As you guys may know I’m writing about San Francisco, its
restaurants, bars and near places that we as residents can visit. For that
reasons, I would like to ask you guys for more recommendations to expand my
list and have fun checking them out. This also would help me as my final
project for the class.
Anything will help; I’m pretty sure that each of us has
different experiences and know different places. Please feel free to add any
places; it could be a park, mall, restaurant, bar, theaters or any place where
you had fun, you may also want to check other people’s recommendations for your
own purposes.
The idea is to have more places to visit and know better our
city. Hopefully this blog will be helpful for you in the future. Have fun and enjoy..!
And talking about San Francisco and all the fun things to do
and good places to visit, I thought on Downtown San Francisco. Certainty, you
will find many things to do in downtown for more than one day off. First thing
that I can recommend you is to check the different events that Union Square offers
every weekend, for example, art expositions, shows and special events as this
weekend was the SF Chefs 2012 serving food and wine tastings, or if you want something
more relaxing, you can just walk around Union Square and get a table on Emporio
Rulli which is a Deli place right on the corner of Union Square and where you
can take a cup of coffee and a pastry or a lunch and a drink; it’s a perfect
place to enjoy the city, however, it's a little bit costly but food is good. In
addition, you can walk to Powell and Market to watch the performers for some
time. Here is a video if don't know what I'm talking
about.
Also, If you love art
I will recommend you to walk around downtown since It's part of the
gallery district and visit the SFMoma (Museum of Modern Art) on 3rd St. which is $11 for students; you can also visit the Weinstein Gallery on Geary St. and Gallery Paule Anglim also on Geary and Kearny St.
However, if you are more interested on
shopping, you need to go NOW to explore all the retail stores around Union Square
and the Westfield mall on Market St. since they have end of
season sales so you can get lots of good deals.
Please during the day don’t drive, enjoy the benefits of
living in a big city that offers really good public transportation and leave out the
stress of driving on one way streets, hundreds of people walking and the cable
cars running.
Hungry?? Downtown has lots of restaurants and lot of food variety
for everyone, but here are some restaurants that I like if you want to try..
Ryokos. (Japanese)
John’s Grill (Sea food and Steaks)
Colibri (Mexican food)
Ready for the night? Well.. there is also many places to
visit at night so I can’t listall of
them but here are some that I like, and feel free to recommend more. I’m down
to try them!
I’m planning to go to Santa Cruz next weekend and because
I’m writing about fun things to do near San Francisco this summer, I thought
this could be a interesting post for more people.
First of all, here are some reason why is interesting to visit
Santa Cruz. Well.. it has beautiful beaches and its weather in summer is
between 55 and 68 degreesFahrenheit.
Also, Santa Cruz is one of the oldest counties in California; discovered on
1769 by the Spanish Don Gaspar Portola. California became a state in 1849 and is one
year later when Santa Cruz got its title as county.
How to get there? Driving is the easiest, fastest and most
recommendable way. Santa Cruz is only 1 hour and 27 minutes south
from San Francisco; you can take the I-280 S or if you prefer to drive next to
the pacific coast I will recommend you to take the CA 1 S but it will take you
at least 20 minutes longer and is approximately $45 on gas one way. However, if
you don’t have a car you can also take the Caltrain from San Francisco to San
Jose and the 17 bus from San Jose to Santa Cruz, therefore it can take you 3hr
10 min and is $19 for round trip.
The famous thing to do in Santa Cruz is to go to the Beach
Boardwalk which is an amusement park right in front of the amazing beach of
Santa Cruz and a State Historic Landmark. The Beach Boardwalk is very important
in Santa Cruz history because of the Looff Carousel from 1911 and the Giant
Dipper wooden roller coaster from 1924. Here are some pictures for that time
and don’t worry because I’m pretty sure they renovated it already.
This amazing park does not have admission fee but they
charge for rides and attractions so you can buy tickets individually for $3 and
$5 or you can buy seasonal tickets for $67 to have access to all the
attractions and rides and daily tickets for $37.Parking is also available for $12 and the
park is open in summer season from 11am to 11pm. The main attractions in this
park are Mini Golf, Laser Tag, Fright Walk, Vault Lazer Maze, Climb 'N Conquer
and Boardwalk Bowl bowling.
