Never been to San Francisco -- tell me about it

[Nevernose]

We'll be in San Francisco this weekend. I was there once as a kid, but barely remember it. I remember thinking "Chinatown is cool."

What other fun stuff is there to do that one can't do anywhere else in the world?

The BIG question is: My daughter has never seen the ocean before, and really wants to go swimming in it. Can you go swimming anywhere there, or is it too cold?

[boobooday]

1. San Francisco

Of course you have to go to Fisherman's wharf, and drive across the Golden Gate bridge -- right when you get across, make a left, and go up the hill -- there's a place where you can take pictures of your peoples with the whole beautiful GG behind you and the city too. :-)

If you are driving, and get across the bay, there is a nice little place called Tiburon, with some cool restaurants where you can eat right on the bay with a view of the city. There might be a beach for swimming there, but it probably will be COLD.

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[Hell Hath No Fury]

2. Native here!

About swimming -- not anywhere near San Francisco. It's much too cold and we have some nasty currents. The folks who do surf here wear wetsuits, it's so cold. Swimming is great down in Santa Cruz, if she really wants to go, but they do have sharks. Even if she is feeling adventurous and up for the cold, I cannot recommend Ocean Beach (the big beach here) -- of you aren't familiar with the currents it can be deadly.

What to do in my glorious town? Well, if you only have a weekend, this is what I would recommend:

I would head straight down to Market Street for PRIDE!!! Saturday is the big parade and, trust me, you've seen nothing like it! It's best to at least catch the very beginning which is lead off by Dykes on Bikes.

And/Or

Grab the Cable Car down at the Embarcadero Center on California Street, go up to the top of Nob Hill and walk around the square, visit the Grace Cathedral, then check out the Fairmont Hotel (peek in the Tonga Room if you can!) then walk down to Chinatown and check out Grant Street, but even better look for Waverly -- a street with some of the most interesting architecture in the City - be sure to look up high at the buildings! You can then catch the Powell Street cable car down to the Wharf if you'd like - if you do, be sure to go to Pier 39 and look for the bachelor seals that have taken over the boat docks.

Hang on, more coming....


Okay, I'm back!

One of my very favorite things to do is the Filbert Street Steps. It's stairway that goes through an earthquake-era neighborhood - the views are great and the gardens are beautiful -- and up to Coit Tower, a San Francisco landmark, where they have amazing WPA murals. Be sure to go to the top of the tower! From there you can head down into North Beach for a drink at Vesuvios, the famous beat hangout.

If you do head out to the beach, check out Ocean Beach and the Sutro Baths -- be sure to go up on the bluff behind the Cliff House to see the Sutro Heights garden - there are some great views there. A short trip down the beach towards Golden Gate Park and check out the Beach Chalet, another classic SF locale that has beautiful WPA murals, wood carvings, and mossaics. And since you're in the neighborhood, I would grab some Italian food at Gaspare's and a drink at Trad'r Sams -- the only bar I go to.


Here's some info:

Filbert Street Steps

http://www.sisterbetty.org/stairways/filbertsteps.htm

Perhaps one of the most famous of San Francisco's stairways, the Filbert Steps deserve their acclaim. The stairs rise in three sections from Sansome Street to Coit Tower. The lowest section is concrete and steel snaking up the side of a cliff which gives way to a wide concrete stairway. Reaching Montgomery Street, the steps cross the median with a short staircase. The upper section is nearly straight, running through a series of sculpted (and sculpture!) gardens. The stairs are impressive for their length, their wonderful views of San Francisco, the well tended gardens on either side, and the beautiful art deco buildings along the way. One of the most spectacular buildings features three-story high reliefs of San Francisco. Nearby are the equally amazing Greenwich Street Stairs. I recommend taking one stairway up to Coit Tower and the other back down.


Coit Tower

http://www.coittower.org/

1 Telegraph Hill Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94133
Phone: [phone]

Hours: Coit Tower is open every day from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. There is no charge for viewing the murals on the first floor. The elevator ride to the top of the tower costs three dollars. Murals on the second floor are available only on tour at 11:00 AM on Saturday or by special arrangement (phone: [phone]).


Vesuvio Caffe

http://www.vesuvio.com

255 Columbus Ave.
(between Broadway & Pacific)
San Francisco, CA 94133
phone: [phone]
hours: Daily (6 am - 2 am)

Once a popular hangout during the Beatnik movement, today this lively bar still attracts young North Beach locals and adventure seekers. A slender upstairs balcony looks down on the bar below and the stained glass windows add a certain esoteric feel to the place. Its definitely has an artsy atmosphere with its dim lighting and faded memorabilia hanging on every wall corner. Vesuvio Cafe has so much history that it can be considered both a bar and a museum.

Barwise, Vesuvios is a keen reminder of the unconventional passions of self-expression and philosophizing that embody the Beat Generation. A hop, skip, and a jump from City Lights Book store, this animated tavern will fill your glass with whatever you dare.


Gaspare's
5546 Geary Blvd.
(Geary @ 20th Ave.)
phone: [phone]


The Beach Chalet

http://beachchalet.com/aboutus/index.php?page=visitors

The Beach Chalet opened to the public in 1925 with a lounge and changing rooms on the first floor, and a restaurant on the second providing diners with a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean. It was designed by the famous San Francisco architect Willis Polk. The beautiful murals, mosiacs and wood carvings were completed in 1936 as part of a federal works program. A few years later it was was used as barracks for troops operating a nearby service station. Today, the building and it's art treasures welcome visitors from around the world to explore Golden Gate Park.



