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First time visiting San Francisco

LeGOATski

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Chef Jim Hall of Famer

Chef Jim

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City View for Dim Sum in the financial district.  If you’re there on a Saturday The Ferry Building for the farmer’s market. If you’re going wine tasting do Sonoma not Napa. If you do Napa stay on the less crowded Silverado Trail.  Iron Horse Vineyards in Sonoma and nearby Boheimian Creamery for artisanal cheese. 

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LeGOATski Hall of Famer

LeGOATski

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37 minutes ago, Chef Jim said:

City View for Dim Sum in the financial district.  If you’re there on a Saturday The Ferry Building for the farmer’s market. If you’re going wine tasting do Sonoma not Napa. If you do Napa stay on the less crowded Silverado Trail.  Iron Horse Vineyards in Sonoma and nearby Boheimian Creamery for artisanal cheese. 

Thanks. Sun-Wed (business trip). Won't be doing any wine tasting.

25 minutes ago, KD in CA said:

Cross the bridge for the nature part.

 

https://www.nps.gov/goga/planyourvisit/upload/map_MAHE_150429web.pdf

Cool, I'm gonna try to make time for this. Gotta take in views of the Pacific shoreline while I'm there.

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Augie Hall of Famer

Augie

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18 minutes ago, Mark Vader said:

Head across the Golden Gate and visit the small town of Tiburon. Charming place. Check out Sausalito too.

 

We loved Sausalito! 

1 hour ago, Marv's Neighbor said:

Scoma's on Fisherman's Wharf is good.

 

They saw us coming on Fisherman’s Wharf. I got some seafood special (about 20 years ago!) without asking the price. It was like $87 way back then, and not very special tourist food.

3 minutes ago, Doc said:

I absolutely love, love, LOVE FIsherman's Wharf!

 

Those seals stink to high heaven! 

1 hour ago, Chef Jim said:

City View for Dim Sum in the financial district.  If you’re there on a Saturday The Ferry Building for the farmer’s market. If you’re going wine tasting do Sonoma not Napa. If you do Napa stay on the less crowded Silverado Trail.  Iron Horse Vineyards in Sonoma and nearby Boheimian Creamery for artisanal cheese. 

 

Sonoma was awesome, while Napa was kind of disappointing. This was along time ago. 

 

We also did some spa time in Calistoga. I takes some effort to get that mud spa out of your.....never mind. 

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KD in CA Hall of Famer

KD in CA

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27 minutes ago, Mark Vader said:

Head across the Golden Gate and visit the small town of Tiburon. Charming place. Check out Sausalito too.

 

Sausalito is a madhouse on weekends now, but it does have a lot of places to eat and the advantage of frequent ferries.  Lots of people rent bikes in the city and ferry over to Sausalito.  Only problem is the ferry line going back to the city after dinner.

 

Tiburon is more charming;  there's also a cool little museum that shows you how the town was once a big railyard (they ferried railroads over from SF).  Now it's among the priciest real estate in the country.

 

36 minutes ago, Another Fan said:

Pretty sure you can take a boat to Alcatraz.  It used to be a museum not sure about today

 

Still is and still hugely popular with the tourists.  I believe they sell out weeks in advance now;  at least during the summer.

 

Also in Marin, if you want to go to Muir Woods, you need to make a reservation -- no joke -- and also sells out weeks in advance.  Used to be first come, first served on parking but someone over-thought the problem so now they turn locals away from empty parking lots at 5 pm on a Wednesday because they 'don't have a reservation'.  

 

Of course, you have a whole mountain full of redwoods with all kinds of trails of varying degrees of difficulty, so really nothing that special about that one little section.

 

Come to Mill Valley for breakfast and hike the Dipsea trail out to Stinson Beach!

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BuffaloBill Hall of Famer

BuffaloBill

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11 minutes ago, joesixpack said:

Take your galoshes. Don't know when you'll step in a pile of ****.

 

:thumbsup:

 

 

 

Sadly true in union ion square area. 

2 minutes ago, Cripple Creek said:

Get chioppino while you're there. You'll thank me later.

 

 

That at kind of talk is not allowed here...

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SinceThe70s

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Check out the sea lions that took over pier 39 years ago.

 

The Alcatraz tour is really good, but if you go don't be late for the boat you want to take back. I watched a couple show up about 5 seconds after they closed the gate on a half empty boat and they got denied.

 

I wouldn't go out of my way, but the light show on the Oakland Bay Bridge is pretty cool if you're in that area.

