San Franciscans! Lend Me Your Ears.

[Placebo]

I'm departing tomorrow for a vacation to your lovely city. But I have absolutely no idea what clothes to bring or what I'm going to have to wear while there!

Forecast says 70s. But I hear it gets chilly there as well. Any advice would be appreciated.

Also, any cool places to see that you might not find in a tourist guidebook would be welcome as well. :P

[SeattleGirl]

1. Not a San Franciscan, but I've been there several times around this

time of year. My suggestion is to bring BOTH warm and cool clothing. It can be really warm during the day, but I'll tell you, when the sun goes down, so does the temp!

We ended up wearing shorts and tanks or t's, but bringing sweatshirts with us.

If you are in decent shape, one thing you might want to think about doing is renting bikes at one of the shops near Fisherman's Wharf, and riding over to, and across, the Golden Gate Bridge. Did that my last visit there, and it was an absolute blast! One of the most interesting things about it was that while we were in motion, the only wind we felt was what you would expect while riding a bike. It was only when we stopped periodically that we felt the wind blowing across the bridge. Oh, and one side of the bridge is for bikes, the other for pedestrians. From the San Francisco side, the left side of the bridge is for bikes.

I also enjoyed going to Alcatraz. Been on a day tour and a night tour. Night tour is better, as they open up areas of the prison that are not accessible during the day. You can pick one or two of those areas to tour. We went through the infirmary, and it was really interesting. Some areas have no lights; just the lanterns you carry with you. And you should SEE the x-ray machine!

Have a blast!

[Placebo]

5. Thanks!

Damn SF for having such day & night weather :P

[Bennyboy]

6. For Food reccos

go here http://www.chowhound.com/boards/1

But really if you are going to have one really good meal go to Gary Danko.

And Dim Sum at Yank Sing on Sunday.

[Bennyboy]

2. Some type of fleece garment.....

comes in handy.

Ferry Building. Great farmers market with organic foods, one of the best seafood markets, wine shops, artisan cheese shops and a caviar bar.

Go to the ballpark. Great park even if the Giants suck. Should be easy to get a ticket out front for cheap or free. there is also a great restaurant attached to the park (ACME).

Sammy Woos Washington Street in Chinatown. The funkiest place in C/Town. Not the best food, but the weirdness is worth it.

The Fillmore. If you are a music fan, a must see. the poster photo collection is incredible. Be sure to check out the Willie Nelson art piece to the left of the downstairs bar.

The De Young museum and Golden Gate Park. Both are incredible.

Amoeba records on Haight Street. Best indy record store in the world. magnolia brewing on Haight. great beer. lot so great hippie/head shops on Haight. Lots of wacked out kids too...

Gary Danko. IT! Incredible, if pricey restaurant.

I love Steps of Rome (North Beach) for later evening dining. The world is here, the food is great and the scene is just amazing. Stay away from the Stinking Rose.

The Beat museum in North Beach.

City Lights bookstore in North Beach.

Hanggliders at Fort Funsten. Cool park on the ocean. If you have a car take the hiway from here to Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz, unforgettable drive. Be sure to go to 3 Amigos. Best taqueria in the world. On the right as you are leaving town. Great brewery in HMB.

Rent a bike and ride across the GG bridge. Hike Mt Tam and see the city (great photo opp).

[SeattleGirl]

3. Wooo! You listed a lot of other things I've done in San Francisco

that I thought were great!

It's such a great city!

:hi:

[Placebo]

4. Thanks so much!

The only thing off that list I've heard of is Amoeba. You rock. :)

[Bennyboy]

7. Where are you staying and

do you have a car? How many days? Duration?

[Placebo]

8. Staying with friends in Piedmont...

They have like 3 cars. :)

Will be there for a week.

[Bennyboy]

9. That is the East Bay so Berkely is in the range.....

Chez Pannise. The birth of CA cuisine. Alice waters place. upstairs a little more casual, downstairs up scale.

There is an incredible hat shop on Telegraph, south of the strip by the college. Yes a hat shop. Well worth it.


Take BART into the city, Save huge money on parking, and no traffic hassles. From the Powell street station, there are the cable cars (chinatown,North Beach, Nob hill, Union Square, the Tenderloin, Market street, Financial District are all either right there or a cable car away). There are trolleys running down Market so you can acccess the ballpark,the Embarcadero (ferry bldg, The Warf, Pier 31 etc).

[Placebo]

10. I am definitely heading to that hat shop.

I could use a new hat. Or hats. :)

Thanks so damn much for all your info, you have no idea! You sure know a lot about the area.

