Going to San Francisco....

[HummerTuesdays]

What touristy things should I do? Where should I go eat?

I've already suggested a picnic by the bridge to watch for jumpers. :)

Oh, we'll be in San Fran for a few days, and then we're heading to Sonoma, so any suggestions for either will be taken into consideration.

Thanks!

[MattyIceGfunk]

Tour Alcatraz. Always wanted to do that.

[OandAFanInDC]

if you're going to SF you should definitely hit my boys up at kine2b.com you wont be disappointed

[CM Mark]

If this was Steve's idea, you might want to steer clear of Castro Street

[Chino Kapone]

San Fran is the shit. I love that city and would move there in a heart beat if it didnt cost 50 bajillion dollars to live there.

[OandAFanInDC]

stay out the tenderloin district

[flyerfan116]

If you are going to San Fransisco be sure to wear some flowers in your hair

[Razor Roman]

hahaha you're a faggott.


oh wait you're a girl.


Go to Hait Ashbury and be hippies :)

[Dr. Hoffman]

Belden Alley has great restaraunts.

Alcatraz is awesome.

There is a really cool sailing company at Pier 39 that takes you on tours throughout the bay.

As for wine country PM me if you want detailed information on the area. The wife and I did our honeymoon out there in October so I can hopefully really help you out.

[RobeSoup&Tears]

I've never been there before but Ghirardelli Square seems cool...I guess.

http://gosanfrancisco.about.com/od/sanfranciscorestaurants/gr/TheMandarin.htm

Although he (NYC) have our share of the homeless, I hear SFO has a real problem with homeless folks so becareful.

Have fun HummerTuesdays...post pics if you can.

BTW...That hidden burger place we went to with your BF, Roman and a few others is ALWAYS packed...wow.

[PALLY]

San Fran is the shit. I love that city and would move there in a heart beat if it didnt cost 50 bajillion dollars to live there.

wow that's a lot of loot to live there...ggeezzzzz

[Sidekick Dave]

I left my heart in San Francisco...

...If you see it lying around, send it back to me in Boston. Seriously, this is a serious medical condition. I read somewhere that you need a heart to live.

[Kris_LTRMa]

Tour Alcatraz. Always wanted to do that.


Alcatraz was really cool

When I was 16, the family vacation was to start in San Fran and drive down the coast to San Diego. Great trip.

Oh and it's ironic that last nite my dad was talking to a client about what to do out there (Dad's a travel agent). I'll have to try to pick his brains for ya HT

[bigA]

you should check out Fisherman’s Wharf

http://www.fishermanswharf.org/

[Wilmington WOW]

have fun
San Fran is my favorite city
each section is so different
haight - hippy
west coast - like a beach town
there is an italian city
in the middle there are alot of greatshops and hotels like -nyc
alkatraz is cool
fish warf is toursity but fun
geordello chocolate plant

now I wnat to go go again
can you sneak me into your luggage?
have fun

[SurlyTruckDrivr]

I haven't been there since I was about 15, but I remember going to Fisherman's Wharf, don't remember what was there, but I think it was a touristy thing. Lombard St. Yeah, Alcatraz was really cool too.

[Voss's Tumor]

Just remember while you're there...

Losers whine about their best, winners go home and fuck the prom queen

[HummerTuesdays]

Excellent replies! Keep em' coming!

Oh, and I was thinking about doing a hop-on/hop-off bus or trolly tour. Any thoughts on that? I did one in Dublin, Ireland and really liked it.

One more thing (I know, such a demanding bitch!), if you can point me in the direction of discounts & coupons that would rock, too.

[Newmania]

if you're going to SF you should definitely hit my boys up at kine2b.com you wont be disappointed

Now that's a great service.

[Sinn Fein]

Where to Pop the Question in San Francisco (http://sanfrancisco.citysearch.com/roundup/41251) :haha7: :action-sm

[HummerTuesdays]

Oh, you! Don't be a silly goose.

[Sinn Fein]

Oh, you! Don't be a silly goose.

Someone had to do it. :D

[Zona992006]

Tour Alcatraz. Always wanted to do that.

