{"id":41582,"date":"2024-03-27T14:48:46","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T21:48:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/?p=41582"},"modified":"2024-11-18T15:54:42","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T23:54:42","slug":"soma-stroll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/local-chocolate\/soma-stroll\/","title":{"rendered":"SOMA stroll"},"content":{"rendered":"

I eat a lot of chocolate but I don\u2019t expect it for Valentine\u2019s Day. That\u2019s because Cacaopod\u2019s and my anniversary is the day after so that\u2019s when we celebrate. This year we got our celebratory flowers and chocolates in a staycation trip to SF where we visited a public garden and 2 chocolatiers. It was a fun half day that you might want to try too \u2014 and you don\u2019t have to wait for your next special occasion.<\/p>\n

First off this is a walking excursion that for us began with public transit into SF from Oakland. Since there are more cars than parking spaces in SF we recommend getting to downtown sans a car if you can. From Oakland there are 3 transit options to cross the bay: BART (the default, OK but kinda boring), the ferry (fun, relaxing, we started the Death March<\/a> on the ferry last August), and the bus, which had the benefit of depositing us underneath our first site in the city: Salesforce Park.<\/p>\n

\"On
The view of SF from the bus on the Bay Bridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We took the F bus \u2014 it\u2019s a plush commuter bus with upholstered seats and WIFI \u2014 and super convenient for our purposes: The cross bay busses have their own offramp from the Bay Bridge into the middle level of the Salesforce Transit Hub \u2014 downstairs is for MUNI busses and upstairs is the rooftop garden park we were eager to explore.<\/p>\n

The transit center\u2019s middle level is clean and attractive with public art and nice architectural touches. The sides are open but covered with a curvy metal perforated screen through which you can see all the surrounding skyscrapers \u2014 and our preferred method for reaching the park \u2014 a gondola!<\/p>\n

\"Transit
Transit Center middle level screened sides \u2014with a view of the park\u2019s gondola if you look carefully<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You can take the elevator up to the park, but instead I recommend taking the escalator down to the ground level \u2014 there\u2019s a cool circular video screen with ever-changing poetry and quotes that you pass through \u2014 then walk around the corner to the gondola. The gondola takes passengers one way only \u2014 up \u2014 but it\u2019s fun and the operator has some interesting info about the park and its history.<\/p>\n

Cacaopod and I started doing regular coffee walks last year \u2014 we go to different coffee shops and walk around the surrounding neighborhoods admiring people\u2019s gardens while drinking our coffee \u2014 and we did the same in the rooftop garden park. There\u2019s an Andytown Coffee Roasters<\/a> in the park \u2014 there\u2019s also a biergarten in the park if that\u2019s more your thing but we arrived before their 11:30AM opening. The gondola operator includes the refreshments info as part of the orientation you get while riding up to the park.<\/p>\n

\"Monkey
Monkey Puzzle Tree closeup<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Opened 5 years ago, the park looks much older. The gardens and open spaces are all lush and full \u2014 one reason is because they planted mature trees when they built the park. And they must assign the best arborists in the city to this park because the trees and plants all look great.<\/p>\n

There are different garden zones around the park like a redwood forest section and a desert garden. One of the coolest sections was the Chilean garden with Monkey Puzzle Trees. There was also a Cork Oak tree \u2014 where bottle corks come from \u2014 in another one of the gardens which was also pretty cool to look at. Even if it wasn\u2019t a gondola ride up and in the middle of a bunch of skyscrapers, this would be an interesting garden to view. Lots of botanical variety to explore. Very Instaworthy.<\/p>\n

\"SalesForce
SalesForce Park benches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But wait, there\u2019s more! It has maybe my favorite piece of public art \u2014 a 1000′ or so public fountain that is activated by the busses passing underneath \u2014 when an East Bay bus comes into the terminal below, it sets off a series of baby geysers as the bus moves below the fountain\u2019s path. Sit on one of the many 2-seater benches lining the garden path and \u201cwatch\u201d the busses pull in and out by tracking the fountain \u2014 or try to outrun the busses and not get wet by standing in the fountain and moving out of the way of the approaching geysers.<\/p>\n