2

10/22/2012 12:28:32 PM

go to a world series game.

10/23/2012 3:10:32 PM

i'm two hours south of sf, down in monterey. sf is a beast of a city! i haven't been back up there in some weeks, but i do have some vacations coming up...

[Edited on October 30, 2012 at 5:13 AM. Reason : ]

10/30/2012 5:06:35 AM

If you go to any wineries in Sonoma, do not miss Ram's Gate. I just made a trip out to SF and that one was by far the best out of the ones we went to.

10/30/2012 10:41:46 AM

doing SF for 7 days in may...i've sifted through this thread and a couple of others, as well as some online resources and so far, i have (in/around the city):

lafayette park (for great views of the bay)
sutro baths ruins
angel island
balmy street murals
lunch in sausalito (thinking of renting a bike at the wharf and riding there)

using a car:

muir woods
highway 1 (big sur, monterrey, stinson beach, hearst castle?)
wine in livermore or sonoma instead of napa?

we don't need to stay in SF the entire time...i haven't looked at where these non-SF places are, but if any are far enough to warrant staying somewhere else for a night (so as not to waste too much time in one day, driving there and back), where would you suggest?

also, i hear that livermore and/or sonoma is just as cool/fun/wine-tasting-awesome as napa, and is more affordable and pretentious...true? if so, do any of you have any suggestions for tours? a specific company, person, trip, etc?

we're okay doing some touristy things...my wife has been there before and done them, so i don't know that she cares too much about doing most of them again...and i don't REALLY care about most of the super-touristy things...but some things like pier 39 and chinatown could be fun to check out

all-in-all, the schedule's wide open and i don't want to make the mistake of trying to cram too much in

[Edited on March 7, 2013 at 3:14 PM. Reason : .]

3/7/2013 2:56:42 PM

Livermore isn't worth the trip unless you have other things you want to see in the East Bay (Berkeley/Oakland). It's about the same amount of time/gas as Sonoma which is much nicer. Napa is vastly overrated imo, but they do have some of the best wines around. The people and the ridiculous tasting fees are what ruins Napa for me.

Big Sur and the 17 mile drive are out of this world. It's a bit of a drive, but it is SPECTACULAR. Fog might be an issue, so be sure to check the weather reports. Stinson/Muir Woods is closer and very scenic as well, but not nearly as mind-blowing.

Honestly May SF weather is really hit/miss. When my family was out here last year for my graduation in late May it was really chilly and windy, but other years it's much warmer. It's been a dry year so far, but it could also be raining.

Be sure to go to Treasure Island at dusk. They just completed this incredible art installation on the Bay Bridge with LED lights that's only going to be running for the next two years.

Sutro Baths/Lands End are great though. Definitely check that area out.

I've been out here since '07, so PM me if you need any specific info.

[Edited on March 7, 2013 at 9:20 PM. Reason : .]

3/7/2013 9:19:10 PM

Quote :

"lafayette park (for great views of the bay)"

if you want a great view of the bay and don't mind wandering around, take the bart over to berkeley during a weekday and go up to the top of the campanile. it's, i think, $1 for non-students. on a clear day it's awesome, way better than the tower in the city.

there's also some nice trails in berkeley that have great views of the bay.

3/8/2013 12:59:09 AM

it's $3, but still worth it.

Berkeley/Oakland are vastly underrated cities with great food and bars, so it's definitely worth checking them out if you want to see a different side of the Bay Area/NorCal

3/8/2013 12:44:14 PM

Go to Mission. Buy what the old guy is selling.

Enjoy.

3/8/2013 1:34:50 PM

Im moving to San Fran this summer, end of June timespan. Really looking forward to get out there. Since Ill be working on Treasure Island, probably looking to live towards Berkeley or Walnut Creek to be safe

3/8/2013 5:48:51 PM

Pro tip: Locals HATE it when you call it 'San Fran'

3/8/2013 6:09:27 PM

DOH!

3/8/2013 9:13:01 PM

Yeah. Learned that the hard way. Old people hate "Frisco" just as much, but young people say it all the time.

