Posted on 10/16/2008 9:02:28 AM PDT by davidlachnicht
My wife is traveling to San Francisco for work during Election week, so my son an I are joining her, making a mini-vacation out of it.
I had to travel to SF on election night 2002 — the sad faces of the CNN talking heads on the airport TV monitors told me it was a good night. Got to experience lots of Schadenfreude the next morning. But the one thing that has stuck with me about that trip was that streetsigns, lightposts, etc. were plastered with stickers supporting some state or local ballot measure, and they read, “Pelosi says: Yes on ###” (can’t remember the number). I’ve never seen that anywhere else, and I thought it was a pretty sad commentary on the intelligence of the local electorate (or at least the intelligentsia’s opinion of the intelligence of the local electorate).
“Any advice? “
Put a blindfold on your kid.
I lived in the area for more than 20 years and have never gotten “a beautiful city” tag. Maybe the sky line but then you don’t have to be in the city to see that.
Restaurants: Zachary’s Pizza in Oakland or Berkeley (across the bay). Sam’s Anchor Cafe (north of SF in Tiburon). Mike’s at the Crossroads (best burgers, north of SF in Cotati). Mel’s Diner on Lombard (kid’s love it). The Sunday Brunch at the Palace Hotel is absolutely incredible (but pricey).
Trader Vic’s restaurant.
It's been years since we've been there, but it was always one of those no reservation places that was extremely popular......lines to dine might be a possibility.
If you stay out of the SOMA area and the parts of Market where the bums live, it’s actually not any less clean than any other city, and the wacky architecture that scattered throughout the city is really cool. GG Park is beautiful, with a lot of things to do; the North Beach Area is gorgeous. It’s even fun to laugh at the nuts that live there. I just wouldn’t want to live there.
LOL.
That should work . . . unless there’s a big quake . . .
or unless one needs to add blinders or Virtual reality goggles tied to software to screen out certain acts on the street.
LOL.
Sigh.
Also famous for the Ramos Gin Fizz, I believe.
Have some sourdough bread and some abalone if you can.
Hold it in until you leave.
Stay out of the Castro District.
Sure, stay home.
Oh, wait, wrong forum...
Make sure you both get your shots first.
The USS Pampanito is a very cool submarine museum.
Actually, there’s a lot of clean fun to be had there . . . and some great food.
There’s also a great pottery factory DENBY . . . just north of the Golden Gate bridge . . . used to be, I think, the first right turn available after the bridge going North . . . Their seconds are at great prices, too.
And, great views there and getting there.
Don’t go your sons brain will be numb for weeks.
Brunch on Sunday at the Fairmont. Golden Gate Park and the Academy of Arts and Sciences - take in the Japanese Tea Ceremony while you are there.
Take the kids to the Exploratorium, Fort Point, and across the Golden Gate Bridge. Dinner at Scomas - make a reservation because it’s always packed, but the seafood is best in the city.
The art museum and the views at the Legion of Merit are unbelievable. For both history, and for a really good place to be quiet and reflect, you can walk through the cemetary at the Presidio (you’ll find it proximate to Fort Point).
Lunch at the Cliff House. Dinner at Flor d’Italia in North Beach. Lunch at the Fog City Diner is great too. The Hyatt at Embarcadero has a restaurant that rotates. Foods OK but the view is incomparable.
Lunch at Hard Rock Cafe is great. If you start from the Cable Car stop at Embarcadero Center, you take it to Van Ness. Get off, go have lunch - it’s one of the best Hard Rock’s there are. Then you take the Cable Car down Van Ness, and it terminates at the Turntable (turns the cable cars around). From there it is a short walk to Ghirardelli Square, and some of the best chocolate and ice cream there is.
Best Chinese Food - Chinatown - hands down - in the entire world, including China.
Coit tower is OK, but you could miss it. Joe’s Grill down in the financial district near Union Square is the place that Marlowe the Detective ate in all of his novels (Big Sleep, Maltese Falcon, etc.) GREAT food, and better history and back story.
The bar at the St. Marks hotel is both upscale, and very, very welcome. Great food, ultimate professional barkeeps, and loads of history.
I could go on all day. Gays and leftists are doing their level best to wreck the place, but it is still one of the best cities in the US next to NYC.
To really get into it, read ‘Don’t Call It Frisco’ by Herb Caen. Caen wrote a column in the SF Chronicle about SF for about 6 decades. Last of the great human interest metropolitan columnists, and a man that can turn a phrase. Herb wrote several books about ‘Baghdad by the Bay’ before the concept of ‘Baghdad’ got tarnished forever by Hussein.
Hold your nose.
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