I did that twice. Never did find those stairs, ((linger longer)) Cool place. (As long as you dont get sea sick). Of course there is fishermans wharf, shopping, china town. Pretty enough place as long as you go the right time of the year. Frisco can get cold...

[Sprite]

Lick some box.

[7cent]

If you want a really nice restaurant check out Boulevard on 1 mission st..it's right by the water.. My favorite places to go at night are Union St, and North Beach... The missions pretty good to.. A lot of shows all the time

[malloc]

Take the Alcatraz Audio Tour, and be sure to buy your tickets online a few days before you go.

While at Fishermans Warf hope that you meet the Bushman. I don't want to tell you who that is because it would give it away.
There is also an In-N-Out burger at the Warf, if you've never had it you should go.

Go to the mission and get yourself a burrito. I would pick Taqueria Cancun (http://www.yelp.com/biz_link?biz_id=g0VCHer2uE5NLOEdblZuSw) or Pancho Villa Taqueria (http://www.yelp.com/biz_link?biz_id=UjjNgzBFAVXF3iVXPVjH_Q).

If you want to laugh at some trannies go eat at Asia SF (http://www.yelp.com/biz_link?biz_id=6LfqlrbkpjZt83bEMZWq7A)

For a real good time go to the Power Exchange (http://www.powerexchange.com/home.htm)

[BravoSierra]

If you want to get a good taste of SF, drink your face off, and experience something that is hard to find, go to the Castro. It really is a great part of the city and honestly don't care what others say about it. It's where I always take my friends when they're in town because the bar scene is 10x better than anywhere else I know of.

If you want to be the typical tourist, go downtown... walk down Market st..... walk down The Embarcadero.... do Coit Tower, the Wharf, Alcatraz, the cable cars, the bridge, yaddah yaddah yaddah. It's all in the same sort of area of the city.

I'd recommend waiting a while though before you come here, it's fucking cold and rainy. It's supposed to continue that way as well.

Honorable mentions:
The Punchline/Cobbs (Jimmy is at Cobbs on the 15th of Feb)
Cliff House
SF Zoo
The beach... assuming it's somewhat nice out.
Chinatown
Watch a Giants game (Obviously it's the off season).
Lombard St.

Enjoy.

[frankjg]

stay out the tenderloin district

Very far away from the Tenderloin district... Its "Well Done", if you know what I mean.

Edit: and def. hit an in-and-out burger... its no burger joint but its damn good

And dont do what I did when I was there... I started off at my hotel and walked up russian hill, up to coit tower, down to the wharf, over to Ghirdelli square, and back to my hotel (through the ultra-scary harlem like tenderloin)... that city has a fuck-load of hills, thats all I'm sayin

[CougarHunter]

Get a picture of yourself with a homeless gentl-man shitting in a doorway.

That sort of thing is allowed and encouraged there.

[Three Hole Puncher]

San Francisco is a great town... to visit.

The legions of filthy homeless vermin, and the stinky hippie liberal attitudes which spawned and support them make it such that San Fran is not a suitable place for prolonged habitation.

[ChrisC_EIT]

Depending on exactly when you'll be out there, especially out towards Sonoma, I'd suggest the Russian River Wine Road.

http://www.wineroad.com/

The Barrel Tasting weekends are fantastic. I could even suggest some wineries if you're interested in anything particular.

If you're staying in Sonoma (the city) I'd suggest the El Dorado Hotel, but if you're looking for a budget place, nevermind. It's on the square, within stumbling distance to a few tasting rooms, and all the restaurants and tourist traps. Depending on your food tastes, there's a great restaurant in Sonoma called... Taste of Himalaya (I think). It's on the east side of the square, off the main street. It's a tough find - wish I had the address handy for you - because it's in kind of a backalley area. It's not shady, it's just that really have to know it's there to find it if you know what I mean.

I second some of the things above - like in-n-out burger. Jimmy Norden will be in SF coming up.

edit: By the way, if you're trying to do this on a budget - why Sonoma? It's one of the most expensive places to visit. Do you have friends to stay with?

