44 quirky hours in San Francisco..(pics)
Discussion
This was probably the 100th time I've been in SF, and its a place that changes very little over long periods. Still, there are always a few things to do after business is completed. Stayed at the St.Francis on Union Sq which is very central and convenient.
Room had a nice view of the Square, with some interesting light changes.
There is something strange at seeing the Christmas ice rink on a warm day under the palm trees on the Square, though:
Went to one of my favourite old spots for lunch, the Tadich Grill. I always expect to see people with trilby hats smoking stogies and reading the racing form here. Decent and reasonably priced seafood- had some nice oysters:
Strolled through a real architectural gem, a perfectly preserved Frank Lloyd Wright gallery from the forties on Maiden Lane
Dinner at a very hot restaurant called Sons & Daughters. This was a place where they grow all their own herbs and vegetables. Interesting, but in the end, a bit monotonous and very expensive
Everyone knows the cable cars of course, but I find it equally interesting that the gathered old streetcars from all over the world and refurbished them, and run them as regular transport in their original livery. Some are from places like Milan and Lisbon and many for other US cities
IMG]http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n29/RMcG/SanFran08/SF09/file-14.jpg[/IMG]
Had lunch next day on Union Street at a place called Cafe des Amis, a superb French Bistro with great West Coast Kumamoto Oysters:
Sitting there watching the traffic it became apparent that the SF favourite cars are all imports..
I counted over 50 Cayennes and Range Rovers in an hour, there were innumerable Mercedes and Minis:
An old Beetle will get you a pass too:
The domestic cars were an odd lot:
There is still a lot of deco and older architecture around Union street, and old signage:
A nice way to get around is in one of the rental three wheelers with a GPS-equipped tour..
In one of SFs seedier areas, opposite City LIghts bookstore and surrounded by strip clubs sits the Beat Museum, which itself look s seedy, but is a well curated history f Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and containd the 1948 Hudaon used in the upcoming film of "on the Road". The director donated it on the condition that it retained the road dirt is had accumulated on its trip across America.
DInner second mnight at Benu, a superb resto with a kitchen at least twice as big as the restaurant:
They are as mad about their dogs as the British....
and, being SFr's still visualizing whirled peas...
A Citroen Van now being used as a streetside barbecue:
Rain continued overnight so took a quick trip on the cable car to get some breakfast on Fisherman's Wharf, predictably empty in the off season:
Dropped by the delightfully Victorian Cable car barn which runs all cables that move the cars:
The default SF taxi now appears to the the Toyota Prius, which I caught out to SFO
Its still a very pleasant place in which to spend a few days....
Room had a nice view of the Square, with some interesting light changes.
There is something strange at seeing the Christmas ice rink on a warm day under the palm trees on the Square, though:
Went to one of my favourite old spots for lunch, the Tadich Grill. I always expect to see people with trilby hats smoking stogies and reading the racing form here. Decent and reasonably priced seafood- had some nice oysters:
Strolled through a real architectural gem, a perfectly preserved Frank Lloyd Wright gallery from the forties on Maiden Lane
Dinner at a very hot restaurant called Sons & Daughters. This was a place where they grow all their own herbs and vegetables. Interesting, but in the end, a bit monotonous and very expensive
Everyone knows the cable cars of course, but I find it equally interesting that the gathered old streetcars from all over the world and refurbished them, and run them as regular transport in their original livery. Some are from places like Milan and Lisbon and many for other US cities
IMG]http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n29/RMcG/SanFran08/SF09/file-14.jpg[/IMG]
Had lunch next day on Union Street at a place called Cafe des Amis, a superb French Bistro with great West Coast Kumamoto Oysters:
Sitting there watching the traffic it became apparent that the SF favourite cars are all imports..
I counted over 50 Cayennes and Range Rovers in an hour, there were innumerable Mercedes and Minis:
An old Beetle will get you a pass too:
The domestic cars were an odd lot:
There is still a lot of deco and older architecture around Union street, and old signage:
A nice way to get around is in one of the rental three wheelers with a GPS-equipped tour..
In one of SFs seedier areas, opposite City LIghts bookstore and surrounded by strip clubs sits the Beat Museum, which itself look s seedy, but is a well curated history f Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and containd the 1948 Hudaon used in the upcoming film of "on the Road". The director donated it on the condition that it retained the road dirt is had accumulated on its trip across America.