 

 

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Augie Hall of Famer

Augie

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10 minutes ago, KD in CA said:

 

Sausalito is a madhouse on weekends now, but it does have a lot of places to eat and the advantage of frequent ferries.  Lots of people rent bikes in the city and ferry over to Sausalito.  Only problem is the ferry line going back to the city after dinner.

 

Tiburon is more charming;  there's also a cool little museum that shows you how the town was once a big railyard (they ferried railroads over from SF).  Now it's among the priciest real estate in the country.

 

 

Still is and still hugely popular with the tourists.  I believe they sell out weeks in advance now;  at least during the summer.

 

 Also in Marin, if you want to go to Muir Woods, you need to make a reservation -- no joke -- and also sells out weeks in advance.  Used to be first come, first served on parking but someone over-thought the problem so now they turn locals away from empty parking lots at 5 pm on a Wednesday because they 'don't have a reservation'.  

 

Of course, you have a whole mountain full of redwoods with all kinds of trails of varying degrees of difficulty, so really nothing that special about that one little section.

 

Come to Mill Valley for breakfast and hike the Dipsea trail out to Stinson Beach!

 

Muir Woods was awesome! We didn’t need a reservation back then, but it was awesome. Very funny story from there, but I wouldn’t tell it here for a thousand Meadcoins. 

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KD in CA Hall of Famer

KD in CA

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1 hour ago, BuffaloBill said:

Sadly true in union ion square area. 

 

 

That at kind of talk is not allowed here...

 

Yup....although far worse right on Market Street than anywhere else in the FiDi/SoMa/Union Square area.  Hit the ferry building market as someone suggested and walk (or cable car) up California to Grace Cathedral, then walk back to Chinatown, through Dragon's Gate to Union Square.

 

And whatever you do, don't find yourself in the Tenderloin.

52 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

Muir Woods was awesome! We didn’t need a reservation back then, but it was awesome. Very funny story from there, but I wouldn’t tell it here for a thousand Meadcoins. 

 

It is cool for sure and sucks they put the stupid system in place, so if there is a reservation to be had on the website he should go for it, but otherwise you can do your own hiking.

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Augie Hall of Famer

Augie

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A few years ago, my wife was offered basically a lateral position in SF. As much as we loved the area, we couldn’t imagine a way they could adjust her compensation to account for the cost of living and taxes. We wouldn’t have done it anyway due to proximity to family (I think), but Atlanta is practically FREE compared to San Francisco. 

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707BillsFan RFA

707BillsFan

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3 hours ago, Chef Jim said:

City View for Dim Sum in the financial district.  If you’re there on a Saturday The Ferry Building for the farmer’s market. If you’re going wine tasting do Sonoma not Napa. If you do Napa stay on the less crowded Silverado Trail.  Iron Horse Vineyards in Sonoma and nearby Boheimian Creamery for artisanal cheese. 

Definitely Iron Horse (Sebastopol), but you need to make reservations before you go,. I'll second Sonoma over Napa. Much nicer, plus we need the business. People think the whole area burned, so not true. I can give you several other wineries, but keep us updated if you plan on leaving The City. Point Reyes is great for nature hikes. So is Mt Tam in Marin. 

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Chef Jim Hall of Famer

Chef Jim

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26 minutes ago, 707BillsFan said:

Definitely Iron Horse (Sebastopol), but you need to make reservations before you go,. I'll second Sonoma over Napa. Much nicer, plus we need the business. People think the whole area burned, so not true. I can give you several other wineries, but keep us updated if you plan on leaving The City. Point Reyes is great for nature hikes. So is Mt Tam in Marin. 

 

Yes thanks for the reservation reminder for IR.  We’ve been members for years and the reservation thing is relatively new.  

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CowgirlsFan All Pro

CowgirlsFan

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How nice!

 

We just got back on August 29th from seeing our Texas Rangers play the San Francisco Giants. It was a bucket list of mine.

 

We rode the Super Shuttle to our hotel The Park Central there on 3rd and Mission. It was the host hotel for the Rangers Destination Package.

 

We attended all three games. We did explore Union Square but NEVER got anything on our shoes.

 

We explored many things around Market St.

 

When baseball was done on Sunday,it was time to be a tourist.  We had booked The Alcatraz Tour with Alcatraz Cruises several months ahead.  We rode the Trolley car down to Pier 33 to board the cruise.  The ride over and back was amazing.  The tour is all self guided but a big FYI it's all uphill to see everything so wear comfortable shoes. Afterwards we walked to Pier 33 to have dinner at Pier Market. I wanted their view of the bay and the food was reasonable in price. We rode the Trolley back to the hotel. On Tuesday,we did a full day on The Hop off Hop on Bus.  It includes many aspects of San Francisco even going over the Golden Gate Bridge including a photo opportunity. It showed us some places in Sausalito and then we went back over the Golden Gate to finish the tour. The driver then took us to Pier 33 again. We road the trolley back to the hotel. Cripple Creek is correct. One runs out of time before you get to see everything. My only regret is not staying longer ?

