San Francisco and what to do in it

the buttery was pretty great! i cycled out to the marine research center afterwards. i have to work for the rest of my stay now so no spa for me : ( but if tips for dinner tonight occur to anyone then let me know.

If you're looking for dinner on the upscale (not super-pricey tho) side, I recommend Oswald, on Soquel and Pacific. It's a fairly new but superb place run by awesome people.

Now I wish I stayed down there for dinner!

the last time i was anywhere near santa cruz, i fell down this cliff and nearly died. ah, lovely times.

anyone recommend a travel agent/tour operator for a tour around san fran (and yosemite and anywhere else we should go while we're there)?

and vineyard recommendations would also be good.

What are you looking for tour wise? Like a bus thing? Or walking tours?

If you are spending the night in Napa Valley just see if your hotel has some sort deal worked out with the local wineries. We paid a bit more for the place we stayed in Yountville, but the fact that we didn't have to pay for tastings basically equalled out. The best wine we tried was actually in Yountville at Hope & Grace which has a little storefront just down from Bouchon.

Driving.

10-14 days.

Travelling from the UK.

Gotchya. Well you definitely don't need the car while in San Francisco as 99% of anything you want to do will either be walkable or one bus away. Do you have accommodations or an idea of where you want to stay?

i might argue for the car if you anticipate wanting to take a daytrip to the redwoods or point reyes, which would be chill, i think.

maybe you could just use zipcar for that though, cause parking can be a huge annoyance

Yeah I just meant for the days you are actually in SF, it's not necessary. Obv very needed if going to Napa/Sonoma/Yosemite/etc.

+1 for no car while in SF proper. Overnight parking at most SF hotels starts around $50/night fwiw. A budget rental car = $40/day.

My parents recently visited and went on one of those open top bus tours around the city (as they didn't hire a car). It's a good way of getting a quick look at the sights in a very short time - and if you want to stay longer somewhere you can and get back on another time - but the "commentary" can vary. One guy was great and had all the facts, explained about the effects of the earthquake, all that. The next woman was like "oh there's a great restaurant, oh there's another one, you should all try it if you like great food!!!1!"

If you're fairly organised and want to take your time you can read up on where you want to visit and use the buses to get around. It's $2 for a ticket that lasts a minimum 90 mins (can last all day if you're lucky) so pretty cheap. Google maps is good for looking for the best public transit routes around town.

ugh.
http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/6073/mikegiantmodernsf.jpg

that shit makes me want to move to Flint

yeah, sorry, wasn't clear in my email. hiring a car was for when we go to napa, yosemite etc.

Something tells me the person who drew that is very jealous.

is that cartoon supposed to be a joke/stinging indictment cuz I don't get it

Yeah, it's like a very OCD pastiche wish-list

The joke is that the person who drew it is clearly just as much a scenester as the person being drawn. Hilarious.

it's like a twilight zone episode

like "real boobs"? "goes to yoga"? "doesn't own a car"? These are bad things?

maybe it is an affectionate parody guys

jeezus

"shapely, powerful calves", "powerful thighs", "no panties", "fucks on the first date" = yeah more like OCD sexxxx fantasy amirite

"maybe it is an affectionate parody guys"

Affectionate fantasy.

affectionate OCD sexxxx fantasy of a Critical Masshole imho

hi all, i'm spending a week around the bay area in early march. mostly got it planned out--two days in yosemite, two in napa including bike tour, a day in bodega bay, a day at point reyes, then drive down CA 1 and spend two days visiting SF (actually staying in berkeley).

i could use help with bodega bay--def want to see the coast and redwoods, but what else to do, where to eat? and point reyes--any particular trails or spots recommended?

i plan on visiting the mission for most of a day--got any good cheap food recs? any other neighborhood highlights? just looking for cool ideas, local favorites, no particular agenda.

thanks!

