Sorry to create a new thread - there really aren't any current threads.

Going to SF in September.

We've already booked our hotel for the SF part of our trip in the heart of Union Square from Sept 19-23. But we were thinking of staying in Napa for the earlier part of the week.

Things to do? Restaurants? Thanks darlings.

Poop, I can't type. FRANCISCO!

[Edited on May 25, 2012 at 12:11 PM. Reason : Was looking at the mispelling of the thread back years ago lol]

5/25/2012 12:09:58 PM

Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, CA

Its about an hour away from San Francisco and 20 minutes from Napa.

5/25/2012 12:14:40 PM

The San Fran Botanical Gardens are really nice and worth taking a stroll in. Check out the Chinese Pavilion and Japanese Tea Garden while there. Alcatraz is worth checking out if you haven't been before but you'll want to book tickets before you go. Fort Point is a neat place to check out.

5/25/2012 12:35:24 PM

Tasty clam chowder in a Boudin's sourdough breadbowl.

5/25/2012 1:23:06 PM

find riceroni in an actual restaurant

5/25/2012 1:30:58 PM

add to my topiks

5/25/2012 1:36:45 PM

you could go to a Giants baseball game

they have home games every day of your trip

[Edited on May 25, 2012 at 1:46 PM. Reason : http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=sf#y=2012&m=9&calendar=DEFAULT]

5/25/2012 1:45:24 PM

Coit tower, telegraph hill, Haight/Ashbury, Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, the Cannery, Ghiradeli Square, the Cliff House, Tommy's Joint (may not be there anymore), marina green, Alkatraz, Palace of Fine Arts, the Exploratorium, and so on. I'll think of more shit but damn it's got a lot of stuff to check out.

5/25/2012 1:56:42 PM

If you do a wine tour - call ahead and try and get the guy who runs this project:
http://www.napawineproject.com/About/index.asp

For like $25 more you get a personalized wine tour and can see a bit more about napa valley than the mainstream producers. Hendry and Tedeschi Vineyards were a couple of my favorites. Would suggest both of them if they are available.

5/25/2012 2:47:49 PM

Asian Art Museum

5/25/2012 3:11:54 PM

I've played tour guide here about 4 times. I have a pretty awesome setup.


Avoid Fisherman's Wharf like the plague. There are better views of alcatraz from the top of Russian Hill. The sealions are kind of cool, but that's about it You can ride over the hill in a cable car to it from Union Square, but it really kind of sucks.

If we have company usually what I do right as they arrive is take them out for drinks in one of the hip younger neighborhoods. That winds up being the Mission on Valencia Street, Hayes Valley, or Russian Hill. The next day when we wake up I take them to breakfast and send them off to Golden Gate Park to see the botanical gardens, science center, and Ocean Beach. From Ocean Beach you can take the N line to the Ferry building (all the way across the peninsula). Have lunch at the Ferry Building and look at all the shops. From there you can see Coit Tower pretty easy if you want to. Usually we get a good reservation that night and go out drinking afterwards. The next day I take them across the Golden Gate and check out the overlook on the way to Muir Woods (where the Red Woods are). Then head to Napa for the day and check out a few wineries. Maisonry in Yountville is pretty neat after the wineries close (most close at 4 PM).

If you are going to Napa first then you probably want to do that in reverse. Napa is epically relaxing and there are some nice natural areas out that way with some gorgeous lakes. For wine tasting I would have to recommend Joseph Phelps for Bordeaux style blends but a snooty atmosphere, Paraduxx for good Zinfindels and laid back attitude, and Domaine Carneros for Bubbly. Carneros is on the way into Napa from SF so it's usually our first stop.

Restaurants: Top 100
Personal Favorites are: Gary Danko, Boulevard, Locanda, Zero Zero. A good place for view of the Bay Bridge is Slanted Door (most booked restaurant in the city)
http://www.sfgate.com/food/top100/

Download and get the Uber app in case you get lost or wind up in a bad part of town. Union Square is right next to one of the worst neighborhoods in the city. I have to ride my bike home from work through there and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't see someone shooting heroin in the open or smoking meth.


tl;dr
1) Uber
2) Golden Gate Park
3) Ferry Building
4) Top 100: Restaurants http://www.sfgate.com/food/top100/
5) Redwoods
6) Carneros, Phelps and Paraduxx


OH, and you have to try the ice cream at Bi-Rite Cremery and see Mission Delores park.



[Edited on May 25, 2012 at 3:55 PM. Reason : a]

5/25/2012 3:34:09 PM

The city has a lot of other good stuff to see besides this, but because of its role in the gay rights movement it, not surprisingly, has several sites related to that unique piece of its history. These are a few I've heard about:

http://www.glbthistory.org/museum/index.html
http://shop.hrc.org/san-francisco-hrc-store
http://www.castrotheatre.com/
http://pinktrianglepark.org/

5/25/2012 10:58:38 PM

Thanks so much for all the advice!