DInner second mnight at Benu, a superb resto with a kitchen at least twice as big as the restaurant:
They are as mad about their dogs as the British....
and, being SFr's still visualizing whirled peas...
A Citroen Van now being used as a streetside barbecue:
Rain continued overnight so took a quick trip on the cable car to get some breakfast on Fisherman's Wharf, predictably empty in the off season:
Dropped by the delightfully Victorian Cable car barn which runs all cables that move the cars:
The default SF taxi now appears to the the Toyota Prius, which I caught out to SFO
Its still a very pleasant place in which to spend a few days....
buckline said:
I always make a beeline for Tadich's Grill when I'm in town. The guys behind the counter are always so comically miserable. Huge chunks of sourdough bread along with great value seafood. It's great.
Mina's next door does much better cocktails though!
Will check out Mina's. IF you want a simply amazing ar.try Smuggler's Cove. Seats 39,300 kinds of rum,endless cocktails. Best bar in SF>Mina's next door does much better cocktails though!
RDMcG said:
.try Smuggler's Cove. Seats 39,300 kinds of rum,endless cocktails. Best bar in SF>
39,300? That's a hell of a size'd bar!I had a memorable night (that's a lie; I can't remember a thing about it!) in Jack's Cannery Bar in the Del Monte building. Must have been 50-odd real ales, many from UK, and the barman was totally genned up on all of them. Best juke box I've ever heard anywhere as well.
We went in because we spotted this...
...sat outside. Belonged to the owner.
AdeTuono said:
RDMcG said:
.try Smuggler's Cove. Seats 39,300 kinds of rum,endless cocktails. Best bar in SF>
39,300? That's a hell of a size'd bar!I had a memorable night (that's a lie; I can't remember a thing about it!) in Jack's Cannery Bar in the Del Monte building. Must have been 50-odd real ales, many from UK, and the barman was totally genned up on all of them. Best juke box I've ever heard anywhere as well.
We went in because we spotted this...
...sat outside. Belonged to the owner.
Using a blackberry to post has its challenges
Car looks like a Golden Hawk, the more expensive version. 
Thanks for sharing your photos, certainly brings back some fond memories. I've only been once but it was a great trip and I'd love to go back and visit more of the city without doing all the touristy stuff.
These are just a few of the highlights that come to mind:
- Getting Lombard street to ourselves. Somewhere I have a shot of my brother leading in the Challenger R/T, me and the good lady following in the Corvette and my best mate and his wife following us in their Camaro SS.
- Standing on the roof of our appartment block with neighbours sharing a few bottles of wine whilst watching July 4th fireworks. I think their official line was "Here, you can have some of our wine whilst we celebrate kicking your ass!".
- Deciding it'd be a great idea to hire some bikes and cycle across the Golden Gate bridge. Was going swimmingly & we crossed the bridge and cycled miles downhill until we hit Sol Salitos to be told that the ferry had broken down and that there's a 4 hour wait for the ferry but it's unlikely we'd make it. We called a friend who lives in the Bay Area and came by in his Voyager and collected all 5 bikes and took us back to our appartment. Turned into an awesome night filled with great food and great company.
We also tried a couple of local hang out bars and both the staff & locals were so friendly.
We were only there for 4 days prior to our roadtrip to Vegas but this thread helped a load of great memories coming back. We'll be revisiting at some point in the future.
These are just a few of the highlights that come to mind:
- Getting Lombard street to ourselves. Somewhere I have a shot of my brother leading in the Challenger R/T, me and the good lady following in the Corvette and my best mate and his wife following us in their Camaro SS.
- Standing on the roof of our appartment block with neighbours sharing a few bottles of wine whilst watching July 4th fireworks. I think their official line was "Here, you can have some of our wine whilst we celebrate kicking your ass!".
- Deciding it'd be a great idea to hire some bikes and cycle across the Golden Gate bridge. Was going swimmingly & we crossed the bridge and cycled miles downhill until we hit Sol Salitos to be told that the ferry had broken down and that there's a 4 hour wait for the ferry but it's unlikely we'd make it. We called a friend who lives in the Bay Area and came by in his Voyager and collected all 5 bikes and took us back to our appartment. Turned into an awesome night filled with great food and great company.
