San Francisco - Haight Ashbury

Now that Samuel lives in SF, we're visiting (or revisiting) a lot of neighborhoods. This weekend it was Haight Ashbury, which I recall from many years ago had a lot of thrift shops. That hasn't changed, but mixed in are old styles made new again. Case in point - the Love&Haight shop above, which offers new old things (e.g. 60s tie dye). Here you see Samuel experiencing the 60s, which were not a "lived experience" for him. Unlike the hippie era, Love&Haight doesn't want you smoking anything in their shop and posts prominent signs to that effect. But otherwise the intent is to wrap you in 60s pyschedelia at 21st century prices. Fun shop for both tourist and local alike.

Then we set off house viewing (it's the new tourist craze), to see Victorian homes lived in by the famous and infamous (see list above).

My favorite apartment building was this pink beauty, occupied for a time by singer Janis Joplin. This 8-unit apartment is up for sale for a mere $3.6 million. Grab it while you can. Nearby is a house the Grateful Dead once occupied. While we were staring at it, a VW bus painted 60s style drove up, with tour guide. I assume the tenants know they live in a famous house and gawkers are the price paid for living there.

We also huffed our way up to the top of nearby Buena Vista Park to take in the views.

At the bottom of the park, you can also view the former recording studio of the Grateful Dead, a white beauty built in 1900. While gawking from across the street, a gentleman drove up with a ZZ-top beard to drop something off. A friend of the Grateful Dead? We'll never know.

Then we ventured West to Golden Gate Park, to visit Hippie Hill, but had to stop at famous Ameoba Music first.

This big media warehouse has all the old formats - CD, vinyl, VHS, laser disc. Here Samuel seems befuddled by these pre-streaming products. For Steven and I, it was walking down nostalgia lane.

And now we come to Hippie Hill. This was the hippie hangout in the 60s, and guess what? That hasn't changed. Still clouds of marijuana smoke. Still a lot of drums and tambourines and dancing. But now more baseball caps. Benjamin and Samuel rest on a bench while the hipsters commune nearby.

Tahiti: Moorea: Polynesian dance show

A Tahitian vacation is not complete without some Polynesian dancing. Manava, our resort on Moorea, had just such a show for us on a Wednesday night. We arrived for the accompanying buffet just before the heavens opened and rain fell in sheets. Those that arrived early, hoping for good outdoor seats, retreated indoors. Luckily, we were inside the splash zone, under cover. Would the show go on? Yes it would. A little warm rain? Not to worry. Staff rolled out some umbrellas to cover the musicians, and our dancers came indoors.

Male Polynesian dancers have to be comfortable with wearing a few strategically placed palm leaves and grass skirts. And trust me, they are. The lead male dancer stomped around in his palm leaves, glowering at spectators and bellowing war chants. Then "warriors" were gathered from the audience, lined up, at least three dozen of them, and taught war chants and gestures. All French and Tahitian. Didn'understand a word, but they took their roles seriously. They participated; they dug into their new roles; they were fierce. It was a delight. Finally, finally, the rain let up and the dancers finished outside (photo above). After the show, they lined up for pictures with the tourists, we among them. Check out the fierce and elaborate headdresses.