Stop-over in San Francisco
Saturday, 02 January 2010San Francisco is the most stereotyped city in America. To figure out how European, gay, left-wing, hi-tech, earthquake-prone, and geologically perverse the city, you’ll have to visit yourself!
Arriving and getting around San Francisco
There are three airports that service the Bay Area: Oakland (OAK), San Jose (SJC), and San Francisco (SFO), and Southwest services all three. SFO is the most convenient to the city – the BART (subway) runs to the airport every 30 minutes and will deliver you in the heart of the city in about 45 minutes. There are busses from OAK to a BART terminal, but it’s on the east side of the bay and will take 1:30 on public transportation. SJC is impossible by public transportation. Driving times for SFO, OAK, and SJC are about 25 minutes, 35 minutes, and 60 minutes respectively, with times potentially doubling during rush hour traffic.
Driving in San Francisco sucks. Parking is impossible to find, and costs and arm and a leg when you do find it. Busses are very convenient, and the city isn’t that bad to walk as long as you know which hilly streets to avoid. There are busses and trollies in San Francisco (MUNI, $2 for a 2 hour transfer anywhere in the city). The BART is best for getting into and out of the city. There are a few stops underneath Mission St. heading north, then under Market St. heading east out of the city to the east bay.
Busses have bicycle racks, which makes bicycling a good way to get around San Francisco. Cycling across the Golden Gate Bridge also isn’t too hard, which can be a fun way to get out of the city.
The city
San Francisco is made up of many small neighborhoods which all have their own unique feel. If you divide San Francisco geographically into three columns (coast – edge of Golden Gate Park – Van Ness St. – bay), then the west-most part of SF is very residential. The center column, especially from Divisadero to Van Ness, is where much of San Francisco’s unique flavor comes from. The eastern block is mostly downtown and post-industrial. You can’t go wrong if you stick to streets around Van Ness and Mission St. Here are a few neighborhoods in San Francisco that are worth checking out.
The Marina
On the northern tip of San Francisco is the Marina. The food is good, the beach is near, and the wine bars are abundant. It’s great for a day when it’s sunny and the breeze isn’t too strong. Chestnut St. runs east-west through the Marina, and it’s where you want to stay if you’re looking to spend money or eat food. It’s got a great old-neighborhood feel, with the butcher and baker on the corner, but conveniently has an Apple Store in the middle of it so that you can check your email on your way to a wine sampling or a movie at a local theatre.
When you’ve had enough commercialism, head north to the beach and walk west towards Chrissy Field. A long walk on the beach can be nice to exercise the legs, or a visit to the Exploratorium to exercise the mind.
For a full day in the Marina, spend your morning having a late breakfast on Chestnut street, then grabbing sandwiches at Blue Barn for a picnic at Ft. Mason (or whatever the name is of the fort that is just below the Golden Gate Bridge). On the walk back, stop by the Yoda fountain on the Lucasarts campus in the Presido, then spend the afternoon at the Exploratorium. Finish with dinner at A16, the best italian in the city, with an awesome wine selection to boot.
Golden Gate Park
Though it’s nowhere near Golden Gate Bridge, the park is equally beautiful, especially on weekends when JFK Dr. is closed to motor vehicles. A bicycle is a great way to get around the park. You’ll want to have a bus help you get there, however.
The de Young art museum gets many good shows throughout the year and is good for spending 90 minutes to 2 hours at. The Academy of Science is a wonderful natural history museum with a living roof and indoor tropical rain forest. It’s easy to spend three hours there, especially on Thursday nights at the beginning of the month when the museum is open late for adults (alcohol is served).
Museums are good indoor activities. Outdoors, the ground between the two museums is nice, as is the neighboring Japanese Tea Garden. For a full day adventure, plan on seeing at least one of the museums, picnicking outside, then going to the Tea Garden for some nature photography. Once done, hop on your bicycle and head west to the northwest corner and check out the Dutch windmill and tulip garden. Finish the day combing the beach. First head south, then back north along the beach. On the north end up the hill are a few seaside restaurants that are good for dining.
The Mission / Castro
The Castro is San Francisco’s gay district. There is a huge gay pride flag in the middle of the neighborhood right next to the Castro theatre. But other than a lot of mens fashion stores, most of the Castro is residential and up on a hill. It’s a good place to walk around, watch the people, and enjoy the vibe. Starting a day here can be nice, as all the walking the rest of the day is downhill!
Walking down from the Castro, Mission Dolores Park has a great view of the city that is far enough removed from downtown to preserve it’s quaint feeling. In the summer there is a soapbox derby that runs down Dolores St. On any sunny day, half of the city will be sunbathing in the park.
As you walk east, the demographic turns from gay to hipster to hispanic to blue collar. Valencia Street has many art galleries that cater to San Francisco’s starving artist population, with some very good art to be found. Two blocks to the east along Mission St. the hispanic community has taken over, which means lots of good food and a very vibrant street culture. As you get to Van Ness St., San Francisco’s industrial past starts to become apparent. Protero Hill can be nice and quaint, but for the most part there isn’t anything of interest east of South Van Ness.
Any day spent walking up and down Valencia and Mission St. always feels fulfilling. Check out the map below for a walking tour suggestion.
Shopping
If you want to shop, there are a few places that are a must. Haight-Ashbury (along Haight St.) is roughly 10 blocks of delicious storefronts with a heavy community influence, sometimes hippie, sometimes, hipster, sometimes hispanic, but always funky and fresh. Start on the western side of Haight St. just after the end of Golden Gate park and walk east. This is upper Haight, which leads into Lower Haight after a brief residential intermission.
Walking east through Haight-Ashbury will lead you to the southern tip of Hayes Valley. Walk north to Hayes St., especially around the center of the neighborhood by Octavia St. This neighborhood is quite tiny, but very good for window shopping as well as snacking.
Finish up your shopping tour by hitting Union Square where all the big name stores and brands are. Just watch out for the mob of people. Taking the bus here is easier than walking, though walking along Market St. can be interesting, as you’ll have to run the gauntlet of porn emporiums and run down buildings before getting to Union Square.
The Water
If you like the water, or being near it, there are a few things that will help you indulge. Alcatraz is a tourist destination, but far from a tourist trap. The Parks Service runs it well and it has an interesting and rich history that is well preserved. You can get to Alcatraz by departing from just east of Pier 39, which is a true tourist trap, but one worth visiting at least once.
If you want to get out of the city, you can rent bicycles around Pier 39 and then head out to the Golden Gate Bridge. Cross the bridge and work your way up the eastern coast to Sausalito, a small town great for docking your yacht at. You can also catch the best fish and chips in the area here. There are ferries that depart on a regular basis that will take you from Sausalito back to around Pier 39.
The Map
Though far from complete, here is a map of the area with different highlights marked to give a sense of the city.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=106261184402795841120.00047c2c579bc9ba86093
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