Trey!!! (or anyone who knows the SanFran area)

[Peggyann]

My friend M is going to visit. This is her question

"What should I not miss in San Francisco?

I will be ithere for 2 weeks for work. I am staying close to Union Square.

I will not have a car, so any tips on public transportation would be wonderful.

Thanks!!"

~PA~

[jump4joy]

If she wants to see something historical and unusual and just lovely and cool, I'd suggest a trip to the Sutro baths. You can get there on the Muni bus.: http://sutrobaths.com/

[lisabelle]

If she wants to see something historical and unusual and just lovely and cool, I'd suggest a trip to the Sutro baths. You can get there on the Muni bus.: http://sutrobaths.com/

The Sutro Baths *are* gorgeous. And there's a restaurant--The Cliff House--that overlooks them. I've never been there where I've paid for the meal, so I have no idea how spendy the restaurant is.

I highly recommend a visit to North Beach. Back in the day, it was where the Beats hung out--Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsburg et. al. Back when dh and my brothers and I lived in CA, whenever we took a day trip to SF we always ended our day in North Beach with City Lights Bookstore, often dinner at The Stinking Rose (the food is mostly Italian and garlic-intense...not very refined but not expensive either) and then drinks at Vesuvio's Bar. I like me a good dive-y bar where the people are friendly and where there are more locals than tourists.

My personal favorite museum in S.F. is the Legion of Honor: http://www.famsf.org/legion/index.asp. The setting, the collections, I love everything about that museum and could go there every day and not be bored. There's info at the website on public transportation there from Union Square.

And then, of course there's the legendary Haight-Ashbury district, which is pretty much a parody of itself now, but it's still a groovy walk with some funky shops and close to Golden Gate Park.

[Hobbes]

My friend M is going to visit. This is her question

"What should I not miss in San Francisco?

I will be ithere for 2 weeks for work. I am staying close to Union Square.

I will not have a car, so any tips on public transportation would be wonderful.

Thanks!!"

~PA~
Well, where to begin...


*Take the F-line streetcar (http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mfleet/histcars.php) that goes down Market (mainly) from Fisherman's wharf to the Castro. This line is made up of streetcars (of a specific type) from 1850 to 1940's and from all over the world (Italy to Illinois). These are different than the cable cars (which are much more popular tourism-wise.. and thus more crowded. Emma and I know most of them and where they are from (we take it a lot to get to the market and shops at the Castro)

Along the way you can stop at:


*Fisherman's Wharf Sea Lions (not seals). I have to say, I find very little interesting about Fisherman's wharf. It's basically a lot of tourist shops where there used to be.. well.. a real fish wharf. That said, I LOVE looking at the sea lions at pier 39 (http://www.pier39restaurants.com/cam.htm). These fellas decided to make the pier home a couple decades ago, and the city residents decided to give it to them.

*Ferry Building (http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/). Relatively upscale daily market (great stuff though, a mushroom-only store!) with a twice weekly farmer's market (Saturday and Tuesday).

*Union Square (where she is staying?).. the shopping district of course. Big stores, upper-echelon (read: really expensive) stores, etc.

*Civic Center. See the city hall that looks more like a state capital :D and the library is nice, but if you like Asian art as much as I do, the Asian Art Museum (http://www.asianart.org/) is REALLY great.

*Lower Haight (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_Haight,_San_Francisco,_California). If you want some of the BEST restaurants and great music in the city (the Bay area, the state... maybe the country) go to Lower Haight. You can either get off at the Laguna stop and walk two blocks up Laguna and turn left and go four blocks up Haight or get off at the Haight stop and take the bus (6, 7 or 71) with your transfer and go up 6 blocks or so to Fillmore. Indian Oven, Thep Phenom (Thai), Axum (Ethiopian) and SOOO many more. The food is MUCH better than downtown and MUCH cheaper. Also, great bars (I'm told) and an edgy atmosphere... lots of 'hippies' and 'alternatives' . (here is a link for stuff all along Haight St (http://www.sfgate.com/traveler/guide/sf/neighborhoods/haight.shtml) from Haight Ashbury to Lower Haight)

*Hayes Valley (http://www.hayesvalleyshop.com/) (there is a stream there, you just won't see it, it's underground). Or you could get off at Octavia and walk a few blocks down Octavia (our new beautiful blvd! used to be a hideous elevated highway) to Hayes Valley (Hayes St and Octavia). Great local art, clothing and other cool shops. The candy shop, Miette Confiseri (http://www.yelp.com/biz/miette-confiserie-san-francisco)e, is great ;)

*Get off at the Safeway (Delores stop) and before going to the next point... look at Safeway and the Mint and contemplate this: Mint hill, where the US Mint is built on top. The Mint was built in the 1930's (same decade as the Bay and Golden Gate bridges) and was supposed to be impregnable. The first day it opened a couple teenage boys scaled it and got in. So much for that. Mint Hill has an interesting history. The base of it used to be an Indian trading post archeologists found a few decades ago... corn, seafood, etc was traded there. Interesting, this is where the Spanish set up their market place, then during the Depression it became a food market... and now it's Safeway. It's like that spot was MEANT to be a food market.