I will defer to other, but they steered me good on mission food recs. I ate many many tacos in SF. There was a great thrift store with an extensive record section, although someone would have to fill in the name and address for me, worth a visit in my book.

Some Mission recs:

Breakfast donut/coffee @ Four Barrell
Bi-Rite creamery for ice cream snack on a warm day
Lunch @ Limon Rotisserie or Schmidt's, both pretty decent bargains, or a burrito/tacos at any of about half-dozen taquerias (I, like the girl pictured above, prefer the slightly pricier Pancho Villa but virtually any place will have it fans--Cancun, La Taqueria, El Farolito)

I recommend leaving the Mission for dinner though and maybe heading to Uva Enoteca which has great happy hour deals

I don't like 4 Barrel's coffee for some reason. Something about the flavor is off-putting.

I think they make a great Americano. The brewed/press coffee I've never actually had, strangely enough.

Yeah, I've never tried their espresso.

Go to Casino Bar & Grill when you're in Bodega Bay for local color and, if it's on the weekend (and you like that kind of thing - I don't really) bbq oysters.

Point Reyes - try Hog island Oysters on the Tomales Bay and check out Pt. Reyes Station - esp., Cowgirl Creamery, a local artisinal cheesemaker.

There was a great thrift store with an extensive record section, although someone would have to fill in the name and address for me, worth a visit in my book

THE OTHER SHOP 327 Divisadero St.

(^^^Currently houses a fair portion of Open Mind Records' (RIP) stock)

many xposts:

do you like oysters? the area between bodega and point reyes is dotted with a few oyster farms where you can buy a bag straight out of the water and shuck them right there. i recommend Tomales Bay Oyster Company. point reyes lighthouse is really beautiful, not far from point reyes station. there are a lot of farms and dairies around here so the produce is usually pretty great: check out Cowgirl Creamery in Pt. Reyes Station. Marin Sun Farms (my butcher) is right there too.

on the way back into SF you can drive to the top of Mt. Tamalpais and also check out John Muir Woods which connect Hwy 1 to Hwy 101 in Marin County. The Marin Headlands are also really beautiful and offer the best views of SF imo.

on the way back into SF you can drive to the top of Mt. Tamalpais and also check out John Muir Woods which connect Hwy 1 to Hwy 101 in Marin County. The Marin Headlands are also really beautiful and offer the best views of SF imo.

^^^Seconded

Yeah. I'm a little jaded from having grown up in Marin (and my father working in the Headlands and Muir Woods) but it IS a magnificent drive. Stop off in Bolinas, too; they love visitors. ;)

Muir Woods is amazing.

dude who drew that sf bike chick is a famous grafitti/tattoo artist

i thought so from the disproportionate amount of attention given to tattooist shoutouts

the area between bodega and point reyes is dotted with a few oyster farms where you can buy a bag straight out of the water and shuck them right there. i recommend Tomales Bay Oyster Company

i did this on my recent trip. they were great. we went to abbot's lagoon which was a nice spot, but everywhere i've been to in pt reyes is beautiful. also recommended is a stop for a beer at vladimir's in inverness.

hmm which one, jaxon? i only go to Temple ( alas i am east bay scum).

it's weird, i totally get the derision in that drawing above, but it also seems to describe a very particular scene— ie, outside the fucking Lexington. *shivers*.

that said, a lot of it is also true of me: vegan gloves, tattoo by famous tattoo artist, LSD in hs, list could go on....

THE MODERN SAN FRANCISCAN POLL

oh also, i've disagreed with alex in sf about this before, but i heartily rec Cancun or El Farolito burritos, especially if yr not a vegetarian...for the veggies, Pancho Villa OR La Corneta, which imo uses the freshest veggies in the mission, and also gives you an inordinate amount of food for the price.

im a cancun-metate man myself

the only thing I ever get at El Metate is the salsa verde pork tamale plate. it's not that I don't like their other stuff... i just have to have those things every time I go there.

For me, Cancun easily has the best vegetarian burrito, although not very healthy.