I think you will like Berkeley better than WC. One, the commute is wayyyyyyyy shorter. And two, it's not suburban, yuppie, boutique land. Check out Oakland too. It's not bad, I promise

3/8/2013 9:22:15 PM

i absolutely love living in berkeley. it's like a tiny city (during the day) surrounded by awesome neighborhoods. like a tiny paris or something. i think it's just the best. but if you want nightlife w/o taking the train, you should really consider oakland. i doubt you'd regret it, that city's got things going on.

i'd actually say it's a lot like a more urban version of raleigh. and the numbers confirm this, 26k less people in oakland, but it's twice as dense. the downtown feels a lot like downtown raleigh, complete w/ art murmer (first friday).

[Edited on March 8, 2013 at 9:58 PM. Reason : yeah. i might move to oakland next year actually.]

3/8/2013 9:54:21 PM

It's funny. When I moved to the Bay Area, Oakland was supposed to be temporary. I lived out in Concord near Walnut Creek for about six months to save up to move to SF, but I eventually wound up back in Oakland again and I've never thought twice about moving into the city. Rent in SF is absolutely insane.

It won't say it's as exciting or fascinating as SF, but it's certainly much more affordable and the weather is pretty much the best in the country. Even better than San Diego honestly. It's almost always sunny and cool- no need for A/C or heating more than a handful of days a year. Lake Merritt, Uptown, and Rockridge are better than many parts of SF though. It really is a city of neighborhoods and you have to figure out where you'd fit in.

Oh, but there's crime. Lots and lots of crime. So know where to look or you'll get robbed/raped/shot/killed/tortured/etc


[Edited on March 8, 2013 at 10:18 PM. Reason : .]

3/8/2013 10:13:58 PM

it's worth pointing out that the weather in the east bay is another level of perfect relative to san francisco. you don't get fogged out very often at all and it's a few crucial degrees warmer.

[Edited on March 8, 2013 at 10:36 PM. Reason : ^ yes, the crime is a reason to stay in berkeley, not that there's not crime in berkeley.]

3/8/2013 10:35:23 PM

Gay anal butt sex

3/9/2013 12:29:11 AM

ladies and gentleman, it's the extremely rare HUR post that is ignorant, yet not racist

3/9/2013 1:20:17 AM

Quote :

"Interests : beach, the bars, girlz, partying, making those $$$, working out, tennis, poker, , and basically whatever"

3/9/2013 1:39:12 AM

Quote :

"The people and the ridiculous tasting fees are what ruins Napa for me."

during the middle of the week, there aren't too many people in May

and a lot of places will let you split tastings (and therefore, the fee)

[Edited on March 9, 2013 at 12:08 PM. Reason : the weather last year was perfect first week of May - highs in the 80s]

3/9/2013 12:04:59 PM

you don't get it

if you're going to buy an expensive bottle of wine (let alone case), you should be able to taste it for FREE. it's absolute horseshit to pay what they ask in napa which is generally $10-15 to sample a few varietals. 20-30 years ago, Napa was a small cow town where they were trying so hard to prove how great their wine was, they'd practically give it away. why on earth would you pay more than $5 to sample wine? not to mention, you get much better attention/service from some of the smaller wineries in Sonoma where you don't have to listen to the sales rep spew a bunch of nonsense that you will in Napa.

now if you want to talk food and wine pairing, the restaurants in Napa are incredible. the food is worth the hype (if you can afford it), but the wine tasting 'experience' they market to tourists is a total sham.

[Edited on March 9, 2013 at 2:12 PM. Reason : .]

3/9/2013 2:10:47 PM

you must be going to the wrong places in Napa if you're listening to lengthy sales pitches (we left Sterling immediately because it was so commercial and sales-driven)

there are a lot of small wineries near Napa that are awesome and don't have anything of the sort, with very casual tasting rooms

and nearly every place will put your tasting fee towards a purchase anyway

some will even waive it, just to have you in there on a Wednesday morning

I agree about the food pairings, of course, since we ate at French Laundry (and Redd, Bouchon, Bottega, etc) while there

[Edited on March 9, 2013 at 2:50 PM. Reason : why the fuck wouldn't "I get it"?]