[Bennyboy]

11. I am from Sacramento and

we gotta go the city for our fun.....I have been there a thousand times. IF you are into music, Wilco (Friday) adn the Beastie Boys (Sat) are playing at the Greek theater (Berkeley)this weekend. My favorite place to see a concert.

And that hat shop is the shit.

[Placebo]

12. I wanted to fly in early...

to catch the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the Fillmore on Tuesday but no dice. :(

[Bennyboy]

13. Too bad. Not much there

while you are in town. I don't think they let you tour it unless you are at a show...

Some clubs to check out:

The Sweetwater (Mill valley) last week or so of shows befor they close. Legendary club. My friends are playing this weekend I think (Izabella, tell em you know me).

The Independent (Divisadero st)

Boom boom Room (right by the Fillmore)Mostly blues based music, top flight acts.

Slims.

[Gormy Cuss]

18. Adding to your transit hints

www.511.org will help Placebo navigate the BART and MUNI systems.

[FloridaJudy]

21. Omigosh: Sammy Woos!

That brings back memories. Is Eddie the Rude Chinese Waiter still working there? He was an institution: no one could consider themselves a real San Franciscan until he or she had been insulted by Eddie. I often suspected that Eddie was really a franchise - like the Dread Pirate Roberts. The "real" Eddie would periodically retire after choosing a look-alike successor. He certainly never seemed to age.

[BrotherBuzz]

24. Edsel Ford Wong has been dead for years

He wasn't rude to me, but he did sit at my table and sample all the dishes to critique them for me back in the late sixties.

[FloridaJudy]

25. I'm sad to hear that.

I only manage to get back to SF every decade or so, but the last I looked he was still going strong. He wasn't particularly insulting to me, either, but he certainly had strong opinions about what I would and wouldn't like. He never let me order the steamed dumplings, and I was dying to try them.

I guess I could go back and order them now, but it would be a kind of sacrilege.

[Bennyboy]

14. Oh Yeah ,I forgot something!

The summer of Love anny concert on Sept 2nd. Free in GG park. Should be a blast.Lots of the bands that made the first SOL, will be there...

[Oeditpus Rex]

15. Ever hear that Mark Twain line?

"The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco."

It's only a mild exaggeration. I've been to day games at Candlestick Park where a tank top was fine for the first three innings, but by the seventh a jacket wasn't enough. O' course, Candlestick jutted right out into the bay, on Candlestick Point, so it's not really a fair representation of the city proper — but it ain't that far off, either.

There're two places in SF I always want to go: The Castro, which is full of great book stores and really interesting people, and Fort Point, at the Golden Gate Bridge's south approach. Besides just walking around and seeing cool old Army stuff, you can go up on top of the fort, where the big gun turrets were, and stand almost directly under the bridge. It's a truly awesome view, but be careful the wind doesn't knock you down.

The great thing about SF is you could spend six months there and still not do all the cool stuff. There's so much of it.

I wish Playland at the Beach were still there, though. :(

[Shine]

16. One word of advice: LAYERS

trust me. :D

Have fun! C'mon down to Santa Cruz if ya got the time. It's beautiful down here in the Monterey Bay area, too!

:hi:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

17. It's been classic SF weather here...

chilly/moist/windy in the a.m. and late p.m. and very nice in the day. Layers, layers, layers!

Going to work today I had a long sleeved tee with a warm hoodie over it -- I will be ditching the hoodie aroun 11:00a.m., have it back on around 6:00p.m.

Even neighborhoods in the City have different weather -- eastern SF tends to be warmer than western SF. On any given day you can go from sunny Potrero Hill to foggy/cold Sunset in around 15 minutes. :)

I like to take clothing I can wrap wround my waist or wear over my shoulders when it comes time to de-layer -- much easier than carrying a jacket/coat.

If you want a list of some cool offbeat things to do here, lemme know and I'll give you some from a native's perspective. :hi:

[NV Whino]

19. Summer time is fog time in SF

But, Shine is right, the key word is layers. You can be chilly in 60 degree SF and sweating in 92 degree Napa.

[Parche]

20. Dont Forget To Visit...........

USS Pampanito Submarine Tour

:hi:

[FloridaJudy]

22. Visit the Exploratorium if you can.

It's a hands-on science museum housed in an old pseudo-classical temple built almost a century ago for an exposition. It's one of my favorite places to visit whenever I visit family our there. It's well worth a visit, even if you're not a science geek like me.

http://www.exploratorium.edu/

[Taverner]

23. Bring jackets and long pants for the nights

The day might be warm, but it always gets cold at night