Hawaii Nesties
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Heading down to SFCo.
For the weekend!
Yup, its a 10 hr drive from Portland. Its gonna be a crazy trip, but we really want to get out of town without spending too much money. We thought about heading up north (Seattle or Vancouver) but we just did that recently. So, we decided to head south. Plus, we have friends in SFCo., and they offered to let us stay at their place.
Its been a while since I was last there...any particular places we should visit and see? So far, we are considering going to see the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, and possibly Alcatraz (is there anything to see there?). Any restaurant recs would be great, too!
TIA 
Re: Heading down to SFCo.
it's supposed to be in the 70s this weekend! Yay!
FYI it's carnaval in the mission district of the city. So it'll be a bit crazy in that area... But your agenda doesn't seem to be going there... If you were, they have the best tapas restos there.
if you are going to the golden gate, they better view is on the Marin county side. Then you get the city in the background.
there's also pier 39, exploratorium, japantown, north beach, belden place, union square/nordstrom center.
if you go to Alcatraz, the tour is cool. It's self guided iirc. But it's been a while. You get to walk around the prison & hear stories.
restos so many! There's slanted door, Osha Thai, house of prime rib, medjool, aziza, fringale, top dog,amber,naan & curry, r&g lounge... But those may be all over the map re prices.... I would also check the chowhound sf/bay area board. They are really good to read IMO. Have fun!!!!!
restos: so many!
hawaii 10.2008 plan ;P married bio ???
When we went in April, it was for such a short time we didn't get to really take in ALL of San Fran. We pretty much hung out in the Wharf the whole time since that is where we were staying. We also didn't get to do Alcatraz because when we went on Thursday to book it, they were booked all the way through Sunday
We had fun at Ghardelli Square, China Town, visiting the bridge, playing and walking around the Wharf. We ate at the Cliff House which was yummy and fantastic views of the ocean. Kinda pricey, but if your looking for a nice dinner to go to that is a great place. We also spent half our time in Paso Robles so we didn't do too much of the city.
Now I'm wanting to book a trip back there
Have fun! 
| Olowalu, Maui ~ August 6, 2008 |
| Family of 4 ~ April 2, 2011 |
| Family of 5 - October 24, 2012 |
Yay...it should be nice weather too!
I definitely recommend heading down to the Marina and over to the GG Bridge. I also like the view of it from Baker Beach (nice photo ops if there is no fog) and really love the view of it from Marin Headlands. If you do head north I'd recommend Guyamas in Tiburon for dinner...it's tasty and romantic. Make a reservation for a waterfront table.
I am not a huge fan of the whole Fisherman's Wharf/Pier39/Ghiradeli Square tourist traps, but if you're not a local I guess they can be fun...not sure how crowded they'll be this holiday weekend. Alot of the stuff there to me isn't unique to SF...it's touristy t-shirts and souveniers that you can pretty much get anywhere. The clam chowder is good, but eh...I've had just as good at the Wharf in Monterey.
I'd opt for a walking tour of North Beach (Little Italy) and Chinatown instead. There are tons of yummy places to eat in North Beach...we love Cafe Mona Lisa. It's right on Columbus Street. There's also tons of cafes and places for desserts...love the gelato and cannoli in the little shops there!
I also love the Exploratorium and the whole Marina area and it's not that far from North Beach that you could make a whole day of seeing the Golden Gate Bridge, Baker Beach, North Beach, China Town, etc. If you started early enough you could see all that stuff by day and then do dinner in North Beach and then see a show at Beach Blanket Babylon, which is AWESOME!
If you're going to be in the Marina area check out the Maritime Museum as well as the Wave Organ...pretty cool! We used to go there at night as teens, but I am sure it's cool by day as well.
I was born and raised in SF my entire life and have never been to Alcatraz. I have been to Angel Island and it makes for a nice day of hiking, etc. I think you can also take the ferry to Tiburon and dine at Guyama's right there. So that would be a fun day out.
I'd head down to Golden Gate Park, maybe visit the De Young Museum and/or aquarium, the botanical gardens, arboretum, Japanese Tea Gardens, rent a paddle boat at Stowe Lake, etc. Not too far from there, down across from by Ocean Beach (at Fulton and the Great Highway) we love Beach Chalet (they also have Park Chalet there too). It's just down the street from The Cliff House and I think it's a better value and the view is just as nice and the food is delish. If you do end up over there you should hike around the Sutro Baths...it's fun.
If you head over to Haight Street (which is not far at all from GGPark) we like the Cuban restaurant Cha Cha Cha and the area, in general, is fun for funky boutique shopping and people watching. More people watching and fun boutique shopping is in the Castro/Noe Valley area. And there a tons of yummy little places to eat around there too. We like Barney's Gourmet Hamburger's for lunch...their sweet potato fries are amazing! If you're in that area and the weather is clear, head up to Twin Peaks for awesome views of the city and great photo ops.
Also, I've never been, but my friends love to visit Yerba Buena Gardens...it's supposed to be really nice and same for Metreon...again, never been but friends love to hang there too.
TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog
Ooh, fun! Check out my friend's blog. She just spent 8 days in the Bay and has lots of food reviews:
http://dailydish.honadvblogs.com/
Everyone already has mentioned great recs for places to go/visit. On top of that, if you're into hiking/woods/etc, Muir Woods is only 30 min away from the city (need to cross the Golden Gate Bridge, which has a $6 toll) and is really nice. There's a $5 entrance fee (I think) for the place, but provides for a good half-day+ of hiking in the woods.
I also second Osha Thai, R&G Lounge, and Cha Cha Cha for food. Other favorite places of mine are Gary Danko (it's a pricier place, if you guys want to splurge one night) and The House. I also love Japantown but my favorite Japanese place is Kabuto. My favorite gelato place of ALL TIME is Marco Polo--it is a bit out of the way from the touristy areas of the city, but it offers exotic flavors, like lychee, passion fruit, taro and they make it so FREAKING good!
Have fun!!
Thanks for the recs everyone!
I'm so excited. We're leaving early in the AM to start our drive down and get a head start. Will let you know how it goes when we get back!!
christine! your friend hit many of the yummy places!!
i haven't been to nopa, but it's on my many list of restos to go to... 
sujen- if you're up for big crowds and lots of color, then you can hit up the mission for carnaval. it's a 2 day affair. but very very crowded and crazy in all is sf glory
heheheh
fyi of the street closures. if you can muni/bart/walk everywhere, i would do that instead.
it's gonna be a pretty crazy weekend. i know 5 separate groups of people from all over that are in the city this weekend! yikes!
it's also graduation weekend for some, so i imagine the bars/clubs will be crazy busy at night too....
hawaii 10.2008 plan ;P married bio ???