We also tried a couple of local hang out bars and both the staff & locals were so friendly.
We were only there for 4 days prior to our roadtrip to Vegas but this thread helped a load of great memories coming back. We'll be revisiting at some point in the future.
Robatr0n said:
Thanks for sharing your photos, certainly brings back some fond memories. I've only been once but it was a great trip and I'd love to go back and visit more of the city without doing all the touristy stuff.
These are just a few of the highlights that come to mind:
- Getting Lombard street to ourselves. Somewhere I have a shot of my brother leading in the Challenger R/T, me and the good lady following in the Corvette and my best mate and his wife following us in their Camaro SS.
- Standing on the roof of our appartment block with neighbours sharing a few bottles of wine whilst watching July 4th fireworks. I think their official line was "Here, you can have some of our wine whilst we celebrate kicking your ass!".
- Deciding it'd be a great idea to hire some bikes and cycle across the Golden Gate bridge. Was going swimmingly & we crossed the bridge and cycled miles downhill until we hit Sol Salitos to be told that the ferry had broken down and that there's a 4 hour wait for the ferry but it's unlikely we'd make it. We called a friend who lives in the Bay Area and came by in his Voyager and collected all 5 bikes and took us back to our appartment. Turned into an awesome night filled with great food and great company.
We also tried a couple of local hang out bars and both the staff & locals were so friendly.
We were only there for 4 days prior to our roadtrip to Vegas but this thread helped a load of great memories coming back. We'll be revisiting at some point in the future.
Sausalito is a pretty touristy but a great Ferry trip, right past Alcatraz from the Ferry Terminal. Still, it has a nice little bar called the No Name there:These are just a few of the highlights that come to mind:
- Getting Lombard street to ourselves. Somewhere I have a shot of my brother leading in the Challenger R/T, me and the good lady following in the Corvette and my best mate and his wife following us in their Camaro SS.
- Standing on the roof of our appartment block with neighbours sharing a few bottles of wine whilst watching July 4th fireworks. I think their official line was "Here, you can have some of our wine whilst we celebrate kicking your ass!".
- Deciding it'd be a great idea to hire some bikes and cycle across the Golden Gate bridge. Was going swimmingly & we crossed the bridge and cycled miles downhill until we hit Sol Salitos to be told that the ferry had broken down and that there's a 4 hour wait for the ferry but it's unlikely we'd make it. We called a friend who lives in the Bay Area and came by in his Voyager and collected all 5 bikes and took us back to our appartment. Turned into an awesome night filled with great food and great company.
We also tried a couple of local hang out bars and both the staff & locals were so friendly.
We were only there for 4 days prior to our roadtrip to Vegas but this thread helped a load of great memories coming back. We'll be revisiting at some point in the future.
..and you can get great oysters in the Hog Island Oyster Co. in the ferry Terminal
Roo said:
Great pictures.
It's amazing how many people I know that have been to SF but have never visited the tram museum/workings.
We spent a good while in there. Fantastic feat of engineering, especially considering how old the works are. It's a miracle it runs as smoothly as it does. We can't even run a comparable bus service over here.It's amazing how many people I know that have been to SF but have never visited the tram museum/workings.
AdeTuono said:
Roo said:
Great pictures.
It's amazing how many people I know that have been to SF but have never visited the tram museum/workings.
We spent a good while in there. Fantastic feat of engineering, especially considering how old the works are. It's a miracle it runs as smoothly as it does. We can't even run a comparable bus service over here.It's amazing how many people I know that have been to SF but have never visited the tram museum/workings.
Great stuff.
We started our honeymoon there and loved every minute of it.
The No Named bar was a good afternoon out, I really want to go back now and do it all again but with more time!
Oh and the cable car museum was interesting and was en route to our hotel on Nob Hill so it was worth the break half way up.
We started our honeymoon there and loved every minute of it.
The No Named bar was a good afternoon out, I really want to go back now and do it all again but with more time!
Oh and the cable car museum was interesting and was en route to our hotel on Nob Hill so it was worth the break half way up.
Turbodiesel1690 said:
Great pics of a great city, just got back from 10 days there. Amazed at the 'artsy fartsiness' of SF compared with the East coast, also never saw so many Priuses or homeless people in my life!
SF has very liberal social services, so there has always been a substantial number of street follks.Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff