Summer! Part 1

Summer means… well, not a lot of difference from the regular school year for a graduate student, except that I get to celebrate the husband’s birthday with a trip to the Walt Disney Family Museum for Tiki Night. I also baked him a coconut birthday cake (complete with tiny bunting), and we communed with Mother Nature by hiking in the mountains (and we’re not exactly nature folk), but I’ll save those for future posts.

Part 1: 11-hour round trip drive for 4 precious hours in San Francisco

The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco is a must-see for animation and Disney enthusiasts. Since it’s owned by the family, not by the corporation, the museum holds significant works of art, equipment and awards that hasn’t been seen anywhere else. For example, original art from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Dumbo, Peter Pan, and many other animated films line the walls. The multi-plane camera used to film Bambi and Pinocchio also resides at the museum. Disney’s Oscar for Snow White, along with seven little Oscars to represent the dwarfs, is seen alongside other awards. We went on Tiki Night — the event’s name was “Animate Your Night: Choose Your Own Adventure” but everyone wore tiki and they served tiki drinks, hence, I continue to call it Tiki Night — as I wanted to wear my Hawaiian gear and see the special Mary Blair exhibition of Alice in Wonderland concept art. And yes, we drove 11 hours for this plus an ice cream treat at Ghiradelli’s Square located at Fisherman’s Wharf. It’s amazing how few cars are on the road from 12 to 5 in the morning.

Sunset view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the Walt Disney Family Museum

Getting the night started right with a rum tiki drink.

Opening frame to the special exhibition.

Mary Blair concept art for Alice in Wonderland. Copyright Walt Disney Family Museum.

Best BBQ pork and kalua pork sliders from The Sliders Shack SF food truck