Anyone ever been to San Francisco? I'll be out there for a week in Jan/Feb and will be spending a lot of time with my pals out there and with a work function, but also want to check out some things.....any recommendations?

12/15/2006 4:55:36 PM

I hear it's the chapel hill of the west coast


lol

12/15/2006 4:56:20 PM

No, no one has ever been to San Francisco.

12/15/2006 4:57:37 PM

BETTER BRING YOUR RAINBOWS!!!1 LOLOLOL

12/15/2006 5:15:34 PM

Then I know I'll love it Mr. Dickmann.

12/15/2006 5:34:59 PM

i heard its so gay, they sell astroglide at the post office there

12/15/2006 5:47:36 PM

If you want to go to Alcatraz, buy tickets now.

[Edited on December 15, 2006 at 6:10 PM. Reason : Oh, yeah. Get the tour from Vicky. He's great.]

12/15/2006 6:08:23 PM

if its warm rent some bikes at fishermans wharf and ride them across the golden gate bridge, grab some bread bowls at the wharf too, ghiradelli square-- go into their dessert shop and get some awesome desserts, find alamo square on a map & go see the famous line of houses

if you have time rent a car and go to napa valley

<3 <3 <3 san francisco, fav city ever

12/15/2006 6:11:25 PM

I could spend hours watching the sea lions.

i don't know why. In theory that sounds lame as hell, but when I'm out there it's highly entertaining.

12/15/2006 6:22:05 PM

^ they are cute!!

go see the sealions at the wharf too

12/15/2006 6:57:32 PM

make sure you wear some flowers in your hair

12/15/2006 7:19:03 PM

my friend is there now.

12/15/2006 8:01:23 PM

hit up chinatown for some great food. and make sure you stay on the SF side of the bay, oakland sucks ass

12/15/2006 8:12:19 PM

Fisherman's Wharf is one big tourist trap. It's the kind of thing that I did once and never needed to do again. I never did Alcatraz, either.
Go to Chinatown, Hang Ah Tearoom has really great dim sum (go down Sacramento, it's the first street on the right after Waverly).
Haight Ashbury has some really neat stores. Best of Thai Noodle House is the place I always ate there. There's usually free parking in Golden Gate Park, which is next to Haight.
Little Italy for awesome coffee.
I've only been to Coit Tower at night, when it's all lit up. It's something I would definitely do again.
Lombard Street is fun. There are a lot of streets there that make you feel like the car is just going to flip over.
Bring a sweatshirt and/or sweaters. It's not NC in winter cold, but it does get chilly.
I remember the sea lions being more plentiful in September, or at least they were in Monterey.
And yes, Oakland does suck. Seriously, there's nothing to see there.
ymmv...begin the flaming

[Edited on December 15, 2006 at 8:20 PM. Reason : .]

12/15/2006 8:19:27 PM

My parents bought a house in Sausalito a couple of years ago, which is just less than a mile north of the GG Bridge. I haven't spent a lot of time in SF, but did get to spend a few days where my parents are.

It's a beautiful area out there, and I look forward to spending more time out there, and exploring SF

12/15/2006 8:26:35 PM

Sausalito has got to be one of the most scenic places I've ever seen.

12/15/2006 8:36:35 PM

Awesome - thanks for all of the suggestions. I wonder if the sport fishing is better than San Diego.

12/15/2006 11:16:57 PM

Sausalito is a CUTE little town. i had lunch there on the bay & it was so nice! its like a place out of a movie

12/16/2006 12:07:29 AM

If you can get north of the Bay, go up to the top of Mount Tamalpais. On a clear day, you have a beautiful view of the city and the surrounding areas. It almost doesn't look real.

12/16/2006 12:17:17 AM

the view of san francisco from berkley hills or twin peaks is soo beautiful.

12/16/2006 1:57:26 AM

san fran has been different ever since those fucking xmen tore up the the GG brdige.

12/16/2006 4:44:04 AM

I lived there for 15 yrs ... so my recommendations would take too long. The biggest thing is to pick up a Bay Guardian every week and look for things to do. Or get the Sunday Chronicle and pull out the pink section (not to mention spending the day doing the crossword).

There is Capps Corner, a great family style Irestaurant in North Beach. And plan ahead and get tickets to "Beach Blanket Babylon" at the club Fugazi. It's great show that's been running for 35 years (at the end of the show a woman walks out with the entire city skyline on her head).

Japan Town ... Rent bikes in Golden Gate Park ... take a boat around Stowe Lake... Go to the Palace of Legion of Honor (a great view from the back side of the GGB). The list goes on and on.

The thing about San Francisco is that it's a city of neighborhoods. Just get a bus pass and see them on foot. That is the only way to really know the town.

http://www.sfgate.com/traveler/guide/sf/neighborhoods/

Of course, you can always start by taking 49 mile drive ... that's a great overview ... just follow the signs ...

12/18/2006 9:30:57 PM

Quote :

"I hear it's the chapel hill of the west coast "

10/10. premo. premo.

12/18/2006 10:07:44 PM

it's a good place

12/19/2006 9:38:18 AM

Going there from January 11th to the 14th

My plans are to do Chinatown and North Beach

I did the Wharf last time...it was blah, I'd never do it again

I plan to just show up and walk around until I find stuff that looks interesting

12/19/2006 9:50:37 AM

Alcatraz is a must. but yea dont expect to walk up and get tickets, especially if its nice outside.

Go to some of the parks and hike the trails. The forest trails out there are awesome.

12/19/2006 10:07:03 AM

Hold on, about this,

Quote :

"I hear it's the chapel hill of the west coast "

Chapel Hill pretends to be progressive, where as San Francisco is progressive.

