San Fran and Vegas

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Six String
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Re: San Fran and Vegas

Postby Six String » 06 Nov 2015, 23:05

We like Hotel Del Sol in the Marina/Cow Howllow part of SF Bay Area. For the city, price is reasonable and it is off Lombard by a block which keeps the noise down at night. It's also a living breathing neighborhood so you can get day to day stuff without getting ripped off. Plenty of restaurants and bars to hang out and you're a short cab ride from most of the city, buses galore and plenty of walkable space. Rose Pistola in North Beach is a fab place to eat.

If you are driving pay attention to parking prices. SF Bay Area Hotels usually charge a fortune to park on premises.
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Re: San Fran and Vegas

Postby sloopjohnc » 07 Nov 2015, 15:24

Six String wrote:We like Hotel Del Sol in the Marina/Cow Howllow part of SF Bay Area. For the city, price is reasonable and it is off Lombard by a block which keeps the noise down at night. It's also a living breathing neighborhood so you can get day to day stuff without getting ripped off. Plenty of restaurants and bars to hang out and you're a short cab ride from most of the city, buses galore and plenty of walkable space. Rose Pistola in North Beach is a fab place to eat.

If you are driving pay attention to parking prices. SF Bay Area Hotels usually charge a fortune to park on premises.


That looks nice, Les.

Image

Image

Although I'd be surprised if the pool was used that often.

Note: the bottom pic was taken of the Telegraph's website so it looks like it got written up in the UK.
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Six String
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Re: San Fran and Vegas

Postby Six String » 08 Nov 2015, 22:37

You'd be surprised about the amountof swimming but it's mostly children as they don't care about the temp. I know I've never used the pool. It's an old Howard Johnson I think that got repainted in bright Caribean colors. I like it mainly because it is in neighborhood instead of the theater distric or the inancial district. If you need ordinary stuff it is pretty easy to come by and within a short walk. It's quiet relative to most hotels I've stayed in in SF.
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Re: San Fran and Vegas

Postby sloopjohnc » 09 Nov 2015, 17:37

K wrote:Related to this, I've been enjoying this blog about SF and Dirty Harry.
Example https://dirtyharryonlocation.wordpress. ... do-tunnel/


That's kinda interesting. Obviously, San Francisco has been the locale for lots of movies. One of the biggest goofs that only a native would see is in the Graduate when Ben is seen crossing the Oakland Bay Bridge on his way to Berkeley he is driving on the upper of the two decks of the Bridge which only carries traffic westbound from Oakland to San Francisco and thus would be taking him away from Berkeley.

I'm betting they did this because the lower deck to Berkeley is covered and the upper deck is uncovered.
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Qube
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Re: San Fran and Vegas

Postby Qube » 22 Aug 2016, 14:35

I'm going to San Francisco for a few days at the end of the month. Starting to put an itinerary together, unfortunately all the tours of Alcatraz are already sold out.

Have tickets to see Julia Holter, Swans and Russian Circles. I don't ever know what to do with my evenings other than find shows to go to!

Any particular musts? I'd like to fit in the Muir woods, I won't have a car though but I assume there is some kind of bus/tour I can take .So far I've mostly been thinking about what I want to eat...

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Re: San Fran and Vegas

Postby Minnie the Minx » 22 Aug 2016, 23:29

Qube wrote:I'm going to San Francisco for a few days at the end of the month. Starting to put an itinerary together, unfortunately all the tours of Alcatraz are already sold out.

Have tickets to see Julia Holter, Swans and Russian Circles. I don't ever know what to do with my evenings other than find shows to go to!

Any particular musts? I'd like to fit in the Muir woods, I won't have a car though but I assume there is some kind of bus/tour I can take .So far I've mostly been thinking about what I want to eat...


I haven't forgotten I need to do this!
I've been really busy. I will get to it.
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Qube
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Re: San Fran and Vegas

Postby Qube » 23 Aug 2016, 03:33

No rush :)

On the plus side, I've been checking on the very off chance that an Alcatraz tour ticket pops up and one just did!

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Minnie the Minx
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Re: San Fran and Vegas

Postby Minnie the Minx » 23 Aug 2016, 04:42

Well that's great news because the Alcatraz tour is one of the highlights of the trip - trust me, especially if the weather is great. It's something else.

There are so many people with their own SF that they will want to tell you about, and I defer to sloop about all things foresty and woody, though you really are going to have to have a car to get to most of them.
As you're staying very close by where I recommended, these are a few things that I like to do.

Get the bus to the Golden Gate Bridge, and walk across it. Nothing can prepare you for it. I feel the same love for it I do for some humans. It's fucking incredible. I can't remember the name of the bus, but several go from Lombard to it. Check out the great gift shop for lots of great SF tat.

How you would get there without a car I am not sure, but Sausalito, on the other side of the bridge and in Marin County, is I suppose pretty cutesy and touristy but to sit there in one of the cafes by the sea looking back towards the city without a care in the world is one of life's greatest pleasures. You do get a good sense of how the ridiculously wealthy can live.