3/9/2013 2:48:21 PM

Oh so you liked the small, casual, laid back wineries? You mean the ones off the Silverado Trail that most of the locals go to? That's great. I'm sure Yelp or the Winery Finder App gave you fantastic directions. But that's pretty much what every single winery is like in Sonoma. Only they don't charge you for tastings. Because only suckers and tourists are OK with paying for them.

But what do I know? You've obviously spent far more time wine tasting in California than I have...


[Edited on March 9, 2013 at 3:07 PM. Reason : .]

3/9/2013 3:05:36 PM

I'm just saying that painting all of Napa with a broad brush is a mistake

but knock yourself out since you know everything about everything

[Edited on March 9, 2013 at 3:52 PM. Reason : nobody should ever drink wine in Napa, no sir]

3/9/2013 3:51:34 PM

I'm just saying that paying for wine tasting is a mistake

but knock yourself out, since you think know everything about Napa and that it's is better than Sonoma (even though you probably haven't even been there before).

Nobody should ever pay for wine tasting in Napa, no ma'am.

Nice try at putting words in my mouth though.

3/9/2013 7:15:32 PM

yeah, if businesses don't give their product away free they are obviously preying on tourists and consumers.

3/9/2013 7:20:14 PM

Here's a $75-200 bottle of cabernet. Do you want to buy it? No, you can't try it first unless you pay me $10-55 to have a few sips or this wine and some other wines you may/may not like.

Honestly, a small fee for a tasting ($5) is pretty reasonable. But the REALLY expensive/nice wineries in Napa like Opus One, Stag's Leap, etc charge 4-5x times that. That, to me, is absurd, to me.

I never said ALL of Napa is awful and that the wine sucks, I just said that it's overrated when you can go to other wineries in Sonoma that will let you try their excellent wine for free, or practically free. You honestly end up buying lots more wine when you're treated well then when you feel like you've been had for $50 tasting a few sips. That's just me though. There's obviously a market for people who don't care, so have at it.

[Edited on March 9, 2013 at 7:46 PM. Reason : .]

3/9/2013 7:33:42 PM

this happens every time the bay is brought up... i'm not sure why.

3/9/2013 9:24:11 PM

^ sounds like it...but it's relevant to my interests, anyway

my wife is pretty set on napa...but i think that's just because she's heard that napa is simply where you go

i spent time in chile and did a tour and every single winery we went to was (what i would consider to be) small and they paid great attention to all of us...we never paid for a tasting, but the wine was fantastic and i ended up buying 6 or 7 bottles (i wasn't sure how much i could get back into the states at the time, or i would have bought more)

i want something like that - smaller wineries with great service and great wine that doesn't pester you to buy their stuff...i'm sure everyone wants that, though

that's my only experience with wineries and wine tasting...and, to me, it's almost more like going to a brewery (free or cheap tastings, with an emphasis on telling you about the history of their place and the process)

i know my wife would be annoyed with any of the more sales-pitchy places

so, StillFuchsia and UJustWait84, do you have recommendations in your respective areas (napa and sonoma, respectively)? if we're doing napa, i don't care how great the wine is if i have to listen to the sales pitch and feel harassed...if we're doing sonoma, i'm sure there are favorites

3/11/2013 9:08:53 AM

PM sent

3/11/2013 10:13:06 AM

+1 Sonoma > Napa

3/11/2013 6:18:34 PM

I, too, may be going to San Fran this year and would love to hear which wineries you visited that you enjoyed (or hated).

Any recommendations on places and/or neighborhoods to stay?

3/11/2013 6:31:10 PM

Feel free to PM me guys

I don't want the venerable StillFuchsia to pick on me for my recs. She's been to both Napa and Sonoma countless times and knows far, far more than I ever will

[Edited on March 11, 2013 at 6:37 PM. Reason : .]

3/11/2013 6:36:18 PM

3/18/2013 9:09:51 PM

The area up near Healdsburg is really nice. You can easily take the Russian River to the coast on down and back via HW 1. Lot's of good, intimate wineries.

3/18/2013 10:23:36 PM

totally agree. The Russian River is amazing. My friends and I rented a place near Duncan's Mills/Jenner a few summers ago and had a great time.