12/19/2006 10:19:15 AM

San Francisco is really like a playground for young adults--there is so much to do.
See http://www.sfguide.com/.

12/19/2006 12:47:34 PM

DZ: Since you have buddies out there, they should be the ones who can tell you what's worth doing.

I, like many others apparently found the Wharf to be a complete tourist trap. The bike over the bridge can be a lot of fun, but the rental bikes suck horribly. I took my bike out there with me and ended up just riding like 30-40 miles one day over the bridge and up around Sausalito. Golden Gate park is pretty sweet too.

Really, we had the most fun just walking around with our friends that lived in town and having them show us cool shops, spots to eat, concerts and events. I don't know that it's possible not to have a good time there, regardless of what you do.

12/19/2006 1:23:05 PM

I worked in the Financial district for 3 months before my office got switched to the East Bay. I love it out here. I can't really add much to do but ^^ is right. It is absolutely insane how many young professionals live out here. More than any other area I've been around. btw it's been freezing in the East Bay recently. Got down to 24 last night!

The stereotype the area gets is pretty untrue (I liken it to people thinking EVERYONE in NC is a toothless hillbilly).

** I'd eat someplace in North Beach. You can't go to a bad Italian place there imo..

[Edited on December 19, 2006 at 1:50 PM. Reason : x]

12/19/2006 1:49:49 PM

Hey Bry Ry......How about them Wildcats

12/19/2006 1:51:45 PM

Kentucky hasn't been doing too well this year.

That 1 in the L column is pretty cute. My team doesn't have one of those yet though

[Edited on December 19, 2006 at 1:53 PM. Reason : x]

12/19/2006 1:53:05 PM

Well, the reason I'm asking here Noen is for the more touristy things. I like to sightsee, especially on my first trip to a new place. Locals are good for things like the best restaurants and the great bars, but generally in my experience they haven't been able to tell me much about the real sights and attractions.

Same goes for me though, I've lived in Atlanta for years and can't tell you what it's like to take tours and such here either

12/19/2006 2:03:33 PM

greatest city in the world.

12/19/2006 3:33:33 PM

It really is a great city.

But, I would rather live here in the Triangle, where its cheeeeeeap. Cost of living is way too high in and around California.

12/19/2006 3:35:07 PM

fun place to visit, but i'd never want to live there.

12/19/2006 3:35:30 PM

There is a great museum there that has a bunch of Rodins, including one of the casts of the Thinker out front. I enjoyed that a lot. Also, if you get a bit north go to see the redwood forest, that was very cool. When you walk through there it's like you are in your own little world.

When I went to Alcatraz, I was fortunate enough that I made friends with one of the tour guides and he showed me and my brother and mother around the back areas that no one gets to see. (He turned out to be Eriq LaSalle's cousin from E.R....I noticed because he was also named Eriq LaSalle)

Depending on what you are into, there's also the Ghirardelli chocolate factory, that whole area was cool. Fisherman's Wharf was way overplayed, though, and expensive. If you get a chance, I would go to as many little parks as you can go to, although it may be pretty cold right about now.

12/19/2006 3:39:15 PM

Besides food hit North Beach for the nigihtlife. There's a shitload of fun stuff all up and down Columbus.

Parking is a bitch you're driving, though.

12/19/2006 3:47:58 PM

lombard st.=windy, windy, windy, windy, windy st. from san andreas

12/19/2006 4:46:19 PM

Quote :

"There is a great museum there that has a bunch of Rodins, including one of the casts of the Thinker out front"

Palace of Legion of Honor ... right near a cheap public golf course ... some tee shots look out over the back side of the golden gate bridge. Beautiful.

Quote :

"There's a shitload of fun stuff all up and down Columbus. "

There are 3 great Blues bars on the first 3 blocks of Grant street, starting at columbus. The first one is "The Saloon", which is the oldest bar in San Francisco. A must.

12/19/2006 10:34:31 PM

It's windy...

Visit Chinatown ofc

Quote :

"Awesome - thanks for all of the suggestions. I wonder if the sport fishing is better than San Diego."

erm.. yeah.. never heard of sport fishing before I moved here.. whale watching is fun, if there are whales

Drive down Lombard St. (gas is expensive as hell in SF)

Nice view from Sausilito

Eat all the food you can while you're there cause NC food sucks.. get real mexican, chinese, japanese.. anything really and its cheaper. like I said in the LA topic, In N Out kicks Cook out's ass.

12/22/2006 1:28:33 AM

God I miss In-N-Out burger.
Actually, I can't think of anything I don't miss in California.

12/22/2006 9:31:51 AM

After being taunted with the greatness of In n Out for YEARS. I finally saw one in Vegas and yelled at my friend to stop. Just as good as they said it was

Whale watching was the one thing I didn't get to do in San Diego - so I might try that!

12/22/2006 9:46:05 AM

Just thought I'd add that I love San Francisco, too.

12/22/2006 10:07:18 AM

go to prison

12/22/2006 12:00:59 PM

san fancisco is awsome. Go to fishermans warf. It's got all sorts of great shops lining both sides of the street and you can get freshly boiled crabs that are to die for. Peir 39 is especailly cool cuz thats where they have closed off one of ths small harbors so that the sea lions and walrusus(sp?) can hang out. There is also a nighttime tour of alcatraz thats neat. Take the subway to the peirs and walk around. Its awsome

12/22/2006 12:17:34 PM

Quote :

"After being taunted with the greatness of In n Out for YEARS. I finally saw one in Vegas and yelled at my friend to stop. Just as good as they said it was"

haha, nice. nobody believes me

12/22/2006 3:25:28 PM