Yesterday I went to the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco to visit the de Young Museum on its opening day. However, the idea of standing a 4-hour+ long line in the blistering hot San Francisco sun dissuaded me, and I elected to return on Sunday.
deYoung Museum just happens to be keeping the museum open for 31 hours continuously -- from noon on Saturday until 5pm on Sunday. How many times in your life are you going to be able to see a museum or Golden Gate Park in the middle of night?
I left my house at 3 am to drive up to the city. After stopping for a impromptu moonlight photoshoot, I made it to Golden Gate Park at about 4 am. 4am just happens to lie in the zone where SFPD will ticket your car if it's parked in GGP, I was hoping there might be some leniency given the special events at the deYoung but after noticing a number of red parking tickets on the windshield of cars, I decided to exit the area and found an amazing parking spot on 18th and Irving, a mere two blocks from the park entrance.
I take some photos around the deYoung before starting to stand in line to enter the museum (even at 5am there's a line!) The line movies quickly and by 530 I'm inside. The deYoung is an incredibly massive building and its collection is spectacular and diverse. The museum is photographer friendly, with the only restrictions being the visiting exhibit.
The deYoung also has an observation tower, granting a 360 degree view of the City and the Park.
You had some late nights this weekend! Of course there's a line at 5am...