 

Have a great time. 

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sherpa Veteran

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10 hours ago, Cripple Creek said:

Get chioppino while you're there. You'll thank me later.

 

Cioppino is my favorite.

A Christmas tradition in my house.

 

For the best, without the Fisherman's Wharf touristy stuff, go to Spenger's in Berkely. 

It's right off the Bay Bridge, so very easy to get to. Very good place, a seafood market and old style restaurant, Not stuffy at all.

For city fare, I'd go to Tommaso's on Kearney St, in the North Beach area.

Pizza is great. Very informal and cheap.

Of course now I've given up my two favorite places when I was dating my wife years ago.

We got married on Treasure Island, (a man made island in the middle of the Bay Bridge).

 

 

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Cripple Creek Veteran

Cripple Creek

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42 minutes ago, sherpa said:

 

Cioppino is my favorite.

A Christmas tradition in my house.

 

For the best, without the Fisherman's Wharf touristy stuff, go to Spenger's in Berkely. 

It's right off the Bay Bridge, so very easy to get to. Very good place, a seafood market and old style restaurant, Not stuffy at all.

For city fare, I'd go to Tommaso's on Kearney St, in the North Beach area.

Pizza is great. Very informal and cheap.

Of course now I've given up my two favorite places when I was dating my wife years ago.

We got married on Treasure Island, (a man made island in the middle of the Bay Bridge).

 

 

Thank you for the correct spelling, I'm embarrassed.  

 

TI...good times.

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Wacka All Pro

Wacka

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Remember that no matter how warm it is to have jeans and a sweatshirt for Fisherman's wharf.  It can be close to 100 dwgrees inland, but in the 50s by the bay.  Took my mom to  fisherman's wharf. It was 60 and foggy. Took the cable car over the hill to Chinatown and it was sunny and in the 80s.

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Best Player Available All Pro

Best Player Available

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The  stienhart aquarium-- in GGP outstanding one of the best in the country. A must. 

 

Vesuvio's right hext door to city lights bookstore. You never know who will be sitting there. Funky place thats been there

forever. The beat generations SF hangout back in their heyday. 

 

Tosca's right across the street from,Vesuvios on Columbus.   Doesn't open until 5pm

again lots of crazy people can show up. Met Clint Eastwood in the 90's there for like 5 seconds. 

Awesome irish coffee and hot choclate. worth the price just watching them make it. More of a local hangout.

Which is good. Sit at the bar! 

 

Buena vista near firshermans wharf. Best Irish coffee outside of Dublin.

They claim they invented the Irish Coffee. That I don't know but they are the best period. 

Decent food to. 

 

Thats a good start and a day well spent. 

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JoeF Veteran

JoeF

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My wife is a native.  We visit 2 or 3 times a year.  Our business also has a client based there.  It's my favorite city....like a mini-walkable NYC with the ethnic neighborhoods packed in.

 

Bills Backers bar in SF is the Northstar Cafe (no food) -- but a great crew of folks if you are there for the game. 

1560 Powell St, San Francisco, CA 94133

 

Just around the corner from Northstar is Cafe Trieste -- 601 Vallejo St, San Francisco, CA 94133  Best Latte I have had in a long long time-- with real homemade biscotti

 

We discovered this place about 5 years ago.  Great food.  Its upstairs and hard to find. The Fried Quail is awesome..

960 Grant Ave, San Francisco, CA 94108
 
Last summer we went to City Lights Bookstore (awesome) and then went down the block and had dinner at Caffe' Macaroni --59 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94111-Sat next to and talked with Orlando Cepeda
 
And a trip is not complete without an Irish Coffee at the BV - the Buena Vista Cafe on the edge of Fisherman's Wharf..2765 Hyde St, San Francisco, CA 94109
 
 
 

 

 

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Mark Vader Hall of Famer

Mark Vader

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15 hours ago, Doc said:

I absolutely love, love, LOVE FIsherman's Wharf!

I agree with this. It is a touristy thing to do, but Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39 is a fun place to visit.

 

I know very little about places to dine in San Francisco, but there is Original Joe's. Famous for their Italian food and they also have great steaks. They are expensive though.

 

The Hyatt Regency is neat. It's where they filmed "The Towering Inferno". Sadly they closed the Equinox restaurant atop the hotel. It was a revolving restaurant that gave you a great view of the city by the bay. I'll never know why they closed it.

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