of mystical ass fairy tale or something.
as i was taking in the scenery…i came across this white glass-domed victorian greenhouse that immediately caught my eye:
i walked in and realized that i had stepped into the conservatory of flowers and was instantly overwhelmed…like so obsessed (also throughout my writing when i get super excited about things i do tend to repeat myself…so forgive me if i sound redundant it’s just the way i show excitement lol) there were these big ass hanging plants floating overhead like they were massive chandeliers…walls dripped with ferns and vines…there were monsteras with leaves the size of my torso…vines with leaves bigger than my head…ponds with picturesque lily pads…and quaint rosette succulents that looked so perfect they didn’t even look real.
i just mouthed “oh my god” to myself the entire forty-five minutes i walked through there.
like look at this plant i saw…
and these lily pads? such a dream…
and then here i am happy as a clam at the conservatory of flowers :)
i feel like everyone has those idyllic, picture-perfect spots they’ve either been to or dream of visiting…the places we revisit in our heads when we need to feel grounded or inspired or need a brief dose of escapism. when i think of my list of places that fit this criteria…this one always pops into my mind.
god damn…there’s so much joy to be found in going with the flow. i had no idea this place even existed…i just came across it by chance on a random saturday. damn…isn’t it amazing what kind of beauty the universe can guide you to when you’re not actively looking for it?
sometimes…the most soothing moments aren’t the ones you plan for…they’re the ones that catch you off guard and remind you you’re still capable of awe.
if you enjoyed this piece…here are some others i’d recommend:
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I’ve visited Redwood City and San Bruno a lot this past year- and the early part of this year. I love the Bay Area for work. My goal for the next the next time I’m out there is to visit Parks. After reading your post I am even more excited about that opportunity