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Young Bob,
Don’t miss the Buena Vista Cafe about a block from Fishermans wharf. They have the world best Irish Coffee. I never ate there, just like hangin’ out at the bar on foggy afternoons with that Irish coffee. Have a great time!
Steve
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Young Bob,
Don't miss the Buena Vista Cafe about a block from Fishermans wharf. They have the world best Irish Coffee. I never ate there, just like hangin' out at the bar on foggy afternoons with that Irish coffee. Have a great time!
Steve
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This is a little obvious, but whatever your plans, go look at that bridge. Ferry to Sausalito is also very cool.
*Agree with lonecat; go over to Sausalito. But, in the city go see the Marina District, 1900's row houses up ("painted ladies") by the Presidio, Gharadelli square, Palace of Fine Arts, Steinbeck Aquarium, Maritime Museum, and China town, to name a few points of interest. For atmosphere, find one of those bars off Geary St. you'd expect to find Tom Waits in, you may be surprised.
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I will second the motion on the Buena Vista cafe . The best Irish coffee in town . If you have time take a jaunt into wine country and eat at the Union hotel in Occidental . Great Italian food with an hilarious atmosphere. Bill,
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this is great you guys, keep 'em coming! - yb
*Check out the gay bars!Blue
*Make the Buena Vista your last stop in the evening, then help turn the cable car around for your trip back to the hotel.For a fine Italian meal (where pasta is a course served before the main course) I hope you'll find the New Pisa restaurant is still in business in the North Beach area.San Francisco has great public transportation. If you have a car, park it and ride the cable cars, and busses. Gosh, I wish we were going there!Steve
*As a fifth generation native San Francisian (since transplanted to Alaska), I typically only went to see the sights when friends visit from out of town.For local history/mechanics: There was a museum on the Presidio Army Base before it became a demilitarized zone. Might still be there. The Cable Car Barn is what drives all cables under the streets and has exhibits open to the public. The old mint in the financial district has displays of gold and coinage. I think Wells Fargo has a display also.I'd skip Fisherman's wharf and instead take a walking tour of North Beach, the Haight, the Castro, or Chinatown to catch some of the local Italian, Hippy, Gay, or Chinese scenes, respectively.See the sights and get some exercise: Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge (You can park on either side, north side is earier parking). Drive north to the Marin Headlands (Golden Gate National Reaction Area) and hike around. Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park.See the sights without exertion: Take a ferry to Alcatraz or just around in the Bay. Drive up Twin Peaks. Hop on a cable car.Culture: Natural history, Asian museums in Golden Gate Park (my great-grandfather used to hunt rabbits in the sand dunes there). Legion of Honor (NW part of city) has art of old, dead, white guys. Of course also opera, symphony, ballet, dance, clubs, etc.Shopping in Union Sqaure. Whatever cuisine you haven't tried yet, you can find in SF.Have Fun, David
*On Architecture, visit Grace Cathedral (on California?). Avoid avoid avoid Fisherman's Wgarf at all costs, it has only gotten worse -- tourist nonsense having nothing to do with San Francisco. Ghirardelli (sp?) isn't much better, but I do have a strong sentimental attachment to it because i can remember visiting there when I was livng in S.F. as a child.The Fodor's guide for S.F. is good, I recommend picking one up. If you like science, try the Exploratorium. If you like long walks, try crossing the Golden Gate on foot, or stop at the lookout point turnoff immediately off the north end of the bridge. If you want toi get out on the water, go to Alcatraz. If you like food, the Fodor's pointed us to a great Vietnamese restaurant in the Mission District, there are lots of good Chinese (particularly seafood), etc. There is a beach in S.F., a nicer one at Stimson on Route 1. Maybe you'd like to go up to the "wine country." There are so many different things out there.The car is OK if you have a good map and some city driving sense. But you don't need it and if, esp. as a newcomer, you want flexibility it will get on your nerves. Consider public transit (BART, cable car, bus) or cabs...A transplanted Californian.
*Take a subway ride under the bay and don't think about earthquakes.
*more, more...keep 'em coming! - yb
*BLUE, little did I know of your interest in "Alternative Lifestyles" when I posted a reply to "Straight Pinky" in the Fine Woodworking/Knots discussion!