I've pretty much blocked out the entire trip but I have one question.

Our flight arrives at SFU on September 16th and we have planned to take the Evans Airport Transporter to our hotel in Napa ($45 per person one way). But on Wednesday we have to get from our hotel in Napa to our hotel in SF. Anyone know the cheapest/easiest way to do this? Thanks for your help.

7/12/2012 3:58:18 PM

Why not just rent a car?

Pick it up at the airport in SFO, drive to Napa and then when you drive back to San Francisco, drop the car off and take a cab to your hotel

If you book with Hertz, I know they have San Fransisco rental locations that aren't airport locations. So you could find a Hertz dropoff that is convenient to your hotel

[Edited on July 12, 2012 at 4:04 PM. Reason : f]

7/12/2012 4:04:03 PM

just rent a car. san francisco is walkable within the city, but there's so much cool shit to do outside of the city when you're vacationing. head down the coastal pacific highway, head out to the redwoods, do napa/sonoma...etc

by the time you pay all those shuttle fees, you might as well have just rented a car anyway for the freedom it allows. even if you just rent for half the trip. you can always return it to the airport and then BART back in to the city.

[Edited on July 12, 2012 at 4:06 PM. Reason : .]

7/12/2012 4:04:13 PM

7/12/2012 4:08:39 PM

oh, grab breakfast at dotties. it's actually better now that they relocated to a larger space. it's in the tenderloin, but that's no big deal.

7/12/2012 4:08:52 PM

House of Air

Trampoline dodgeball. My coworker posted about it on his vacation there last week. It's on my list

7/12/2012 4:14:31 PM

I came in here to post ^^^

[Edited on July 12, 2012 at 4:15 PM. Reason : carat]

7/12/2012 4:15:09 PM

Quote :

"Trampoline dodgeball. My coworker posted about it on his vacation there last week. It's on my list"

They have that in Durham now. Defy Gravity

7/12/2012 4:20:00 PM

For real? Well, I have more friends in SF than I do in Durham, as fucked up as that is

Anyone been? Seems like it would be super fun

[Edited on July 12, 2012 at 4:32 PM. Reason : Lol iPad ]

7/12/2012 4:32:33 PM

My husband and I stumbled upon Musee Mecanique near Fishermans Ward- its a museum of old coin operated arcade machines. Its free to go to but you have to pay to play the games- I doubt we spent more than $10 there though.

http://www.museemecaniquesf.com/

7/12/2012 4:48:31 PM

Be sure to wear flowers in your hair. You're going to meet a lot of gentle people there.

7/12/2012 5:23:28 PM

1) get it on
2) bang a gong
3) get it on

7/12/2012 6:58:26 PM

bang hipster chicks

7/12/2012 9:51:00 PM

Get banged by a gay dude

7/12/2012 9:59:30 PM

Anchor Brewery has a free tour, but you have to make reservations. They let you drink a shitload of beer afterwards.
http://www.anchorbrewing.com/brewery/tours/

7/12/2012 10:24:54 PM

no one make fun of me okay?

the 2 hour rooftop bus tour that leaves from fisherman's wharf is actually really good.

7/13/2012 1:02:29 PM

visit North America's largest Chinatown

7/13/2012 2:09:16 PM

i've lived in the Bay Area since 07 and played tour guide a lot, but september/october has SF's best weather by far

i'd skip napa, and head to sonoma instead- the wine is just as good, and it's less crowded with dbags and skanks rolling up in limos. a day trip is fine if you start early, but don't make it a marathon or everything will taste great since you won't be able to tell the difference between any wines. most wineries close at 4 or 5. two days of winetasting is a bit much imo- if you're going to rent a car for a few days, head down to big sur or up to stinson beach if you want a fantastic drive. muir woods and the marin headlands are spectacular as well

fisherman's wharf is a tourist trap, but it's worth checking out and walking around for an hour or two. same deal with chinatown. north beach/the haight/the marina/and parts of the mission (stay WEST of mission) are cool neighborhoods that are more fun to explore.

i hate the giants, but they have beautiful ballpark. the game day experience is excellent.

if you're into museums, the deyoung and SF MOMA are fantastic. if you're around on a thursday night, you could also do nightlife at the academy of sciences- it's cool to walk around a museum with a drink in your hand for a while.

instead of alcatraz, you could head over to angel island and bring a picnic basket. actually, any ferry ride across the bay has great views, so consider that as well

after living in the east bay for five years, i'm sort of biased, but berkeley and oakland have some of the best restaurants in the country that are much cheaper and easier to get a table at than sf. the gary danko and michael mina type places are great, but expect to drop hundreds of dollars- not including wine or dessert.

