*NesJas* and anyone else who's been to San Fran!

berbur

Hey, so I just saw that you and DH went to San Fran for your 1 year anny! CONGRATS! DH and I are going on July 30th, and although I was born there (moved away when I was 2), neither of us have ever been!

So, ladies! What should we DEFINITELY do while we are there? We are going fri-mon and are staying in Union Square.

We have a night tour of Alcatraz scheduled, but that's it! DH's birthday is on the 30th and he wants to have dinner in Chinatown. That's all we have planned so far...

HELP!

NesJas

Hey, yeah it was fun. We sooo wanted to do an Alcatraz tour but it was sold out even before we got there (tried to buy online, sold out) have fun doing that. We did the Blue & Gold Tour, which took us around the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. We also took a Double Decker bus tour which was two hours long. It took us around to see the Bridge, Chinatown, Little Italy, The Painted Ladies, Civic Center, Union Square, Ghirardelli and a couple of other places. It was fun and the tour guide was hilarious. All that is down at Pier 39 which has a lot of tour options and also a lot of great food.

 

We ate Boudin since DH loves the sourdough bread. DH also took me to see Wicked, this is a really cool and funny musical. So if you're into that, I would recommend that. We also toured this submarine that is there, it was called USS Pampanito.

 

That is pretty much all we did while we were there, the tours took most of our time but it was worth it since the last time I was there, we didn't see much. And take a jacket because like me, I totally forgot mine but the weather was great.

bethany joy

We go to SF a few times a year since my family is there.

Some of my favorites are:

The Exploratorium, Crissy Field (we run/walk there and it's LOVELY), The Sutro Baths are interesting too.

Favorite restaurants: Brenda's for breakfast (soul food), Zazie (my favorite) for dinner, and Melisa's for yummy Chinese. Nob HIll Cafe is also delicious.

We just walk a lot and explore bars/shopping/etc. I like North Beach and The Hiaght. We stay in Nob Hill. 

LyndseylovesHugh

I grew up near there, and go to the City at least once a year when I am home visiting my fam.  I can suggest a TON of stuff, but I do not even know where to start!  Do you want to go to fancy restaurants, casual places, both?  Do you like museums and other cultural things or would you prefering shopping and site seeing?  Let me know what you guys like and I will suggest away :-)

The one thing you HAVE to do is get a bread bowl with clam chowder down by the warf, it is THE BEST!  They have little street vendor type set ups that sell them, there is probably one near where you will get on the boat to go to Alcatraz (which is so fun btw).

berbur

LyndseylovesHugh:

I grew up near there, and go to the City at least once a year when I am home visiting my fam.  I can suggest a TON of stuff, but I do not even know where to start!  Do you want to go to fancy restaurants, casual places, both?  Do you like museums and other cultural things or would you prefering shopping and site seeing?  Let me know what you guys like and I will suggest away :-)

The one thing you HAVE to do is get a bread bowl with clam chowder down by the warf, it is THE BEST!  They have little street vendor type set ups that sell them, there is probably one near where you will get on the boat to go to Alcatraz (which is so fun btw).

I think we are mostly looking for casual places,.. what's a good place in chinatown? We like cultural things and are looking to mostly just see the sites...

Are the cable cars hard to navigate? The hotel we are staying at says that the nearest cable car is about 2 blocks away. We will not be having a car since parking is $50 a night!

That bread bowl sounds AMAZING! We will have to get there early and get one! Thanks!

NesJas

berbur:

LyndseylovesHugh:

I grew up near there, and go to the City at least once a year when I am home visiting my fam.  I can suggest a TON of stuff, but I do not even know where to start!  Do you want to go to fancy restaurants, casual places, both?  Do you like museums and other cultural things or would you prefering shopping and site seeing?  Let me know what you guys like and I will suggest away :-)

The one thing you HAVE to do is get a bread bowl with clam chowder down by the warf, it is THE BEST!  They have little street vendor type set ups that sell them, there is probably one near where you will get on the boat to go to Alcatraz (which is so fun btw).

I think we are mostly looking for casual places,.. what's a good place in chinatown? We like cultural things and are looking to mostly just see the sites...

Are the cable cars hard to navigate? The hotel we are staying at says that the nearest cable car is about 2 blocks away. We will not be having a car since parking is $50 a night!

That bread bowl sounds AMAZING! We will have to get there early and get one! Thanks!

The Chili bread bowl is yummy too. We had, well DH had and I took some of it. The cable cars are not hard. The bart system is easy too in case you want to go somewhere else.

jware1985

OMG the bread bowl is the best!!!!! There is seriously nothing better in my book them sitting by the peir with a bread bowl of clam chowder!!! and San Fran has then best IMO!!!

I seriously think that you can do no wrong when exploring the city.  I really want to take CJ there since he has never been and show him the beauty of it.  Ya'll are making my homesick for the ocean! hahahahaha

Drewbear

jware1985:

Ya'll are making my homesick for the ocean! hahahahaha

ME TOOO

As many times as I've been there, I still love the pier. Lou's at Pier 47 has amazing fish'n'chips. Walking the streets of North Beach is a must. Just enjoy the city and the weather! I'm jealous!

Jillian*CBK*RJK

I grew up there (Oakland, Alameda, etc) but I don't remember a whole bunch, and what i do remember is weird things. BUT from going a bunch when I lived in Sac I can tell you a few things. 

At Peir 39, eat at the restaurant that is pretty much windows all around. It's on the water. When you enter the peir, its on the right. Can't remember the name.

Walk down to Ghiradeli (yeah, spelling is wrong) square, and make sure you walk through the brick buildings. Amazing stores in there. Most of the time, there is a band in the middle. Amazing photo ops in there.  

Muni/Bart is super easy to navigate. If first time, trolley is a must. If a shopping freak, 5 story Nordstrom @ Union Square. The little coffee shop in Union Square, IMO, is NOT that great.  

 

And like people have said, North Beach is a must. Little Italy is great. Golden Gate Park. Coit Tower.

Trying to think of more, I'll let ya know when that happens.  

b15chik

i've only been once, i'd love to go back! i was really young and don't remember a whole bunch