Visit San Francisco Symphony and Monterey Bay Aquarium

his trolley scene is among those found online for zoom backgrounds.
This trolley scene is among those found online for zoom backgrounds.

Until we can physically travel again, Travel Smart will visit cities where art museums, zoos and other destinations are doing videos through youtube, Facebook and Google arts .

When clicking on the links you may get something else but they are just ads so click on” skip ad” and you will be at the even/place you want

Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf, hills and trolley cars. It’s San Francisco, baby. Until you can go back there are also places you can enjoy online that you may not have thought of in the city and down the coast.

 

Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas. (Photo courtesy of San Francisco Symphony)
Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas. (Photo courtesy of San Francisco Symphony)

San Francisco Symphony

You can watch and hear about Aaron Copeland or  listen to Michael Tilson Thomas conduct the symphony and Emanuel Ax in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Also look for other concerts. They are like having a playlist on the computer to listen to while you work.

SF MOMA

San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art features different artists and their work on line. See Judy Chicago and others.

Asian Art Museum

Visit the museum online to see its collection or learn about interesting and historic pieces.

 

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Watch and learn about penguins or see the cams such as the hypnotic moon jelly movement.

Related: Visit Chicago to see a zoo or travel by L or see it back in the forties

 

Rail initiative combines destinations on bucket list

Cruising to Hawaiian ports means not having to fly to the west coast, then Honolulu and more airports to puddle-jump to different islands.

Take a train west to San Francisco across impressive mountain ranges. Do a Hawaiian cruise. The two bucket-list dreams may sound like different vacations in time and space.

Travel by rail through the Rockies to enjoy the scenery instead of watching the road
Travel by rail through the Rockies to enjoy the scenery instead of watching the road

But Vacations By Rail, a Chicago-based travel company that organizes train trips to national parks and across Europe has lately been partnering with Princess Cruises so that travelers don’t have to choose between a scenic land vacation or a cruise destination.

Among the latest pairings is a two-night trip through the Colorado Rockies and Sierra Nevada Mountains to San Francisco from Chicago on the California Zephyr then on to Hawaii by cruise ship .

Travelers stay a night in the “city by the bay” then board the “Grand Princess” for a 14 night cruise to Hilo, Honolulu, Kauai, Maui and Ensenada, Mexico.  Cruising to Hawaiian ports means not having to fly to the west coast, then Honolulu and more airports to puddle-jump to different islands. After the Mexican stop, the ship returns to San Francisco.

The total trip of 19 days by train and sea can be extended. Options include returning to Chicago by Zephyr for a  22-day vacation or staying longer in San Francisco three to four days.

For more information visit Vacations By Rail  www.vacationsbyrail.com and call 877-929-7245.

Photo (C) by Jodie Jacobs