Muir Woods is sensational, but I am not sure about how to get there without your own car. The drive there is almost as spectacular as the woods themselves, though if you are a queasy passenger like me, you spend your time with your head down praying for it to end. If you drive, get there really early. Two reasons, one, the car park is not big and once the spaces go, they are gone and you have to park quite a way away. The other reason is that early in the morning when everything is still damp, it's a great start to the day as the birds are all singing and everything is oceany and misty and smells amazing. The gift shop there is genuinely great too.

There are lots of other places north of Muir Woods too (Muir Beach, Stinson Beach) with spectacular views (go and look at my April FB entries) and lovely beaches but again these are dependent on you having a car which i get the feeling you are not crazy about. And I don't blame you.

Of all the things I just mentioned, Golden Gate Bridge is by far the most accessible on public transport and the bus goes from just near you.

Other things near you: Lombard, the crookedest street, which is easily walkable if you enjoy walking from where you are staying and the journey there and back affords you spectacular views from every direction. Like, left, right, up, down, everything is stunning. The sea is about twenty minutes walk from where you are staying too, I like to go to the Coffee Roastery on Chestnut after a morning stroll on the sand looking at the GG bridge. Not because it's anything special, but because I just have happy memories of sitting there over the years trying to log onto BCB before I met Baron and got a magic phone and moved here and all that.

Perry's on Union http://perryssf.com/union-street/ Is an institution and old favourite of mine. Shove your face full of breadsticks and butter at the bar, get a wedge salad and drink a fair amount. Much of Tales of the City was allegedly written as he sat in there watching the world go by.

Last time we were there, we ended up drinking in a bar that was either called The Marina Lounge on Chestnut - run by a lady of about 90 and we got FUCKED UP. It was the sort of bar where you go in and...well, just go in one night. Or day. Or morning, like we did. Good luck. :D

More sightseeing, go to Coit Tower, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coit_Tower just next to Lombard. wonderful old murals downstairs. Go up to the top for a fabulous view of the city.

I can't really advise you on eating anything. I like food but I am not a foodie and I don't have any "favourite places" to go. You'll need someone else's advice for that.
Drinking though...

It would be rude not to go to http://www.vesuvio.com/ and soak up some Kerouac vibes, and go to City Lights bookstore.

Golden Gate Park is glorious. Check out the Japanese Gardens. Lie on the grass and take it all in.

Go down to Haight Ashbury and check out Toranados. There is a sausage shop next door. Many BCBers can testify to this.

I have missed out so much but I will give you my final recommendation as nobody who has gone has been disappointed. Go to the far end of Golden Gate Park, to Sutro Baths, and go to the Cliff House Hotel for cocktails before sunset. Before sunset is important. I won't bore you with details, but it's set at the sea edge and is fucking glorious. If you don't want to eat there, walk down the beach to the Beach Chalet, which is what we do, and get a burger there looking out to sea. You might have to book to get somewhere near the window, but you can see outside from any place. You feel like you are at the ends of the earth looking out to sea. (It's also where Baron asked me to marry him so it's rather special.

And yanno... get a cable car. Go to the Castro and do the Harvey Milk trail. Go to City Hall and walk down the sweeping staircases.

Do not miss the bridge though.
You come at the Queen, you best not miss.

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Flower wrote:I just did a google search.

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Re: San Fran and Vegas

Postby sloopjohnc » 25 Aug 2016, 00:48

Kid P loved the Saloon on Grant St. Said it was the best bar he's ever been to. And that's sayin' something because he's been in a few.

More than a few.

If you can't take the Alcatraz tour, take a ferry to Sausalito for lunch - I think the Sausalito Art &Wine Festival is coming up and they have some great musical acts lined up. Also, I recommend the ferry to Angel Island - there's not much there, but there's great view of city after little hike around the island.

I keep saying this and people don't take me up on it. Don't do Haight Ashbury, but do Berkeley instead. The '60s vibe is still alive and well. It's just a BART (SF subway) ride away.

SF's got a fair amount of museums and I highly recommend the Asian Art Museum. It's very good. On Saturday, there's a cool farmers' market near the Civic Center where they have bands.

Bottom of the Hill near Potrero Hill usually has some good undergound acts there - I saw Quaco's band play there.

Unfortunately, you are just missing the Noise Pop festival.
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Re: San Fran and Vegas

Postby Qube » 25 Aug 2016, 15:33

Thanks for the great advice! I've added a few places to my map :) I was thinking of getting out to Oakland for half a day or so if I can fit it in, haven't figured out if there is a nice mini-itinerary out there yet.

It looks like there is a fairly new walking trail from the bridge to Sausalito (http://www.oursausalito.com/golden-gate ... alito.html), and then I can get the ferry back. I'd think about biking but biking in cities generally terrifies me. I also found a couple of tour buses that take you to Muir Woods for a few hours and take you back, I just have to figure out if they're legit/reliable. I'm fine walking 15-20 miles over the course of a day.