Another amazing thing about this beach is that they offer
free shows, free movies and Friday night concerts. The Emperor’s Imperia Circus
is the main show performing this summer. The shows are scheduled from Monday to
Thursday at 12pm and 3pm and Sundays at 12pm and 6pm.
Hungry? Don’t worry , I also thought on that. There are many
restaurants, snack shops and food carts serving corn dogs made from a secret
family recipe, so they must be good..!. Also, deep fried artichokes, chocolate
covered bacon and deep fried twinkies. However, if you are looking to get a
table to eat there is the Barbary Coast Restaurant, Fisherman’s Galley and Surf
City Grill just to mention some.
And the final and most important thing to enjoy in Santa
Cruz is the sandy beach famous for it surfers, and where if you are lucky; you can
also observe dolphins, sea lions and whales.. Sounds fun to me..!
Here is a video of how awesome is to see the whales in Santa
Cruz coast.
North Beach is another fascinating area that you have to
visit in San Francisco as a tourist or resident, is also known as the little Italy
because the strong influence from Italians in the 1800’s. It’s located between Fisherman’s
Wharf and China Town, starting on Grant Ave., continuing on Columbus Ave, and
finishing in Fisherman’s Wharf. With lot restaurants, shops and bars, North
beach also has interesting places to visit.
Before start planning your day, I will recommend you to take
public transportation to get into this amazing area of San Francisco because
there’s not much street parking over there and parking garages are not as
expensive as in Downtown, you can find parking rates for $3 the hour, but still
sometimes it can be complicated because usually car spaces in garages are crowded.
The most recommendable route to take is the 30 bus that can takes you from China
Town to North Beach, Fisherman’s Wharf and Marina, or you can also play to be a
tourist in your city and take the cable car to get there, which I don’t really
recommend because is $6 one way, so it won’t be the cheapest and fastest way to
get there.
The Coit Tower is really famous in North Beach because it
has an amazing view of San Francisco and great murals but unfortunately it’s not
free, it’s $7.00 per person. I won’t say it’s worth that but I think is a basic
experience from San Francisco and a good place to appreciate the city.
Another thing that you can do in North Beach is visit the
Saints Peter and Paul Church, which is really amazing just be there, just the
sensation that gives you when you walk into the church. It is an elegant church
and has an impressive architecture; I would say that is the perfect church
where most of the Catholics brides want to be married.
If by this time of your day you are tired, you can walk on Washington
Square Park and relax, seat on the grass and observe the local people walking
their dogs or tourists taking pictures.
Now can be time for lunch or dinner, don’t worry, North
Beach has lots of places where to eat. Some good places that I can recommend you
are Trattoria Contadina Restaurant. It has really good food but is not
cheap, the size of the portions are really good and enough for one person; and Calzone which is a good pizza place where you can
have a good lunch or dinner and relax, enjoy drinks and food on outside
tables.
Time for a bar? Well, North Beach has lot of bars to choose
but one that you definitely can't miss is the Columbus Bar, which has cheap
drinks, good music and friendly staff. What else you can ask for? You just need
good friends to have good time with. However, there is also the Gino and Carlo
bar, I haven’t been there but I have really good references about this place,
so I’ll definitely check it out or otherwise, I accept comments if anyone
reading this had been there.
If you are looking for something funnier, there is also the
Cobb’s Comedy Club that offers comedy shows, drinks and food, everything
together. How fun..!
In general I think North beach is a good place to spend your
day after noon; there is nothing really happening in the morning but be prepared
to stay there until late night and enjoy.
Whenever I think about Mission District I think in
happiness, colors, food and party. I love mission district because I think is
the most colorful area in San Francisco with a lot of variety. It is a place
where basically you have a mix of the essential things on San Francisco and it’s
blessed by the best weather in San Francisco because is located right in the
middle and the well-known San Franciscan fog doesn’t come out that often there.
Staring with Dolores Park (recently renovated), restaurants,
bars, and places with a lot of activities (like yoga and guitar and piano
lessons); I think Mission District has everything for anyone. I didn’t know but
a friend told me that Dolores Park was a lake some time ago, but I think right
now is a glorious place to spend a day, relax and get away from the daily
routine. Covered by different layers for gays, families, and hipsters; Dolores park’s
structure has been thought for all type of people. It has playgrounds and barbeques
placesand nice view of the city.I didn’t realize but some
friends also told me that people in Dolores Park has a thought that as the
lower you are in the coolest you are.. drinking, smoking and playing guitar..!