*The Mission (http://www.californiamissions.com/cahistory/dolores.html). This is at the Delores stop (near Safeway). Walk down Delores street a few blocks to the oldest building in San Francisco, the Mission. It's a white stucco building built by the Catholic missionaries in 1776. Great history, great building. Guy's ancestors worshiped there (The Berryessas, first Spanish-Mexican settlers of the region). After touring that (graveyard is interesting), go to Delores park for great views of the city and then if you are up for a walk, go about 4 blocks NW (down one of the numbered streets.. i think they are in the 20's here) to the Mission district (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_District,_San_Francisco,_California)for some great Mexican and S. American food and to see all the great murals (lots on Balmy St, but they are throughout the district and even spreading, there is one right near the Mint and my house).

*Cafe Du Nord (http://www.cafedunord.com/). Go there for dinner, the music is great... a mix of local (and not so local) Swing, Blues, Jazz, Alternative. It's just South of Safeway on Market. It's where we discovered Levay Smith and the Red Hot Skillet Lickers (http://www.lavaysmith.com/)! Sadly, she doesn't play there much any more... :(

*The Castr (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Castro,_San_Francisco,_California)o, the gay homeland :D and where 'it' all started. THis is just worth walking through :), go to a movie at the Castro theatre, an historic theatre that still plays an organ before and sometimes during movies. The neighborhood is slowly changing, not quite as free and easy, more straight people moved in, more gays with kids, gay people are spreading out, still... very 'gay'.

That's the end of the line for the F-Line, of course there are a lot of other things I'd do...

Chinatown. (it's hyped, but worth it completely!)

Twin Peaks. take the bus up there for the most incredible 360' views of the city... if it's not foggy.

Golden Gate Park. What's not to like? Japanese Garden (love this), Art museum, an INCREDIBLE science center come September (I know I'll love this), the Conservatory (love this), the Botanical gardens (love this), the buffalos, the windmill, Ocean Beach, lots of parkland of course. Could spend a couple days there!!

Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge for fun and great views.


I'm sure I'll think of some others...

[Hobbes]

The Sutro Baths *are* gorgeous. And there's a restaurant--The Cliff House--that overlooks them. I've never been there where I've paid for the meal, so I have no idea how spendy the restaurant is.

I highly recommend a visit to North Beach. Back in the day, it was where the Beats hung out--Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsburg et. al. Back when dh and my brothers and I lived in CA, whenever we took a day trip to SF we always ended our day in North Beach with City Lights Bookstore, often dinner at The Stinking Rose (the food is mostly Italian and garlic-intense...not very refined but not expensive either) and then drinks at Vesuvio's Bar. I like me a good dive-y bar where the people are friendly and where there are more locals than tourists.

My personal favorite museum in S.F. is the Legion of Honor: http://www.famsf.org/legion/index.asp. The setting, the collections, I love everything about that museum and could go there every day and not be bored. There's info at the website on public transportation there from Union Square.

And then, of course there's the legendary Haight-Ashbury district, which is pretty much a parody of itself now, but it's still a groovy walk with some funky shops and close to Golden Gate Park.
I'd second the Sutro Baths, Cliff House and Legion of Honor. Haight-Ashbury is a parody of itself. If you want to get a taste of what Haight-Ashbury used to be, go to Lower Haight (about a 1/2 mile or more North on Haight) I mention below... Edgy, lots of alternative types, lots of 'weed', bars, alternative funky local edgy shops... and some great restaurants.

[lunita]

*remembers PQ's thread about goats that were sheep* Don't you mean Sea Lions, not seals? nft

[Hobbes]

*remembers PQ's thread about goats that were sheep* Don't you mean Sea Lions, not seals? nft
opps, yeah. Sea Lions. I'm a biologist.. that's unforgivable :D

[Jeb]

Pt. Reyes or Tamalpias. Not sure what the transportation is like though. I've always had a car. But there's a georgeous beach at Pt. Reyes and redwoods at Tamalpias.

[Hawthorne]

*remembers PQ's thread about goats that were sheep* Don't you mean Sea Lions, not seals? nft

PQ and her goats. sheesh.

[laurata]

I second the mission for their fab Mexican food. I thought Haight Ashbury was totally lame, but never checked out Lower Haight. Castro is a lot of fun, and I enjoyed eating at the Stinking Rose as well. Yummy. We often went to Pier 39, but IMO, it isn't all that amazing. The kids and I also enjoyed visiting the botanical gardens...