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191708

San Francisco

	Parts	Where it is
	San Francisco is a generic name for a lot of territory. It's probably worth describing each of the major areas, and they form a part of lots of the descriptions that follow.
	East Bay	If you go East from San Francisco you hit the Bay. Then you hit land again, and this land is called East Bay, at least up to the mountain range that separates `The Bay' from the `Central Valley'. All of the East Bay is now completely populated, but the major cities are Oakland, Fremont and Berkeley.
	South Bay	The Southern end of the Bay is San Jose as well as a bunch of smaller towns.
	Berkeley	Berkeley is an East Bay city, well known not so much because it is so big, but because `The University of California' (with the emphasis on THE) is there along with what is often called a `Gourmet Ghetto' containing many fantastic Restaurants.
	Oakland	A major California City in its own right, but largely overshadowed by San Francisco. Has an active downtown these days, recovering from a gradual decline that, in many ways, started with the end of WWII. Oakland and Berkeley are connected to San Francisco both by The Oakland Bay Bridge and by BART, the underground rapid transit system.
	Marin	The county immediately to the North of San Francisco, connected to the city both by The Golden Gate Bridge and by ferries that sail from several places in Marin.
	The Peninsula	The is the territory South of San Franciso. It runs for about 60 miles before one gets around the South end of the Bay to connect with the mainland. Palo Alto (and Stanford University) is about half-way down the penninsula. The penninsula is treated by San Franciscians as `the suburbs' but due to the growth in the area, what used to be largely Orange Groves is now an active and vibrant community. Although it's no San Francisco.
	Silicon Valley	Silicon Valley is a colloquial name for the hard core electronics area that has provided the Bay with such explosive growth over the past couple of decades. Silicon refers to the material used in Computer Chips, not to the the material used to increase bust size. Technically, I suppose, Silicon Valley is almost the same thing as `The Penninsula' except that (1) it includes a good deal of South Bay which is clearly not on The Peninsula; and (2) there is territory between the Ocean and the mountains that run down the middle of the peninsula which is not in `Silicon Valley'.
	Presidio	The tip of San Francisco around the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. Presidio was a long time Army Base, now being broken up and sold.
	Pacific Heights	The heights right behind the Presidio. Some of the most expensive real estate in the world.
	Embarcadero	The Embarcadero is at the head/foot of Market Street. Most ferries embark there. And its also near the downtown terminus of the Penninsula RailRoad system that provides train service down to San Jose.
	Fisherman's Wharf	Tourist heaven. My San Francisco resident Brother claims he hasn't been in this part of town for years, but tourists love the restaurants and Ghirdelli Square. It's a Cable Car Terminus so it is probably worth a ride---if for no other reason than to say you've been there. And who knows, maybe you'll be one of the millions who enjoy it.
	North Beach	The area just past Chinatown has a slightly sleazy cast to it. Some of the first topless bars in the country appeared here and these days the sleaze continues, but somehow seems almost charming.
	Nob Hill / Telegraph Hill	Climbing up the hill from Montgomery to Coit Tower provides both interesting sights and great views. And some exercise.
	Sunset	Broadly this is the part of town just South of Golden Gate Park and extending from about Masonic out to the Ocean. There are lots of nice houses and fairly reasonable rents, but the downside is the weather. Microclimates define San Francisco weather, and out here it's often cold and foggy. Inner Sunset contains Haight / Ashbury, the home to the flower children of the 1960s.
	Richmond	Parallel to The Sunset, but North of Golden Gate Park, leading up to the Presidio. Another area of problematic weather, but also some spectacular spots. Sea Cliff, on the ocean facing the Golden Gate Bridge from the `outside' comes particularly to mind.
	Marina	East of the Golden Gate/Fort Point and West of Fisherman's Wharf is the Marina. Guess what, it's a Marina. The Southern edge of The Marina is essentially Lombard Street, an area called Cow Hollow, presumably because it used to be home to some cows. Now it is home to yuppies.
	The Castro	A part of the city that is sort of the informal `gay district' of the city. There's lots of gay affect in San Francisco, and I guess it bothers some. But then they probably aren't going to enjoy most of the city much, as there is a gay presence everywhere. It's just more open and obvious in the Castro than in most other places. Who cares? Not me anyway.
