I second the Muir Woods suggestion; it's relatively close to SF and there are finally some decent places to eat in Larkspur, Tiburon and San Rafael. If you must eat Chinese food in SF, you are better off eating in the Richmond or Sunset neighborhoods, where enormous #s of Asians live (we did, for 17 yrs before moving across to the East Bay). For dim sum, Koi Palace in Daly City or Hong Kong Flower Lounge in San Mateo are cheaper and almost as good as the iconic Yank Sing, which has two locations, both OUTSIDE Chinatown: 101 Spear St. (Embarcadero) and 49 Stevenson (alley in the Financial District). Whatever you do or wherever you stay, try NOT to drive downtown! Take public transit instead. Parking is impossibly difficult; meters are now graduated rates according to time of day and accessibility. San Francisco is the pilot program for the Dept. of Transportation's new program to discourage urban drivers. Meter rates can vary from 50 cents to as high as $10/hr for the same parking space, depending on computerized availability during day and evening. Frankly, the best food in SF can be found in the smaller new bistros, such as Rich Table, State Bird Provisions, Quince/Cotogna, Benu, etc. Although if I were dining with an out-of-town foodie, I would pick Aziza, whose fusion cuisine has wandered far from its original Moroccan roots without disdaining them. Mourad Lahlou and his pastry chef Melissa Chou are both utterly brilliant, creative, and inspired. No other restaurant in Northern CA does the kind of cuisine Lahlou does. It is literally one-of-a-kind" -- never less than very good, and much of it 5-star greatness. Monterey/Carmel is a great area but there are not a lot of big public gardens. Carmel-by-the-sea has lovely courtyard gardens of beautiful container plantings hidden between buildings - check out the back courtyard of Anton & Michel's restaurant (but don't eat there, it's awful) for one of the prettiest, complete with splashing pool. Starting May 1st (tourist season officially begins) is the small-scale Secret Gardens of Old Monterey, which I linked below. Do try to reserve a tour at Tor House in Carmel, too - the little English garden is quite pretty, the setting absolutely superb, looking out over the Pacific. Website is http://www.torhouse.org/. Most people do the 17 mile drive, but don't realize that there's a coastal trail you can walk (weekdays are much less crowded than weekends!) leading to and from Asilomar State Beach, in Pacific Grove. You can actually start at the Monterey Bay Aquarium but I always find it very crowded with both tourists and locals. Almost everybody drops away after Lover's Point, where it's a level stretch to Asilomar Beach, walking along the Pacific's edge - absolutely gorgeous on a nice day! Here is a link that might be useful: May 1st: Secret Gardens of Monterey

It sounds like a good trip- the weather has helped make those back road drives just lovely this year. Your photo of the agaves, grasses, and poppies is wonderful. I have an agave, so I can appreciate the weeding issues in that bed. Renee

Ginny, I've been following the updates in the local paper... You can too, if you do a Google search to find the Salem News online edition. Every few weeks they usually have an article about what's going on at the site. The basic scoop -- a big developer, the Archstone Corporation had the winning bid for the development of the hospital campus, but the stipulation was that they had to preserve the Kirkbride (that's the big gothic main building). Archstone had its engineers do an initial check of the structure, and reported that with some minor adjustments they could preserve the building. After Archstone got the deal, though, they proposed a plan radically different from their original. Now, they claimed that the age and degree of decrepitude of the Kirkbride would make it impossible to save anything but the front facade. The Danvers town council was outraged (as were many residents). On top of that, relatives of some of the patients who had died and were buried on the campus were very concerned that any development plans that go through must honor and preserve the modest cemetery. The deal was just a big mess. Archstone dropped out. Another company (the name eludes me right now) took it up and apparently has provided a plan that preserves the Kirkbride exterior and its main interior structure... but with major renovations. There are supposed to be lots of new condo buildings, plus use of the Kirkbride and neighboring brick buildings, but I don't know what those uses will be. I presume offices and/or more housing. I drive by there quite regularly, and have always been taken by the beauty of the setting and the drama of the campus structures. I hope that any development that is undertaken preserves the dignity of the place, and its lush green setting.

Was a building permit required for the fence and if so, did you get the permit? Not having a necessary permit might get you in trouble. What is their reasoning? Is it blocking a view of oncoming traffic? Doesn't appear to from pictures, but could be their reason. Have any friends on the city council? Any friends who have friends on the city council? Sad to say, that's the best way to make code enforcer go away. If not, get your neighbors to write letters stating that it is not a problem for them (was it one of them that complained?) and adds value to the appearance of the neighborhood. Take photographs showing that it does not interfere with sightlines for drivers. Document and present those documents to city officials. Roses look nice, but to be honest, grass looks weedy and like it could use some maintenance. Looks like there is a missing tile there by the gate and some loose stones on the bottom on the left hand side. I'm not critisizing, just pointing out what they might be objecting too. Make everything as neat as possible in the pictures so there is no question about how nice it really is.