14 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM A family legacy also guided Richard Draeger’s upbringing and career. The Woodside resident reveals what it’s like being one of six siblings running the upscale markets founded by his grandfather Gustave nearly 100 years ago. (Page 25) For Ann Wagenhals of Palo Alto, it was family that led her back to her youthful passion for ceramics. She honed her skills when she took a break from her day job to raise her children. Now, the former lawyer and teacher shares how she uses ancient techniques to create beautiful objects from the simplest of materials. (Page 82) Family is also at the heart of SingleThread, the acclaimed wine country dining destination created by Kyle and Katina Connaughton in Healdsburg. We find out how the husband-andwife owners created a recipe for success at their restaurant, inn and farm, where the marriage of Japanese aesthetics and techniques combine with hyper-local ingredients for an extraordinary experience. (Page 39) Speaking of extraordinary experiences, Atherton’s George Cogan went from superfan to the ultimate insider at the Exploratorium. He shows PUNCH some of his favorite things about the iconic science museum, and talks about his years of work to secure its future. (Page 92) Also in this issue, we peek into Woodside Chocolate Company’s kitchen (Page 64), discover the creative side of cooking from Chef Sal at Menlo Tavern (Page 59) and explore a remodeled “empty nest” in Burlingame where no detail was overlooked. (Page 75) All of this and more awaits you in the pages of our June issue, where you, too, might discover a Peninsula gem right in your midst! Andrea Gemmet andrea@punchmonthly.com {editor’s note} Spanish songs at the top of their lungs. When the sun set and it was time to roast marshmallows around the campfire, I thought they might explode with joy. Up until that elementary school excursion, camping hadn’t really factored into our family vacation plans. Passively going on camping trips as a kid was very different from being the adult responsible for gathering all the gear and puzzling over tent pole placement. Being so close to home made it less daunting. As we discovered on that first trip, a parent with an inconsolable baby or a can’t-sleep-in-a-strangeplace kid could simply head home for the night and return the next morning. Why hadn’t anyone else in my family known about this place? As it turns out, someone had. In his youth, my grandfather and his buddies in San Francisco often organized picnics and camping trips, probably as an excuse to invite a bunch of girls along. And one of the places they’d go? Memorial Park. In a few of his old black-and-white photos, my grandparents can be seen enjoying a day there, in the wilds of San Mateo County. I thought of them as I was walking through the park with Ranger Katherine Wright, wondering if my grandparents had ever gone swimming in Pescadero Creek back when it was dammed up to create a swimming pool, or gathered for an event in the amphitheater. Had they seen the 51 memorial plaques, one for each of the county residents who died in World War I, before they were lost in the ensuing decades? Katherine is something of an expert on Memorial Park, having spent a great deal of time there, first as a child, then as a teenaged park aide before becoming a San Mateo County ranger. Her family camped there frequently, a tradition that dates back to her own grandfather. She’s full of insights and tips for making the most of a trip to Memorial and its adjacent county parks, Sam MacDonald and Pescadero Creek. (Page 48) You know that moment you realize that something you’ve been looking for has been hiding in plain sight the whole time? I had one of those forehead-smacking moments in 2009, when I first discovered Memorial Park, thanks to a group camping trip organized by parents in my daughter’s Spanish immersion class. As a child, I’d spent many summer vacations camping with my family, but it was always at some far-off destination, usually near a lake. I remember the early morning scramble to get out of the house, and the long hours in the backseat of the car, wrestling with my siblings for legroom and control of the windows. I was gobsmacked to find out that there was a place to camp less than an hour away. For the first time, it took longer to pack up the car than it did to get there! And not just any place—gorgeous Memorial Park, with its serene redwoods and gravelly creek banks. Our little girl and her classmates were ecstatically happy, racing around the woods, leaping off logs and singing v
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