With Sophie home, I planned a fun family day trip into San Francisco with some friends. We are lucky to have the Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs exhibit in San Francisco. It’s the first stop in the North American tour of the exhibit. I had planned the visit (plus a stop for dim sum at Yank Sing) a few months ago. But despite the cool exhibit and food, it was marred by some scary events. And it makes me think I should probably revisit this assessment of the city from earlier this year.
It was a gorgeous day in San Francisco, with those clear blue skies. It reminds me of why I fell in love with SF all those years ago.
The exhibit was interesting, but something was off. Maybe I could feel something in the air? The audio-visual aspects of the exhibit seemed to be on the fritz, with no explanation. I didn’t love how crowded the exhibit was at 9:30am on a Sunday. And frankly, Ramses the Great seemed like a big egotistical jerk. A lot of toxic masculinity. I suppose that wasn’t something people were concerned with back then. But still.
At least women did seem to have some rights in Egypt during the time of Ramses the Great. Thanks Ramses!
The gift shop did have a good assortment of fun, Egyptian-themed items. A few stocking stuffers were procured.
The highlight for me was the Ramses the Great virtual reality experience, my first VR experience (except for this one), and I am intrigued. I will definitely keep my eyes out for other experiences. I’d say it was worth the $18, despite it being under 10 min in duration.
We headed downtown to Yank Sing and had a great lunch. The restaurant was bustling and they have opened up the interior space, after months of being in the open air atrium.
Has San Francisco changed for good?
It was a lovely day, other than two events that made me reconsider San Francisco today. The first was seeing a smash-and-grab of an SUV a brief walk from the museum, on our way to get the car. The thieves were brazen- a car pulled up, someone hopped out, smashed three windows, shimmied into the car. He emerged with a big black bag, got back in the car and sped away. There were probably 25 people watching this- families, kids, couples. It was truly shocking.
“Shellshocked” describes the feeling in the car as we drove downtown. As we stopped at a light on Fell Street, I noticed two men injecting themselves with…something. Again, shocked. I am still processing my feelings about the events, to be honest. But I have arrived at the feeling of anger. Anger that the city I love, the city that saved me when I left NYC for a new start on the west coast, has fallen to such lows. Anger that I don’t see how this will change. That there doesn’t seem to be any chance that this will change. And anger that visits to the city will be probably always have some feelings of fear.
Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs, De Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr, San Francisco, CA 94118