Well.. Dolores Park can be a good place where to start a
day, but Mission St, Valencia St and Guerrero St. are also good areas for bar hopping
and restaurant.On these streets you can
find tacos, Peruvian food, Mexican food, Spanish tapas, Indian, Pakistani, Sushi,
Chinese, or American food, you cana get a nice dinner at Firefly restaurant or really good tacos in Taqueria
los Coyotes, where after 2am can be really crowd.
Some bars ideas?? Double
Dutch is a small bar but really fun dance floor with walls full of stereos, Blondie’s
bar really popular for good pint size drinks and Dr. Teeth with good beer and
outdoor patio.
What you can’t ignore of this area is the diversity of social
classes, having for one side the Latino area and by the other side a rich and
expensive neighborhood full of boutiques, thrift stores and quite coffee shops.
Another really important piece of Mission district is the Mission Dolores that
has also tours into the old mission and is really interesting; I will definitely
recommend all people to check out this part of San Francisco as part of the
local culture.
I have a busy schedule this summer but I still need to
have a life. Comparing with other summers in my life, this is one that I feel
that I’m not having a life, because school and work but I still can say that I
love my life and I love what I do, therefore I’m sure I’m not the only one feeling that way.
So, I start thinking what can I do in a short time to
have a good time? Napa Valley came to my mind..!! living in San Francisco and
haven´t been there.. Am I the only one?
Napa Valley is world famous wine growing county. Do you like
wine? Yes, no. extra information about wine will never hurt anyone.
Napa Valley is just an hour away from San Francisco
driving north, How to get there? I will say that the easiest way is driving..
taking either the freeway 80 East and cross the bay bridge or taking the 101
North and start enjoying your trip crossing the Golden Gate bridge..! Therefore,
it will take 20 to 40 minutes longer taking
the 101 N. Map.
If you don´t want to drive, get stuck in the traffic
and lose time, there is also some same day tours that cost around $100 and $120
that includes transportation from San
Francisco to Napa Valley on shuttle and Bay cruise, picnic lunch and tours in 4
important wineries in Napa. The tour is around 8.5 hours so it can be really recommendable
for one day off from work.
But to plan something longer which I will definitely do
and recommend; you can start booking a room. Napa has more than 50 hotels
including resorts, motels, spas, and bed and breakfast accommodations. Napa
also has parks available for camping and RVs, if you want to add more adventure to your trip.
To find the
best hotels deals you can always go on expedia.com or use booking.com
to hold a room and there is also hoteltonight.com with really good deals. You can
find rooms starting at $89 this summer. I will say that the last website could be
a risky option but I think life suppose to be like that.
Another awesome thing of Napa is that they always have
special events. We just need to set the date and look for the events. Here are
some events for this weekend.
July 20 -- Dance Gala
Performing Arts: Dancers Yan Godovsky, Darya Khokhlova, and Ivan
Alekseevfrom the Bolshoi Ballet, in their first-ever Napa Valley
appearance, join the Russian National Orchestra for a magical evening of
dance. Napa Valley Festival del Sole, Lincoln Theater - 100 California
Dr., Yountville Fee: $45-95 Time: 6:00 p.m.
