kcapuani

I will be tagging along with my husband when he attends Oracle Open World. We are staying at the Westin St. Francis. Any suggestions on our tentative itinerary would be greatly appreciated, specifically restaurants to eat at with an 11 mo. old. Maybe Q at 225 Clement St or Puccini & Pinetti at 129 Ellis St (found these on citysearch.com)? Otherwise, we will probably end up at the Cheesecake Factory every night!

12/4 -
Arrive Oakland at 5:25pm. Take BART to Powell St. Dinner at hotel.

12/5 -
Rent car. Visit Muir Woods. Lunch at ? Visit Point Reyes and hope hope hope to see whales. Dinner at ?

12/6 -
Shopping in Union Square. Explore Nob Hill.

12/7 -
Ride cable car to Fishermans Wharf. Possibly visit Aquarium.

12/8 -
Visit Golden Gate Park. See Japanese Tea Garden and vintage carousel. Possible tour of Alcatraz.

12/9 -
Rent car. Visit Jelly Belly Factory. Shopping in Napa & Sonoma. Lunch at ? Olive oil tasting at ?

12/10 -
Depart at 6:10am for Buffalo

Thank you!

kcapuani

ttt

dovima

Hello kapuani,
I have a suggestion for your Muir Woods day. There is a B&B called Pelican Inn at Muir Beach, which would be easily accessible before or after your woods excursion. It's a traditional English-style pub atmosphere, cozy with menu items like "ploughman's lunch" (a bread and cheese and relishes plate) or shepherd's pie. It would be really nice on a chilly winter day. If going after visiting Muir Woods, you take a right turn from the car park, head west (towards the ocean) and you come out onto Highway One very close to Muir Beach. Pelican Inn is at the front of the road which leads into Muir Beach.

If that does not work out, then continue on up the road to Stinson Beach. There are several places to eat there, from a sit-down bistro to a hamburger stand. If you want to drive further, the town of Point Reyes Station has several restaurants, an outstanding bakery (the Bovine Bakery) and a market selling many picnic items.

Michael

There is a store called the Olive Press (I think) at the southern entrance of Glen Ellen where you can try out different types of local olive oils.

FainaAgain

12/7 while at the aquarium - there is a short historical movie about SF, I hope it still runs, worth visiting.

12/8 the Arboretum is across from the Japanese garden, depending on the weather may be worth visiting.

kcapuani

Thanks everyone!

dovima - I love the Pelican Inn suggestion - I can't wait to check it out!

SAB

One suggestion: do tour of Alcratraz on the day you go to wharf since the tour boats leave from the wharf.
When you go to GGPark you might also want to visit the restored Conservatory, it's quite lovely--it is in the same general area as the Tea Garden and the Children's Playground ( where the carousel is located.) A decent place to eat lunch near the Park is ParkChow on 9th Ave near the 9th ave entrance to Park.
Except for really high end restaurants like Gary Danko, Fifth Floor, for example, you can take a well behaved child to most any restaurant.

NorCal_Jo

I would not recommend Puccini & Pinetti with all the other great restaurants nearby. Not sure of your budgets or tastes but a few downtown SF restaurants to consider: Lunches - Yank Sing on Market Street for great dim sum; Tommy Toys by TransAmerica building for great upscale Chinese "business man's" lunch for $15 which includes a glass of wine -you can eat dinner here too but it becomes way more $$$. Dinners - I suggest that you look at "opentable.com" for reservations and good descriptions of restaurants - some of the best restaurants in SF are on this website with instant reservation bookings. There are so many restaurants to choose from but a few suggestions on the nice but more casual end might be Maya for upscale Mexican, Kuleto's (vs Puccini)for Italian right by your hotel, E&O Trading for fun asian/tapas; ThirstyBear for casual spanish tapas/beer; MarketBar at the Ferry Building/Embarcadero area; South of Market - LuLu has a child menu. About your itinerary - when touring about SF, a few things I would suggest. The Ferry Building if you go to the Pier 39 area. The Ferry Building is like a big indoor farmer's market but more upscale with wine bars; produce; local bread/cheese shops, gifts, and several restaurants that are good.

NorCal_Jo

Continuation of my previous posting. North Beach is fun as is going through the presidio with great views of the bay and golden gate. John Muir is great. On your 12/9 itin. I assume you are going to see the Jelly Belly factory first and then head to Napa/Sonoma? I think you will be pinched for time. Assuming you pick up the car first thing in the am and no traffic, it will take about an hour to get to the Jelly Belly factory and 1-2 hours there by the time you do the tour and look around. It will probably be noon by the time you are done unless you plan to be there right at 9am for the tour? Then, it will take another hour to get to get into the Napa area for shopping/Olive oil/wine? tasting. There are some "premium" outlet stores on the way to Napa and then some shopping in Napa. Oil tasting possible in Napa/Oakville area. Highly doubtful you will get close to Sonoma. I always like to stop at Oakville grocery and buy sandwiches/cheese for a picnic assuming the weather is good. Otherwise, there are some restaurants along highway 29. You might also take a ferry to Tiberon/Sausalito for fun one day in SF as you might have extra time on 12/6, 7, or 8. I would recommend doing the Alcatraz/ Fisherman's wharf area/Ghiradelli Sq, stuff in one day as I suspect you will have enough of that area within that time frame. It is great to see once but is not the area that SF natives are most proud of as it is over-developed. Chinatown is fun to wander around if you go to North Beach area. You'll be shocked how easily you can walk across the whole downtown area! have fun.

dovima

kcapuani,
The local phone number for the Pelican Inn is 415/383-6000. Be sure to call first to see if they are open for lunch/dinner on your chosen day.