*Today (it's still the 18th in Alaska) is Earthquake Day in SF. April 18, 1906 my grandmother, as a 7 year-old, REALLY felt the quake and then watched downtown, (6 miles away) burn for 3 days and nights. Before movies, radio, television, and Nintendo; it was the entertainment event of her childhood - Star Wars, all those 70's disaster films, rolled into one, and it was real! And, in some Y2K seismic schyronicity, my wife (born on Earthquake Day near SF) and I were awaken this morning by a 5.8 located about 10 miles from our place in Alaska. Lasted long enough to wake up, realize what was going on, and get under a doorway.Back to your question: There must be several architectural tours of SF in book or phamplet form. I've done that in the Berkeley hills (part that didn't burn in 1991) and enjoyed learning the stories behind the Arts+Craft and brown shingles on that side of the Bay.
*Hey GWC where you been man? Saw some scooters out today - 6 Harleys, a trike and they even had a couple of Hondas riding with them. Kind of made my day. - yb
*Whacking nails not keys. Yep, Spring (and my Nose) sprung. I go off for a day or two, and you guys get to visiting the Gay Bars, and other San Franciso Oddities... geez! Not to mention what kind of mess I'll find over on Knots.
*Grace Catherdal? Is that the washing-machine agitator one? Architecture by Maytag. Bleech!I'll second the Exploratorium, especially if you have kids along. Of any age. Located in the buildings of the 1915? Pan-American Exhibition, it was an attempt to demonstrate that SF had recovered from the quake. Of course, they built it on building debris pushed into the Bay mud. That's why the Marina district was the hardest hit in the 1989 quake. The Exhibition buildings faired fine. Stucco on chicken wire and nothing else. All shear.If you're adventerous, don't just go for Chinese. Go for Dim Sum. Those restuarant that serve it as brunch will have "Dim Sum" on their signs. The waiters push around carts of little finger foods and you just take what you want and pay $1 to 2 a plate. But they'll only bring the dumplings, egg rolls, and stuff with plum sauce to you. Flag down a cart that goes to the far corners where the little old Chinese guys eat. That's where the chicken feet and pickled duck eggs are!
*Walk into chinatown and have dim sum somewhere that refuses to speak English. After, walk around the corner to a bakery and get some of those fortune cookies with the pornographic fortunes.Good Luck,Stephen
*tame stuff over there, very non-combative folks, disappointing for sure. - yb
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young bob,
The Exploratorium is way cool, kids really like it. If you've got wheels, get out of town and find a nearby redwood forest. There may be some in Golden Gate Park, but a true redwood grove is something to be appreciated. It will certainly make you use it more wisely.
If you can go South, the drive to Monterey is worth the time, take the coast highway (Highway 1). If you get to Monterey I would see the Monterey Bay Aquarium, also way cool.
In SF there are several small, custom furniture outlets that sell one0offs by local artisans. A trip up the elevator to the Top of the Mark Thomas provides a great view. The SF City Hall is awesome & was restored after the quake. The dome is one of the largest in the U.S.
If you're into ships there's a fine marine museum and a couple of actual ships moored in the wharf area.
I'm more familiar with the central coast, so let me know if you decide to go South to the Monterey/Carmel area. Have a great trip.
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There are definitely redwoods in GG Park and all over town, but just little (100 year old) ones. The closest old-growth redwoods are in Muir Woods about 25 miles north in Marin County. That grove is in such a steep ravine that they couldn't get their narrow gauge in there in the 19th century. It is now easily accessible by car and a good trailhead for hikes in the hills or all the way down the mountain to Stinson Beach.
The Hyde Street Pier is where is old ships are moored, including two submarines. One is a normal WWII attack submarine. The other is homebuilt from a propane tank. And they went down in it. And back up again. Talk about a ballsy DIY project!