Gay Pride Parade

The country's largest gay pride festival. The festival starts at 10:30 am with a parade on Market Street from Beale to Eighth Street, where there is an entrance to the celebration site. Festival events take place on several blocks around Civic Center. Free (donation requested at festival entrance). (415)-864-3733,


Tonga Room

http://www.tongaroom.com

950 Mason St, tel [phone]
Open 5pm-midnight Sunday to Thursday, and 5pm-1am Friday to Saturday, California St cable car, Wheelchair Accessible, ).

In a room deep within the Fairmont Hotel, civilization as we know it has been completely stripped away, leaving us with...the horror! Or is it paradise? The Tonga Room's thatch-covered tables and bamboo chairs are arranged around a built-in lagoon, and every half-hour an artificial monsoon strikes. (Inner voice, through megaphone: Everyone please remain calm!) To help you forget the lost comforts of the Western world, intrepid waitpersons, seemingly oblivious to the weather, serve expensive fruity rum cocktails in coconut shells. You'll be talking like a pirate by midnight, guaranteed. Happy hour (5pm to 7pm weeknights) is popular. At 8pm, a stage floats out onto the lagoon bearing a cheesy cover band.


Trad'r Sams

6150 Geary Blvd, tel [phone]
Open 10am-2am daily, Wheelchair Accessible).

For fake-tiki exotica, circa 1940, some San Franciscans will head way out into the foggy avenues to Trad'r Sam's. The old bamboo canopies and bamboo telephone booth that are crammed into this tiny bar leave hardly enough room for the young drunkards who hang out here on Saturday night. Come on a woebegone weeknight for a more sedate tropical vacation. And tip well - making fruity drinks is hard work.

[Nevernose]

4. ROFLMAO

I can just picture her mother saying things like "You took her WHERE? To see WHO? You exposed her to HOMOSEXUALS?" :evilgrin:

I would take her if she were a little older, but San Francisco's gay pride events are just a little too wild for an eight year old.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

6. Oops!

Now why in my head did I think your daughter was going to be older?!?!?!? Although I have to say, PRIDE is very family-friendly these days -- hardly any nekkid people (except the topless Dykes on Bikes), so much so there is always a stroller contingency in the parade and families show up to watch :)

With your daughters age in mind, here are a few other things that might be a bit more appropriate:



The Exploratorium (This place is truly amazing!)

http://www.exploratorium.edu/

Housed within the walls of San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts, the Exploratorium is a collage of over 650 science, art, and human perception exhibits. The Exploratorium is a leader in the movement to promote museums as educational centers.

This unique museum was founded in 1969 by noted physicist and educator Dr. Frank Oppenheimer, who devoted his efforts to it -- and was its director -- until his death in 1985. Dr. Goéry Delacôte, a renowned French scientist, science educator and public servant, was named executive director of the Exploratorium in February 1991.

3601 Lyon Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
Directions to the Museum (recording) [phone]

The Exploratorium is located in the landmark Palace of Fine Arts building in San Francisco's Marina district, off of Highway 101 near the Golden Gate Bridge. Free parking is available in our lot.


The San Francisco Zoo

http://www.sfzoo.org/

LOCATION

The San Francisco Zoo has a new main entrance and parking lot that can be accessed from two locations.

Sloat Boulevard Entrance
On Sloat Boulevard at 47th Avenue, adjacent to Ocean Beach and the Great Highway and across the street from the Sloat Garden Center and infamous Doggie Diner/Carousel restaurant. The Sloat Blvd. at 45th Avenue entrance has closed. The new entrance features a drop-off area for pedestrians and a grand walkway to our new entry village.

Great Highway Entrance
The new vehicles-only entrance, with access to the new parking lot is located on the western end of the Zoo, next to Ocean Beach. It can be reached by driving westbound on Sloat Blvd., left on Skyline Blvd., then right on the Great Highway, or from the Great Highway, if you are traveling northbound toward the Zoo.



General Admission

Persons Age Rate

Adults 18-64 $10.00
Youths 12-17 $7.00
Seniors 65 and over $7.00
Children 3-11 $4.00

The San Francisco Zoo is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily, 365 days a year, including Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. The six-acre Children's Zoo is open from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily. Extended weekend and special summer (Memorial Day through Labor Day) hours are 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.


If you do go top the zoo, sneak in your own food (it is startlingly expensive in the zoo) and check out the new exhibits the African savanna and the lemur enclosure, which is amazing. Another must se is the feeding of the lions at the Lion House.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

7. FOUND A BEACH!

Since I am a wuss who never swims in the ocean I totally forgot about this beach:

http://www.magazineusa.com/cityguide/ca_sanfrancisco/c_beaches.asp


China Beach
28th Avenue & Sea Cliff

Tucked away behind the million-dollar homes of the Seacliff district is China Beach, one of San Francisco's few beaches safe for swimming. Lifeguards are on duty during the summer, and there are changing rooms, barbecue pits, and an enclosed sun deck. The beach is accessible from Seacliff and 28th Avenue, near El Camino del Mar. After a chilly swim (water temperatures hover in the 60s in summer), a game of frisbee, volleyball or smash-ball is a great way to warm up on this sandy playground.



If she really has her heart set on swimming, this is the place to go, though I would still recommend against swimming if the surf is too active.

Just an FYI, we've been having typical summer days here -- chilly in the mornings, warming towards the afternoons, and windy, windy, windy. It's all about LAYERING. :)

[sus]

3. dim sum on sunday morning.

[XNASA]

5. The streets go...up & down, up & down, up & down........

And it's kinda chilly, but in a pleasant way.

Oh, and the food is fantastic.

Scenery's not bad either.