July 20 -- Rockin Down the Hiway
Live Music: Rock & Roll, Country – in fact, ALL truly American music –
has always had a lot of material concerning the criss-crossing and
traveling around this great nation. The country roads, the highways, the
big rigs, the road trips, hot rods, fast cars -- all have long been the
subjects of songwriters. 530 Main St., Napa Fee: $15 Advance & $20 at the Door. Time: 8pm
July 20 -- Smokin’ Hot Cigar Party
Celebration: Smokin’ Hot Cigar Party at Baker Street Downtown, Fri. July
20, 2012. Featuring New Release - Romeo by Romeo - a fuller bodied cigar,
but not too strong – rated 92 by Cigar Aficionado! Bourbon Tastings with
Michter’s, Four Roses & John B. Stetson Bourbons, Hors d’oeuvres,
prizes, camaderie & more! Free event 6-9:00pm. Fee: Free Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm
July 20 -- Muscat/Moscato Tasting
Wine Tasting: The Muscat grape has taken the wine world by storm the past
two years. Always a fan of the grape, Back Room Wines is pleased to
present six superb examples of the grape. Dry, sweet, semi-sweet,
sparkling, fortified....the grape takes many delicious forms. Come try
them! First & Main Streets, Shop 120, Downtown Napa Fee: $10/Tasting. 10% off
wines poured. Time: 5:00
July 21 – Peju Haute Hoedown Wine, Food: Indulge your senses in a
special selection of large format Peju wines and explore the diverse
barbecue styles of the Carolinas, Texas and California. Then put your
dancing boots to use as you boogie down to live entertainment in our
beautiful H.B. vineyard setting. Peju Province Winery, 8466 St. Helena
Hwy, Rutherford, CA Fee: $65 general/$55 wine club price Time: 6pm-8:30pm
July 21 -- The Pulsators
Live Music: Rooted in the fertile musical soil of the Sonoma County Wine
Country, The Pulsators are a five piece band that plays its own brand of
music. 530 Main St., Napa Fee: $15 Advance & $20 at the Door Time: 8pm
July 21 - 22 -- July Vintage Aircraft Display
Family Friendly: Saturday & Sunday - Vintage and Experimental Aircraft
based at Napa County Airport will be on display. Meet at the front of the
terminal building to be escorted to the display area. Terminal Building
2030 Airport Road, Napa, CA Fee: Free Time: 10:00am- 2:00pm Phone
Number:
July
22 -- Chill'n Sunday
Live Music: Join us for music and great food! Featuring Johnny Smith. 610
First Street, Set 6, Napa Fee: Free Time: 4 p.m.
July 22 -- Richard Glazier @ Napa Valley Opera House
Live Music: Glazier's passion for the rich cultural heritage of early
20th-century America led him to create special programs celebrating the
era---the music, the composers, the performers, old-time Broadway shows
and movie musicals. In these concerts, Glazier plays the piano and weaves
in commentary on the history behind the songs. 1030 Main St., Napa Fee: $20 Time: 4 p.m.
July 22 -- Second Annual Mystery Writers' Panel
Seminar: Four "New York Times" best selling mystery writers -
Robert Dugoni, John Lescroart, Sheldon Siegal & Alan Jacobson - will
take questions from the audience and autograph books for sale on site.
Reception will be at 5pm. Free admission. 6516 Yount Street, Yountville Fee: Free Admission Time: 6:15PM
Too much information? Too
many events? This is a list of just some of them, at least now you know you won´t be
bored! You can also finish your weekend with a balloon trip..! if you have
time and money you won´t regret.. it is usually between $190 and $230.
Do you want to go next
weekend? Here is a link that can be really helpful to plan your next trip to
Napa Valley and have fun..!
Yes, summer is here and whatever ever you are doing, if you
are working or studying or both or none, you are probably thinking that is
summer in California and you want to do something fun for vacations…! Whatever
your interests are cultural activities or more adventure activities San
Francisco is one of those places that has everything.
Whatever you are living in San Francisco or planning to
visit San Francisco I’m pretty sure that you will want to read this blog. We can
start with me. I just have a year and a halfliving in San Francisco, working in a hotel meeting people from
everywhere and giving them recommendations where to go and I still have tons of
places to visit, things to doand
recommendations to follow and to give out.
Why San Francisco?? Well… basically because is where I’m
leaving right now but I will definitely continue writing about more good places
to visit. Ok ok summer in San Francisco but honestly is not that much summer
going on right here, please if you want to meet the real summer in California
wait until mid or ends of august so you can appreciate the awesome weather that
California can offers you.
Besides Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, what else you can
find in this magic city? We can start with the basics of San Francisco; you can
start your checklist in this summer and ask yourself how well you know San
Francisco as a resident or as a tourist.
Does that was too basic for you.. well let’s check if you
have been in the top ten best views in this city
Still too basic for you? Do you want
a short trip? Low budget? then let’s move on the road and find more places
where to go this summer..!
You can also visit Sausalito
(20min driving North from San
Francisco)
Angel Island
(20 min on Ferry)
Muir Woods
(37 min driving North from San Francisco)
Napa Valley
(1 hour driving North from San Francisco)
Yosemite
(3 hours 10
min east from San Francisco)
Lake Tahoe
(3 hours 37min north east from San Francisco)
Santa Rosa
(1 hour 10 min
north from San Francisco)
Santa Cruz
(1 hour and 30 min south from San Francisco)
Monterey
(2 hours
driving South from San Francisco)
So... we still have summer time to plan something let's set the date, time and budget..!
