Three years ago, Alex and I moved from Berkeley to Sacramento, an hour and a half away. While we were happy to trade in our tiny one-bedroom apartment for a little more space and a lot more time with family, we also gave up things we really loved about living in the San Francisco Bay Area: close friends, amazing restaurants, a wide range of weekly events, walkable urbanism, proximity to the ocean…
Every break I have from school, we venture back for a couple days to reconnect with our old lives:
Friday night we stayed in San Rafael, following a leisurely drive through Wine Country. As soon as we reached our hotel, I begged Alex to jump in the car to make the trek 25 minutes further so we could watch the sunset over Muir Beach. What I didn’t realize was that the beach is angled away from the setting sun, so instead we enjoyed the dimming light, remembering how often we used to come and sit in the same spot when we lived in Berkeley. It was our spot to imagine the future. I guess it still is.
This time my imagination of the future included a need to own the teal house overlooking the beach… Alex quickly pointed out that we could paint any house on the beach teal, but that seems beside the point.
Woke up ready to cross the Golden Gate and head into the City for brunch and the Bluegrass Festival. No matter how many times I cross this bridge, it’s always magical.
A little SF mural flair, Guernica style.
Delicious brunch at Zazie’s with friends. Made us feel like locals, like maybe we were home again.
A very grown-up game of Go Fish while we waited for the Lumineers at Hardly, Strictly Bluegrass in Golden Gate Park– a completely free music festival, (and just one more reason I love San Francisco).
Lucky hand of Go Fish!
Doing a frightening job protecting our precious piece of real estate as the crowd rolled in for the Lumineers– Golden Gate Park was packed but beautiful in the sunshine!
And, what we waited for– one of my favorite bands, the Lumineers. Sitting on Alex’s shoulders, listening to lyrics about love and family, I felt momentarily at home in a sea of people.
Ironically, as much as we love to visit the Bay, I am not sure it will ever be where we call home again. Odd, right– to love a place so much and not want to live there? I still need something a little quieter, a little more laid back… Somewhere I can imagine raising my own family. Thanks Lumineers for searing that word family into my head tonight. I leave you with some crudely shot footage that makes me smile. Life captured briefly, imperfectly, but still beautiful. So show me family…
oliviaobryon 
I live just south, at Capitola – my kids grew up in San Rafael! I just love that whole part of the world, to death. Oh, and a quick poem about Muir beach (#5) http://www.myspace.com/77178284/blog/542545532
Great poem! Had no idea you lived in this part of the world. Muir Beach and the Pelican Inn are places I miss if I don’t visit at least a couple times a year. Have you been to Sol Food in San Rafael? So good!
There’s always something a little bittersweet about going back to places we loved and left. Glad you had a good time.
That is a good way of putting it, bittersweet.
Beautiful photos, Olivia, Nice that you got to reconnect with your old life.
Thank you! And, agreed, sometimes it’s nice to go back 🙂