Travel

- April 9, 2008

If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to wear flowers in your hair

I’m taking my first-ever trip to California Thursday. I’m going to San Francisco, a city I’ve dreamed of visiting since I was a teenager.Specifically, my goal in high school was to move to San Francisco, become a reporter for the National Enquirer, covering celebrity gossip. If you don’t believe me, here’s an excerpt from an essay I had to write in 1997 for English class (yes, I’m a pack rat and keep pretty much everything, especially when it comes to my writings).

Oh, the fun in being young and naive. I was absolutely obsessed with Scott McKenzie’s song “San Francisco” throughout much of high school.Anyway, this trip is a spur-of-the-moment vacation for me. I checked out some guidebooks from the library to help me find some cool places.

So far my list includes all the staple tourist spots: Chinatown, the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf, Lombard Street and the Haight. Beyond that, I’m completely open to ideas.

So if my blog posts and tweets this week focus on San Francisco instead of life in the Triangle, now you’ll know why.

Meanwhile, I’m open for suggestions of places I should visit. Particularly restaurant and bar suggestions (just remember I’m traveling on a budget). So suggest away.

  1. 20 Responses to “If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to wear flowers in your hair”

  2. I thought of that same song last year (and played it a lot) when I visited San Fransisco. It’s a lovely place. Enjoy.

    By Pat Thornton on Apr 9, 2008

  3. North Beach is hands down the best area to hang out in SF.

    By Leo on Apr 9, 2008

  4. I thought on Saturday we could have lunch at this terrific Italian place in North Beach, E Tutto Qua, then head over to City Lights bookstore. There is lots of North Beach I still haven’t explored, so we can look around together. Then we’ll have to have at least one drink at the legendary Vesuvio. Sound good?

    By brittney on Apr 9, 2008

  5. Tiburon is just a ferry ride away from SF and it’s a beautiful view of the city! There are several yummy restaurants there including 3 Degrees at the Tiburon Lodge (but it can be pricey)

    Kara’s Cupcakes in Ghirardelli Square is amazing!

    By Andrea on Apr 9, 2008

  6. Sounds like my kind of afternoon. Can’t wait!

    By Ginny on Apr 9, 2008

  7. Anyone who knows me knows I’m a sucker for an amazing cupcake! I’ll have to check it out for sure. Thanks for the suggestion.

    By Ginny on Apr 9, 2008

  8. So you’ve gone on and on about how amazing SF is and then all you have to suggest is a generic check out North Beach. I expected more from you :o)

    By Ginny on Apr 9, 2008

  9. I’ll let you do the exploring. I don’t have to say much.

    SF is awesome. I’m going back in June. Let us all know how your trip went.

    By Leo on Apr 9, 2008

  10. Yikes, you’re young! :-)
    I don’t know how long you’ll be in in SFO, but the pseudo-most-important thing I’d recommend is to make sure you visit stuff in addition to the (great) city center. Two of the above tips do this nicely:

    1. Tiburon ferry: If you have time, take at least one or two legs of the Tiburon-Sausalito-SFO ferry. I don’t recall what kind of transport options can get you across the Golden Gate Bridge, but you might combine them all for a nice little tour. If you have time for a hike on this segment, you could try the Tennessee Valley trail outside Sausalito:

    http://archerpelican.typepad.com/tap/2007/11/tennessee-beach.html

    2. Haight. To me, the greatest thing about San Francisco is not the big stuff downtown, but the many walkable and neighborly-scaled neighborhoods all over the city. When you leave (or go to) the Haight, bounce yourself a couple of blocks south for at least part of the trip, into the Cole Valley neighborhood. I don’t love it any more or less than many of the other neighborhoods I like, but since you’re right next to it, it’ll be easy to visit. See here for a guide to Cole Valley and other neighborhoods like the Mission or Noe Valley:

    http://www.sfgate.com/traveler/guide/sf/neighborhoods/colevalley.shtml

    By Phil on Apr 9, 2008

  11. You also have to shop on Union Street, have your brunch on Chesnut and walk bare foot on Crissy field beach watching the Golden Gate.
    I was like you before moving here and this daily routine makes me happy.
    Stop by and say hi when you ll be here:-)

    By nousha on Apr 9, 2008

  12. Thanks for the cool suggestions, Phil. I’m definitely big on walking around a city’s random neighborhoods, so I’ll make an effort to bounce over to Cole Valley. The links help too.

    By Ginny on Apr 9, 2008

  13. I will definitely make an effort to pop in and say hello.

    By Ginny on Apr 9, 2008

  14. Haven’t been in a few years, but my two favorite places from my last couple trips:

    Piperade: Basque

    The Slanted Door: ~Vietnamese

    Of course, there are only a few thousand other good places to eat. :)

    By Joe on Apr 9, 2008

  15. Go get some chocalte at Ghiradelli’s and bike ride over the Golden Gate…have fun. Went there and Napa Valley on my honeymoon and we definately left our heart there.

    By mbalbo on Apr 9, 2008

  16. But as Joe says, only a “few” :-)

    By Phil on Apr 9, 2008

  17. You probably won’t be there long enough, and it looks like you’ve got plenty to do in SF and nearby…but if you’ve got time, Stanford in Palo Alto is beautiful and about 40 minutes away, and if you head down in that direction, there are some neat towns like Mountain View. And there’s some great scenery to the West..the Santa Cruz Mountains? But I was in the area for work in San Jose, so that stuff was more convenient and San Fran wasn’t. Have a great trip!

    By Toastie on Apr 9, 2008

  18. second the mention of City Lights and Vesuvio. Have a martini there. Kerouac did. apparently the alley has been somewhat upgraded since the last time i was there.

    The Plough and the Stars on Clement St. is a great place for a Guinness, too. Actually, all of Clement St. is a great place to hang out and eat and drink.

    Fulton runs along the north side of the park. 2400 fulton used to be the Jefferson Airplane house. (It’s got the big columns) Mrs. D used to live in a 3rd floor walkup about 4 doors up the hill. I spent a great summer there too many years ago.

    The Camera Obscura on Point Lobos is one of my favorite places in the whole world. At one point there was talk of creating a holographic representation of the Sutro Baths, which used to be along the cliff next to the ocean there, but i don’t know if that project ever got off the ground.

    Depending on how much time you have, either yosemite or Mendocino are doable as overnights (or long day trips if you don’t mid leaving at 6 am and returning at midnight). Sonoma Valley beats Napa Valley for wine tasting.

    Have fun.

    By barry on Apr 11, 2008

  19. Ugh, I’d recommend avoiding North Beach on the weekends. I guess it was cool 20-60 years ago but aside from the ’so and so ate here’ or ’so and so drink there’ things it really isn’t cool (other than hiking to the top of Telegraph). Mission, Haight, Nob Hill, Pac Heights are places I recommend my visiting out of towners to hit up. Poke around Chinatown for an hour or two but don’t eat there. Gwai lo can’t handle the food.

    By diqster on Apr 11, 2008

  20. I can’t believe you happened to still have this writing from back then…as you would say I truly value that:). I had no idea you wrote this blog before I sent you that video the other day. Hope it was a blast!

    By Nique on Apr 13, 2008

  21. You are definitely a pack rat. It seems you had a great time…

    By ttodd on Apr 17, 2008

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