[HummerTuesdays]

We're not doing this on a "budget motel" type of budget. But if I can get discount tickets to tourist traps (like Alkatraz), why not? :)

[FullBallz]

Hey guys, I wanted to bump this thread since I'm heading out there on Tuesday for my first business trip. My first time out there. These are great suggestions. I do have a couple extra questions though.

Where to eat? I'm not one for fancy shit. I'm a meat and potatoes guy so any simple restaurant recommendations would be great.

Alcatraz...should I really go? Everyone says it's one of those places you must visit. I just don't want to be disappointed.

Nice quiet hangout...is there like a coffeehouse or place where I can just sit and enjoy some "me" time for a while? Aside from Starbucks of course. I've heard of Buena Vista. Any good?

Wine country...My flight back on Saturday in at 11pm. I'm thinking of taking that day and going up to either Napa or Sonoma. Do you have any wineries to recommend? I'm not a fan of traffic either. Is it going to be a bitch getting up there and back?

[weeniewawa]

an alternative to in-n-out burger is a place called Nations. a local chain that makes great burgers and pies. there are more restaurants in SF than almost anything else
I also recommend china town. Fisermans warf is ok but thats where ALLLL the tourists go. Ride a cable car and check out the cable car museum.If you want a little drive, a little way down the coast is Monterey. They have the Monterey Bay Aquarium there and it's pretty impressive. now is probably a great time to go there since the tourists like to really pack the area in the summer. Oh yea, watch out for the bums, SF loves bums and actually pays them money to be bums and stay there. the traffic going to Sonoma won't be bad if you time it right. everybody going into the city in the morning and going back norf in the afternoon. traffic on the local freeways is horrible most of the time, SF it self sucks and there is no parking or at least no parking for under $20 for 10 minutes or so. you get out of town and things get back to normal

[chiefo104]

A great place for sourdough is Boudin at Fisherman's Wharf. It has the best sourdough bread in the world. The bacteria in the culture used to make the bread is unique because of the water they use and the cool most air so the taste cant be duplicated. Also if you go to Sonoma Country, I suggest going to the Alexander Valley which has many wineries and a great Indian Casino (River Rock) with spectacular views of the valley.

[Biking Mexican]

Funny this thread got bumbed, my wife and I are planning a trip out to Sanny Franny. Great ideas on places to go ,but does anyone have hotel suggestions. Not looking for a buget hotel, but not wanting to spend Ritz Carlton money either. Also thinking of taking my road bike, any input, besides I'm a spandex wearing faggot.

[weeniewawa]

besides I'm a spandex wearing faggot.

you will be in good company there :action-sm also there might be a couple of mexicans in town :)
if you like to ride hills, that is the place. way better method to get around since the parking sucks

just look on any of the sites, expedia, hotel, priceline dot coms. lots of small hotel/motels that might not have web sites.

[HummerTuesdays]

Thanks for the bump! Over the weekend we got our tickets to see Vos and our tickets to Alcatraz. That still leaves us 2 full days to bounce around the city & do some sight seeing. Just a few more weeks until vacation!

[HummerTuesdays]

Thanks for all the advice, everyone!

We bought our Alcatraz tickets in advance, which was definitely the way to go. The audio tour was cool.

We did some touristy things like Coit's tower, a hop-on/hop-off bus tour, ate Cioppino at the Warf, etc.

We then went to Sonoma. Rodney Strong was fun & our VIP tour guide was informative & had a sense of humor. Ferrari-Carrano was beautiful, and our VIP tour guide was very knowledgeable and very hospitable. At the Hess Collection our tour was more about his art collection & less about the wine. At Franciscan we had a VIP tasting which was really cool. We even got to meet the chef.

We ate at Ad Hoc two nights in a row. We had reservations for Easter Sunday, and the lamb was incredible. We had heard good things about their fried chicken, which happened to be on the menu for Monday, so we went back.

Thanks to everyone for all your input. It definitely helped out! I can't wait to go back.

[Ballbuster1]

Hopefully the wife and I will get out there soon.
Sounds like a great trip.