	Noe Valley	A nice district just past the Castro. Some great views and lots of very steep hills. Extends down to the Mission District, and thus there are lots of little neighborhood restaurants. They tend to be fine decently priced, and fun, but not particularly noteworthy.
	SoMa	SoMa is an appellation borrowed from New York's SoHo. In San Francisco it designates the area `South of Market'. This used to be pretty much limited to light industry, but in the past decade clubs, cafes, and other entertainments have moved in. The San Francisco `Design Center' is also in this area.
	Wine Country	A `generic term' for Napa, Sonoma and the Alexander River. Starts about 45 mins North of San Francisco and goes on and on up to the North.
	Restaurants	Style / Comment / Facts
	Restaurants are both plentiful and often quite cheap in San Francisco. A wide diversity of ethnic cultures present in the community produce a wide diversity of ethnic food. Much of this food is very good, and some of it is quite wonderful. In addition there are a lot of first-class expensive places that round out the list.
	Swan's Oyster Depot	A new part of my regular SFO `ritual' is to go from the airport (I usually arrive about 11:30AM SFO time, having studiously not eaten the horrible food on the plane) directly to Swan's for a mid-afternoon Crab Salad. Best around, and although I happen to hate sourdough their bread is good. So are chowders and anything else `fish'. You sit at a counter, but you are instantly integrated into the SFO `scene' as the crowd will be 50% tourists and 50% SFO Long-Timers.
	Chez Panisse	Perhaps American Grand Cuisine began at the Four Seasons in New York, but `California Cuisine' surely began somewhere between Chez Panisse and Spago in LA. Alice Waters is a genius at taking fresh ingredients and doing something to them that is simple and wonderful. Downstairs is a prix-fixe no choice menu published a few days in advance. Take it and like it. Or go to the informal upstairs spot (off hours, as the wait is too long at regular meal times) for a fabulous lunch or early dinner.
	Chez Fanny	Fanny is Alice Waters' daughter. She runs a tiny cafe that is great for Coffee, sandwiches, etc. down on San Pedro in Berkeley.
	French Laundry	Impossible to get in. Incredibly expensive if you do get in. But many think that Keller is America's Best. Good luck trying to get a reservation, but if you are lucky enough to do so, then go. Above Napa 10 or 15 miles.
	Postrio	Puck was a partner, and Postrio was a serious candidate for San Francisco's best for a good while. My last couple of meals there have been a little bit `iffy', particularly for the price. Maybe it's better to test the waters with an off-cycle bar food snack.
	Sears' Fine Foods	I don't `get' Sears' but enough people do to make it worth mentioning. To me it is an absolutely undistinguished breakfast/lunch spot that often has a long wait for seating. To the people who like it, it is a San Francisco institution.
	Masa's	Masa's was a serious candidate for the best restaurant in town, even after the (still unsolved) murder of Masa Kobiashi, it's great chef. Always a shade overdone, it nevertheless remains one of the best and most expensive of all of the San Francisco restaurants.
	Saigon Saigon	Out in `The Mission', a spot for decent food at an incredible bargain.
	Sam's	This is an `old style' restaurant that I like. Simple food, steaks, chops, etc. The kind of place that differentiates shoestring potatoes from long-branch potatoes from French-fried potatoes if you catch my drift.
	Tadisch Grill	A bit of old San Francisco. Particularly nice fish. Nice people, too. But well known to tourists, so it can get crowded. Also it closes incredibly early in the evenings (sometime like 8pm).
	Auberge du Soliel	A pretty place up North of Napa. I like to go there for lunch as sitting on the porch overlooking Napa Valley is nicer and more pleasant during the day than at night, although I imagine the room itself (and the crowd) would also be pretty at night. And the stars...
	Bars	Cooling `Hot' Spots
	Fern Bars	As far as I know, San Francisco is the `source' of the generic `Fern Bar'. So called, of course, because of the elaborate ferns that often give them `character'.
	Aqua	Aqua is a good restaurant, but I particularly like the bar. The crowd is trendy, the location is convenient---if you're downtown---and it is all-in-all a pleasant scene.