Bar recommendations are always appreciated! I'm not really the kind to spend much time in bars by myself as I generally have a terrible time trying to talk to strangers, but they're my favourite place for a pit stop.

The Sutro baths sound like a great recommendation! I'll definitely be up that way at some point as there is a windmill that end of Golden Gate Park that was used on the album cover for Red House Painters' album Ocean Beach. I have a couple of nerdy musical pilgrimages to make!

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Re: San Fran and Vegas

Postby sloopjohnc » 26 Aug 2016, 16:24

Qube wrote:I'll definitely be up that way at some point as there is a windmill that end of Golden Gate Park that was used on the album cover for Red House Painters' album Ocean Beach. I have a couple of nerdy musical pilgrimages to make!


The windmill is farther up Great Ocean Highway than you think. It' closer to San Francisco Zoo than Sutro Baths. The Geary line bus can take you out to the end of Geary, where the Cliff House is. It's also a great ride to see all the different people living in San Francisco. I recommend it just for the people watching.

Get a clipper card from Walgreen's Drug Store and you can ride the bus system, metro muni rail system, BART and any other Bay Area transit - just tell the person you get the card from that you want all Bay Area transit systems. You can even take Caltrain down the Peninsula on it. I don't know if it works on the ferries, but my guess would be that it would. But check.
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Re: San Fran and Vegas

Postby Qube » 27 Aug 2016, 01:14

Oh I thought it was this one? https://www.google.com/maps/place/Dutch ... 22.5094006

Thanks for the advice on the clipper card, I hadn't really began to figure out the public transport options! Haven't looked at how to get from the airport to my airbnb yet, I guess that's the next stage.

I've gone with this for a trip to Muir woods, they seem a little smaller and better for it (and most the other ones were getting terrible reviews) - https://bestbayareatours.com/tour_muir_ ... salito.php

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Re: San Fran and Vegas

Postby BARON CORNY DOG » 28 Aug 2016, 00:26

Gotta have the Clipper card. Public Transportation is pretty comprehensive, but it can be slow. Though the city is relatively small, don't underestimate how much time it takes to get across town, if you're going across town. Also, obviously, uber is available to get from the airport and to take other trips when it's more convenient and cost effective.
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Re: San Fran and Vegas

Postby Ranking Ted » 06 Sep 2016, 21:25

Some great posts, bringing back fantastic memories of SF - the Golden Gate, Vesuvio, City Lights, Crookedest Street, the hills, the views, the food, the bars, the people. Almost certainly the place I'd pick to go back to if allowed only one choice.

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Re: San Fran and Vegas

Postby Qube » 07 Sep 2016, 21:14

I had a pretty good time, though am thankful to be back on flat land after walking 60 miles over the 5 days I was there! Golden gate bridge, muir woods, the sunset at Ocean beach were all rather lovely.

The burrito at La Taqueria was incredible, if I had to pick a highlight!

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Six String
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Re: San Fran and Vegas

Postby Six String » 10 Sep 2016, 05:15

Coincidently I'm heading up the north coast Sunday or Monday. I'll stop either around Salt Point, a great place for contemplation and meditation or further north to Mendocino. I haven't planned out too much. I need to break the routine.
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Re: San Fran and Vegas

Postby Neil Jung » 19 Nov 2017, 22:43

We are visiting SF at the end of March 18. Can anyone recommend anywhere to stay in SF that’s good but doesn’t break the bank? There are 4 of us plus the car.

Advice gratefully accepted. Thanks.

Our itinerary is currently as below. 
29/03/18-01/04/18 SF
01/04/18-03/04/18 Monterey
03/04/18-04/04/18 SLO
04/04/18-07/04/18 Santa Monica
07/04/18-08/04/18 Anaheim / LA
08/04/17-08/04/18 Sequoia NP
09/04/18-11/04/18 Yosemite NP
11/04/18-12/04/18 Oakland
[indistinct chatter]

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Minnie the Minx
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Re: San Fran and Vegas

Postby Minnie the Minx » 19 Nov 2017, 23:26

Coventry Motor Inn!
You come at the Queen, you best not miss.

Dr Markus wrote:
Someone in your line of work usually as their own man cave aka the shed we're they can potter around fixing stuff or something don't they?


Flower wrote:I just did a google search.

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Neil Jung
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Re: San Fran and Vegas

Postby Neil Jung » 20 Nov 2017, 22:09

Minnie the Minx wrote:Coventry Motor Inn!


Thanks. It gets good reviews. Have you stayed there?
[indistinct chatter]

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Re: San Fran and Vegas

Postby Minnie the Minx » 20 Nov 2017, 22:26

Neil Jung wrote:
Minnie the Minx wrote:Coventry Motor Inn!


Thanks. It gets good reviews. Have you stayed there?


Many many times xx
You come at the Queen, you best not miss.

Dr Markus wrote:
Someone in your line of work usually as their own man cave aka the shed we're they can potter around fixing stuff or something don't they?


Flower wrote:I just did a google search.


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