*did you say a submarine made from a freakin' propane tank? That worked? I gotta see this. - yb
*Chad - went to Monterey first week in Dec. to a convention about 5 years in a row. Very special place, I often daydream about it. Most awesome sunrise I ever saw was there, always warm breeze, loved every trip. Hope to get to Carmel one day to see Greene + Greene masterpiece of stone. - yb
*Yep! A 250-gallon one, I believe. Trolling motors strapped on outriggers, a viewport/hatch a few inches high in the middle of the top, covered by 3/4" steel plate. I think they motored around in Lake Tahoe. I trust the wooden sea kayaks I've built and would consider homebuilding a small plane. But I'd draw the line at submarines. So many things to go wrong, only one possible result. -David
*If you head north over the Golden Gate, consider visiting Point Reyes ... Miles of beaches and a neat place to get back to nature.By the way, never say "Frisco".b ... it's San Francisco.Wishing I was going... Steve
*The washing-machine agitator one is sometimes called St. Bendix by the locals.
*Or, "the City".
*For a quick automobile tour of the bridge, drive to Fort Mason under the bridge, on the south end, check it out, and then drive over the bridge to the North side and check it out on the romantic overlook on the west side of the street for a view from high above. There's a short walk to a nearby lighthouse also. I forgot the name of the turnoff or overlook, its a turnoff before the tunnel, and involves turning right and going under the road through a small tunnel.Check out Lombard Street, the curviest street in the U.S., and barely negociable in a car. Notice the scraped planters.Golden gate park has some good museums, especially if you're interested in eastern art. Check out the Japanese Garden there if your interested in oriental landscaping.Use a car with a automatic transmission. The streets in S.F. are steeper than anything in a climate that has frost or ice. They put stop signs at intersections on steep hills such that you roll back and have to use a simultaneous heel & toe number with your left foot if you have a manual transmission. Park with your wheels turned in S.F. even if on level ground, its the law.The exploratorium is great for those interested in science, physics, or invention. Its full of hands-on exhibits for "kids" of all ages.Parking is expensive. The Oakland Airport is closer to downtown San Francisco than the San Francisco Airport, which is not in San Francisco. Fares are cheaper, and its not as crowded. The city has a subway, BART, which will get you downtown, covers a large part of the Bay Area, but has few routes. It doesn't go directly to either airport though.In the summer, it gets cold and looks like rain but doesn't.Avoid panhandlers.
*David, I gotta tell you man, Igot a couple good laughs out of this and I will definately try to go see this thing. Rube Goldberg is one of my heros. OUTBOARD MOTORS! that is too funny. - yb
*Many thanks to all who posted here. I'm (turns out the missus has to stay home with a sick young hoopster) off in a couple hours and will try to enjoy as many of these things as I can. Now, about Pinochio's... - yb
*Fort Mason is in the Marina district near the water and has looks of cultural events held there. The Civil War era fort under the GG Bridge is Fort Point. That southern arch in the bridge was retrodesigned in after the citizens complained about the planned demolition of Fort Point. Worth a tour. Guides in period uniforms and hourly cannon loading exercises.SF has the steepest streets in the world. Says Guiness
*We'll expect a report when you get back. Have a good trip.
*Right. Fort Point, not the other, thanks. Brick walls many feet thick. Damaged little by the earthquake. Worth a tour if you have plenty of time. The free parking lot gives easy access to view both the fort, the bridge and water near the water line.I was on the bridge when they closed it to traffic for the 50th anniversary immediatly above the fort. Allowed foot traffic and bicycles only. Crowds closed in from both ends as they opened it and stopped when they met each other at the center. The WHOLE deck was packed with people shoulder to shoulder for hours, unmoving. I sighted down the handrail. While the bridge normally had upward camber between spans, it became dead level or sagged downward slightly. Quite a scene.On the way back, was able to cut through part of the Presideo and see some of the later concrete gun implacements near the freeway that were previously inaccessible. Now stripped of guns and overgrown with vegitation. They were afraid at various times that the British or Japanese were going to invade.
*I know it's too late for YB, but if you're in S.F. you have to do a Dim Sum lunch at New Asia in Chinatown. They just push carts around full of food and you point to what you want. It is really a neat eating experience.
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The missus and I are heading out to try and sell some stuff at a convention in San Francisco this week ("...I got my hush puppies on...") and we want to hear from everyone...what are the "you gotta see its while you're there"?
Game for any suggestions - architecture, cool neighborhoods, museums, night spots - whatever...
c'mon, help us out here.