	Bix	A slightly noisy place on a little back street. You can eat there, but it looks a little hectic for that. The bar is fun.
	Hotels	Where
	Mandarin Oriental	This is one of my favorite hotels. Since my brother lives in SFO I rarely stay in hotels, but this one, though expensive, is nice enough to occasionally warrant a stay anyway. The hotel is the top 8 or 10 floors of two downtown commercial towers, and the views from the rooms as well as from the `skybridge' that connects the two towers are often unforgettable so long as there isn't any fog. Over the years I've had just about every view, and they have all been wonderful.
	Sonoma Mission Inn	Good food and good health and good spa treatment. Not a bad mix, although---not surprisingly---not a cheap one either. Fireplaces are an unusual accent. Basic idea is that when you reserve for dinner, they arrange to come in at the appropriate time while you are eating to have your fire set and lit so that it is `just right' when you return.
	Sights	What to See
	Twin Peaks	This is a sight that somehow is woefully neglected by most tourists. I have been going to San Francisco several times a year for several decades, and I always still go up Twin Peaks at least twice each trip, once during daytime and once at night. Actually I often take breakfast by buying a Bagel and Lox and Coffee which I then eat up on Twin Peaks. It is essentially at the `end' of Market Street just South West of downtown. The views over not only the whole Bay, but also even over to the Pacific are one of the best I have found anywhere in the World.
	Marin Highlands	A wonderful view back to San Francisco and over the hill up the coast towards Point Reyes and Bodega Bay. Lots of movies get shot over here, using the highlands for `unspoiled' coast and mountain views and Sausalito, just down the hill from the Highlands, for `colorful suburban USA'.
	Lombard Street	Probably the world's most famous crooked street. I can't imagine living on it and having a traffic jam in front of your house at all hours, but some do live there.
	Golden Gate Bridge	A beautiful drive. An even better walk, if you have the energy.
	Fort Point	Tucked under the Golden Gate Bridge, Fort Point offers some spectacular views both of the Bridge, and of the Bay looking towards Marin and out past Alcatraz. Beautiful on a good day, spectacular on a rainy day and wonderfully eerie in a fog.
	Museums	Character
	Modern	My first two trips to the Modern were a disaster. I hated it. Even though the architect, Mario Botta, is perhaps my favorite architect, I hated the building. Then a transformation occurred. I don't know if it was adaptation of the decoration, familiarity, or whatever but now it has become a real favorite. I find the build adds to, but doesn't compete with, whatever is being shown. The show can be good or bad depending on its content. The Museum itself now always looks good to me.
	The Exploratorium	I don't know if The Exploratorium counts as a museum or not, but it is an interesting place set in a nice park, so it might be of interest for more than just the `scientific experiments' that can be explored by the hordes of kids who just love the place.
	deYoung	The deYoung, in Golden Gate Park is currently undergoing renovation. Good. It needed it.
	Palais of L d'H	Out in the Presidio, I guess this is now the principal Museum of San Francisco while the deYoung is closed. Last time I was there it was OK, but not really up to San Francisco's reputation on other fronts.
	Shopping	Areas
	Union Street	A nice shopping area that extends along Union Street from just outside Van Ness all the way to the Presidio. Lots of restaurants, too.
	University Ave., PA	The main street of Palo Alto. Stores, coffee shops, books, the stuff that keeps both Stanford and high-tone Silicon Valley fed, clothed etc.
	24th Street	A nice neighborhood shopping area. Typical Noe Valley.
	Fry's	A California phenomena that was nurtured in the Bay Area with the growth of Silicon Valley. Became famous in what are now regarded as `The Early Days' of the computer business by selling the `Programmers Combo' which was available essentially 24hrs each day. The combo was principally (1) Electronics Gear; (2) Junk Food; and (3) Porn, i.e. what was necessary to keep programming creativity at a high level. Now mostly an electronics `super-chain'. Prices are not particularly good, and most of the sales people are either ignorant, greedy or (most likely) both, but it is worth a visit---particularly to the huge store in Sunnyvale---just to see this scale of operation. Look, but buy elsewhere. You'll do better.