since it'll be warm, be sure to check out golden gate park, land's end, suttro baths, chrissy field, baker beach, twin peaks, dolores park, or treasure island if you want a great view of the city

i'm sure there's more, but this is just off the top of my head

7/13/2012 2:22:19 PM

Chrissy Field is one of my favorite places in SF. That little strip of beach where the dogs play is the best. I also really like Lafayette Park, which is a short walk from pacific heights where you can get some excellent views of the bay from the top of the Hill, like this:



i was last there over memorial day weekend, which was also the 75th anniversary of the bridge basically standing in that spot when they did the fireworks. that stream of sparklers coming off the bridge was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

Not my photo, but it looked like this:

cascading off of the bridge like water for about 30 seconds straight.

[Edited on July 13, 2012 at 2:48 PM. Reason : .]

Also second ^

Sonoma > Napa soooo so so much. Though don't go into actual Sonoma "downtown". It sucks. But the vineyards heading up Hwy 12 are pretty great. I particularly enjoyed St. Francis, and still purchase bottles from them.

[Edited on July 13, 2012 at 2:52 PM. Reason : .]

7/13/2012 2:45:26 PM

Thanks so much for all the suggestions! We're super psyched. hahah that's really funny about the limo because we actually booked a driver to take us around Napa (hellooooo wine Seemed like the easiest/private thing to do. Plus the limo is pimped out with crazy lights, tv and dvd and xm radio and a full bar. So we're going to fit right in with the dbags and skanks. lol

We also booked a hot air balloon ride over Napa so we're really excited about that. This is on Monday and the wine limo thing is on Tuesday.

A lot of the suggestions I haven't seen on all the websites I've visited so I'm really glad I came to TWW for my travel needs.

[Edited on July 13, 2012 at 3:08 PM. Reason : edit]

7/13/2012 3:08:02 PM

man i would love to go to the jelly belly factory

i bet they have super recipes they dont even put on the bags

7/13/2012 3:20:24 PM

This place was pretty cool, went there for someone's rehearsal dinner:

http://www.boudinbakery.com/

7/13/2012 3:56:24 PM

http://sanfranliving.tumblr.com/post/25037335078/when-someone-reminds-me-that-weed-is-still-illegal

7/13/2012 4:18:32 PM

http://thoughtcatalog.com/2011/how-to-live-in-san-francisco-for-a-short-period-of-time/

99% true.

7/13/2012 5:52:10 PM

I love this place And it is a great city for 30.

My wife and I are moving to Pacifica and that post just made me

7/13/2012 6:08:02 PM

I love SF too, but it doesn't make it any less true

7/13/2012 6:42:36 PM

Go for a run or walk and tap Hopper's Hands at Fort Point.

7/14/2012 9:20:16 PM

Quote :

"Be shocked by how much weed is smoked in San Francisco. It’s perhaps more popular than smoking cigarettes. Understand that everyone is on drugs in San Francisco, but they’re also a weird health nut. People take bong rips and go to yoga. They’ll do hallucinogens and then go on the Master Cleanse to purify their body. This contradictory lifestyle may be confusing but you can’t really question it. After all, this is San Francisco. People pay high rents to be…high."

lol

7/15/2012 4:15:11 PM

7/16/2012 1:27:39 PM

bump

10/14/2012 10:25:36 AM

We took an afternoon and drove north up the coast and then back south to half moon bay. We also cut across the mountains from Hwy 1 and got to see both sides. It was totally worth the drive out of the city.

10/14/2012 11:08:46 AM

^^^ hahaha. My brother quoted that to me when I moved here from Chicago. I didn't really know what he was referencing until now.

10/14/2012 2:43:09 PM

Going for 10 days in November. Going to check out some of the stuff mentioned here

10/19/2012 12:48:18 PM

headed there tomorrow. glad this got bumped.

10/19/2012 2:00:33 PM

you JUST missed our Indian Summer

10/19/2012 2:13:19 PM

events at laguna seca down south in monteray are top notch

10/21/2012 4:49:42 AM

Wish I had seen this! I just went to SF for the first time in September too!

10/22/2012 9:17:49 AM

we just visited SF for the first time in July, but we had a friend who lives in Protero Hill (literally next door to Anchor Brewing Company) so we had advice from him and his friends on where to go so it worked out well. We did a lot of typical stuff: the Japanese Tea Garden, the botanical gardens, china town, rented a car and drove across the golden gate bridge to go see the redwoods in muir woods. But then we also went to a lot of small places that he and his friends frequent which was fun. All in all, we saw lots of different stuff over the course of just 2.5 days.

It definitely was a ton of fun and I'm looking forward to going back at some point.

[Edited on October 22, 2012 at 9:42 AM. Reason : ]

10/22/2012 9:26:00 AM