3/18/2013 10:51:48 PM

one advantage of sonoma is visiting russian river brewing (santa rosa) and bear republic (healdsburg) if you happen to be into good beer in addition to wine...

3/19/2013 8:56:48 PM

^ speaking of healdsburg...anyone stayed there? looking for B&B-type places

3/19/2013 9:17:41 PM

look on VRBO- that's what we did

the only problem with that is they usually make you stay 3 nights, but sometimes people will do less. worth checking anyway

3/19/2013 10:59:15 PM

sorry for the late reply (limited internet for the past few months) -- no recommendations for healdsburg b&b's but wanted to plug willamson wines...

they're right on the square/center of town and have amazing wine/food(snack) tasting pairings, i still wish i could be a wine-club member -- i've been wine-tasting in sonoma multiple times but this place stands out

my other beer recommendations still stand, don't miss rr if you're near santa rosa (get the flight with all their beers and also take home several $5 plinys, the pizza is not bad either)

4/10/2013 9:04:43 PM

^ we're staying at a B&B that's only a 5 minutes walk from the square in healdsburg...the price really wasn't bad

and i've seen williamson wines mentioned on several forums...sounds like a favorite

4/10/2013 9:20:19 PM

JVB is my current favorite in Sonoma. Fantastic wines and they treat you like gold. I'll be there next weekend for a private tasting.

4/10/2013 9:24:01 PM

^ i've seen that one, too

seems like dry creek road is a favorite, so we may just end up driving down there: http://www.inetours.com/PagesWT/WTarticles/Dry_Creek_Road.html

4/10/2013 9:27:15 PM

Most of the Pinot Noir wines in Sonoma are great, especially La Crema. I know Oregon is supposed to have the best Pinot's, but I haven't had anything I like as much as the Russian River ones.

http://www.lacrema.com/

Quote :

"Honestly, a small fee for a tasting ($5) is pretty reasonable. But the REALLY expensive/nice wineries in Napa like Opus One, Stag's Leap, etc charge 4-5x times that. That, to me, is absurd, to me."

Joseph Phelps has to be the snootiest winery I've been. I was remarking how nice having it there was and a old grumpy bitch was like, it's SOOO much better with food in the snootiest tone possible. However, I still like Phelps the most out of the Meritage wines I've tried. Opus One was ok and got to try it at a dinner, but it is no where near as good as the Phelps Insignia. I haven't had Dominus or a few of the others in the $200 price range yet.

Speaking of outrageously priced wines... I was at a restaurant in LA when I first saw Screaming Eagle. That must be the most expensive wine on the planet ($7000+).

4/11/2013 3:39:20 AM

yourself

4/11/2013 4:52:05 AM

I was at opening night for the Pebble Beach Food and Wine last week and got to try some of La Crema's Pinots and they were outstanding. There was Opus One there too and I didn't think it was anything that special. Grgich Hills had the best Merlot I've ever tasted, and I don't even like Merlot...

It's too late now, but if anyone is in the SF Area next April, I would strongly suggest going to Pebble Beach Food and Wine- expensive, but definitely an experience to behold.

[Edited on April 11, 2013 at 12:18 PM. Reason : .]

4/11/2013 12:15:20 PM

I'm in SF next week, and the only thing I have time for is to get dinner. Any recommendations?

4/19/2013 11:05:54 PM

type of food?
budget?
where in the city will you be?

4/20/2013 8:35:05 PM

I'm down with any type of food that involves meat and isn't spicy as shit. <$100, and somewhere I won't feel weird eating by myself. I'm staying at the Cypress hotel in Cupertino, but I'll have a car so I'm more about finding something unique to experience with my 8 hours of free time rather than something close and cheap.

4/21/2013 7:21:57 PM

Hmm. Cupertino is just far enough from the city to make it an annoying drive, plus parking will be an issue in a lot of parts of SF.

You could easily ditch your car and take BART or CalTrain. The Mission has a lot of reasonable restaurants that would fit the bill. Some of my personal favorites are Schmidt's (German) and Hog and Rocks (Gastropub).

4/22/2013 12:23:22 PM