This is a tribute to my favorite city! Welles and I traveled to San Francisco in January 2005. I was in town for a conference, and we explored the city when I was not in meetings. See below for the list of things that we did in SF:Great Places to eat
We went to Les Joulins Jazz Bistro for dinner one night—they had a live jazz band that was incredible! Then, we woke up the next morning and went back for breakfast—amazing croissants and coffee!
There are several North Beach Pizza locations—this Pizza was rated on The Travel Channel as one of the best and has been featured on the Food Network.
Sodinis—a must if you like Italian. It is at the corner of Grant and Green Streets in North Beach. It is reasonably priced, and isn’t too hard to get to. Our friends who used to live in SF loved this place, and they insisted that we go…it was so worth it. It is a “hole in the wall”, but they have great food. It was also recommended by several of the locals I met at conferences and training sessions.
We went to Les Joulins Jazz Bistro for dinner one night—they had a live jazz band that was incredible! Then, we woke up the next morning and went back for breakfast—amazing croissants and coffee!
There are several North Beach Pizza locations—this Pizza was rated on The Travel Channel as one of the best and has been featured on the Food Network.
Sodinis—a must if you like Italian. It is at the corner of Grant and Green Streets in North Beach. It is reasonably priced, and isn’t too hard to get to. Our friends who used to live in SF loved this place, and they insisted that we go…it was so worth it. It is a “hole in the wall”, but they have great food. It was also recommended by several of the locals I met at conferences and training sessions.
The Stinking Rose--Welles and I really liked this restaurant. Most everything is made from garlic, but it is very good, and the restaurant has a cool atmosphere. The hummus dip was out of this world! They have several dishes that do not have garlic in them, too. After you visit the Stinking Rose—walk down the street to the City Lights Bookstore.
Hotel
We stayed in the Marriott property b/c that is where my conference was. You might want to see if you can find a place to stay that is close to a cable stop or near Union Square as this is a convenient area to stay. http://www.unionsquareshop.com/
Fun things to do:
You must spend a few hours at Pier 39 in the Fisherman’s Wharf area. Make sure you see the sea lions! They are so fun to watch (and for some reason, they make me miss my dog!?!?)
You can walk from Pier 39 to Ghirardelli Square—fun to see at night. They have a little shop where you can get a fudge brownie Sundae—out of this world! If you want to buy some chocolates—don’t get tempted. They are way overpriced at the stores in Ghirardelli square. There is a World Market in Fisherman’s wharf that will beat their prices by 2/3 on the same product.
There is a kiosk—you can’t miss it at Pier 39 sells tickets to the Blue and Gold Fleet Bay Cruise /Alcatraz tours.
This is also close to where we rented bikes. We rented from Blazing Saddles
Check out the video that shows the bike path from Pier 39 across the Golden Gate and into Sausalito. The video is pretty accurate. MAKE SURE YOU WEAR A HELMET! I made the mistake of saying we didn’t want one, and I wish we had worn them. Not that anything happened, but the 2 mile bike into Sausalito is very steep, and I would have felt more comfortable with a helmet.
If you decide not to rent a bike—make sure you take a ferry to Sausalito. I think it is only between $3 and $5. In Sausalito, you will find cute shops and many art galleries. I checked online, and Raphaella Vaisseau moved her art gallery from Sausalito to Petaluma, CA! You can still view her art online at the Heartful Art Gallery. There is a kiosk—you can’t miss it at Pier 39 sells tickets to the Blue and Gold Fleet Bay Cruise /Alcatraz tours.
This is also close to where we rented bikes. We rented from Blazing Saddles
Check out the video that shows the bike path from Pier 39 across the Golden Gate and into Sausalito. The video is pretty accurate. MAKE SURE YOU WEAR A HELMET! I made the mistake of saying we didn’t want one, and I wish we had worn them. Not that anything happened, but the 2 mile bike into Sausalito is very steep, and I would have felt more comfortable with a helmet.
The Legion of Honor was really cool…it is a museum with all kinds of cool exhibits. It is a little complicated to get to, but you can ride the busses and figure it out. Ask the concierge to help you plan this part if you decide to go.Wine Country We visited Wine Country. 
When we drove, we were with Welles’ friend Amy and her husband, and they knew where to go and how to get there. We went to the following wineries: Coppola (Francis Ford Coppola’s winery—they have a lot of memorabilia from his movies); Grgich Hills and Rutherford Hills. Really, you can’t go wrong with any winery you go to. You will basically pay between $5 and $10, taste 4 different wines, and get a souvenir glass.
Muir Woods We also hiked around in Muir Woods and saw the big sequoia trees---amazing to see! You can do this on your way to Wine Country.
Other tips:
o You will be walking A LOT! Make sure you have comfortable walking shoes.
o Take a jacket, even if it is going to be 70 degrees outside. It gets cold with the breezes from the bay.
When we drove, we were with Welles’ friend Amy and her husband, and they knew where to go and how to get there. We went to the following wineries: Coppola (Francis Ford Coppola’s winery—they have a lot of memorabilia from his movies); Grgich Hills and Rutherford Hills. Really, you can’t go wrong with any winery you go to. You will basically pay between $5 and $10, taste 4 different wines, and get a souvenir glass.Muir Woods We also hiked around in Muir Woods and saw the big sequoia trees---amazing to see! You can do this on your way to Wine Country.
Other tips:
o You will be walking A LOT! Make sure you have comfortable walking shoes.
o Take a jacket, even if it is going to be 70 degrees outside. It gets cold with the breezes from the bay.
Cable Cars/Street Cars
See if you can get a map that you can use to familiarize yourself with the city. If you can get oriented to where things are, you will be so many steps ahead of everyone else.
Check out rates on a pass for all MUNI transportation. This will include busses, streetcars, and cable cars. You will be better off buying the 3 day passport or even the week-long passport to the MUNI than paying for one-way bus/cable car passes ($ for Cable cars has gone up to $5 each way!! OUTRAGEOUS). Make sure you get the passport, because they include fares on the cable cars whereas passes don’t.
You may even decide to get the citypass—check out the tickets it offers to be sure that you will have time to do everything it offers. It may be worth it just for the bay cruise and muni/cable car passports.
See if you can get a map that you can use to familiarize yourself with the city. If you can get oriented to where things are, you will be so many steps ahead of everyone else.
Check out rates on a pass for all MUNI transportation. This will include busses, streetcars, and cable cars. You will be better off buying the 3 day passport or even the week-long passport to the MUNI than paying for one-way bus/cable car passes ($ for Cable cars has gone up to $5 each way!! OUTRAGEOUS). Make sure you get the passport, because they include fares on the cable cars whereas passes don’t.
You may even decide to get the citypass—check out the tickets it offers to be sure that you will have time to do everything it offers. It may be worth it just for the bay cruise and muni/cable car passports.
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