	Stanford Shopping Center	A grand mall. Been there for a long time, but keeps getting renewed enough to keep it `current'.
	Food	Areas and Off-Sale
	DeLuca	A good Italian `Deli' in the Mission. Good wine. Good Gorgonzola. Good Proscuitto, etc.
	Cheap and/or Ethnic Eats	Characteristics
	16th and Mission	There are a huge number of good cheap places all around the Mission. Pick something that looks like you'll like it. You'll probably like it.
	Chinatown	I guess Grant Ave. is one of the most famous Chinatowns anywhere. It was even immortalized in Flower Drum Song. I never end up going down there to eat Chinese, but that's probably because there are so many good Chinese restaurants elsewere, too. Certainly Chinatown is a good tourist attraction.
	Clement	There are lots of cheap oriental restaurants in Richmond, many along Clement (my local friends insist I pronounce it Cle-MENT).
	Parks	Various Things about Them
	Golden Gate Park	A grand park. Site of the San Francisco Exposition, and now a rambling area containing the deYoung Museum, meadows, flowers, hippies, and a couple of windmills. It's a large park so lots of different things are going on in the park. Sports activities, hidden glades, little lakes, something for everyone.
	Muir Woods	Just up in Marin county. Wonderful trees, and sort of an introduction to the Giant Trees that really start to appear a couple of hours North of San Francisco as one heads up towards Eureka.
	Fort Funston	A beach where there is a lot of Aerial Wind Surfing. Fun to watch, at least on a nice day.
	Transportation
	Auto	A car is wonderful for travel around San Francisco, but it costs an arm and a leg to park downtown, and a car isn't needed for most of downtown. You can do lots of things via public transportation, but would have to pass on Wine Country, and some `outside downtown' things. If I didn't have family there I'd split my visit into two parts (1) Downtown; and (2) Surroundings. I'd not have a car for the `downtown' part of the visit, but would for the rest of the trip.
	BART	BART can take you all around the Bay. Easy access from downtown SF to Berkeley, Oakland, Fremont and even Walnut Creek. Soon it will connect with the San Francisco Airport which should be a boon to many travellers. It is important to note that many of the worthwhile spots in Berkeley and Oakland are easily (most easily, in fact) reached by BART.
	Muni	Muni runs under Market St. and then comes to ground level and spans out to serve lots of San Francisco, although mostly just places to the SouthWest and West of the major parts of downtown.
	Cable Cars	Cable cars aren't a bad way to get around except during tourist season. Problem is that tourist season in San Francisco lasts from January thru December. But they're generally colorful and fun, and if they aren't desperately overcrowded they are a good way to get up and down some of the otherwise exhausting hills.
	Nearby	Only for California
	Only in California is there almost as much interesting and colorful stuff going on `around' the cities as in the cities themselves. The places mentioned here are never more than `day trips' away from the center of the cities.
	Santa Cruz	A nice little University town on the Ocean. Not far from San Jose, and about an hour and 20 mins from San Francisco. Santa Cruz was an important place during the hippie years---sort of an intellectual capital---but it has since lapsed into a quiet little town with a decent, but not spectacular, `boardwalk' amusement area.
	San Jose	San Jose used to be a `farm town'. With the explosion of Silicon Valley, it is now one of the larger cities in America (11th), technically larger than San Francisco (13th). I think San Jose is a nice city, but there's nothing that I find particularly `special' about it, so I don't get there much since San Francisco is so close (about an hour at `good' times). There are some technology Museums, and the Computer Museum is nearby, as is the (in)famous `Winchester House'---an old time `tourist site' famous because the owner believed (wrongly, it turned out) that she couldn't die so long as they were building her house. Thus there are hundreds of staircases, rooms, etc. It can be missed.
	Gilroy	The Garlic Festival is either something you'd like, or something that you want to stay miles and miles away from. They even do Garlic Ice Cream. Other nearby festivals might include Artichokes, or various and sundry fruits and vegetables. Something is always growing in California.
	Napa and Sonoma	Probably the most famous wine region, although good grapes tend to grow all around the Bay these days. Sonoma is under an hour North of San Francisco, over the Golden Gate Bridge. It seems that every little town and many vineyards have restaurants that are somewhere between good and great.