San Francisco and Beyond
May 9th, 2014, 08:08 PM
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San Francisco and Beyond
Went to San Jose for a family wedding in late April. We spent our first four nights in San Francisco and the last three in San Jose. We are two 40-somethings with an 11-year-old son.
I am an excellent trip planner (although an over-scheduler) but my follow up work could use some improvement. Before I leave for a trip I am resolute about returning home to write a lengthy trip report and put together fabulous photo albums. These things inevitably fall by the wayside as I unpack and then begin researching our next annual family vacation.
So here goes. I'm hoping someone will benefit from my travel details as much as I've benefitted from others' in this forum.
And We're Off!
Well, not exactly. Our initial flight out of Milwaukee was postponed because of weather in Chicago. We sat on the runway for about 90 minutes. As I sat, I called United and asked to be put on another flight out of Chicago to San Francisco as I was sure we were going to miss our connecting flight at ORD. I was told that wasn't possible. We then deplaned and were instructed to go to another gate for information regarding when and if our flight out of Milwaukee was going to leave; only the gate agents had no information. Back we traipsed to our original gate where our pilot informed us we'd been cleared to leave in 25 minutes. We missed our connecting flight in ORD but found space on a later one and meanwhile enjoyed some surprisingly good sushi at the airport. We arrived in SF about midnight (8 hours later than anticipated).
We took the airtrain to Budget car rental where we had a speedy pick up of our reserved car. (I guess there are some advantages to arriving in the middle of the night.)
We drove to the Marina district (thanks for the tip Fodorites), parked the car and checked into the Chelsea Motor Inn. Our room was spacious and clean. The location was ideal and the staff was helpful-- I wouldn't hesitate to stay here again. My only criticism is the very bright fluorescent lighting in the bathroom. The strange green pallor it gave had me convinced I was taking on the city each day looking a bit ill.
First Full Day in San Francisco
Up and out by 7 (o.k. 8) we headed a block down to Mel's Diner for breakfast. We all gave it a thumbs up and my son was particularly fond of the smoothies. Good diner fare.
We then returned to the Chelsea for jackets-we'd been fooled by the sun outside our hotel window-and were about to start exploring on foot, following my carefully researched itinerary (see above). That is until the man behind the front desk called us over. He wanted to tell us about the "real" way to see the city. "Buses can take you to bad neighborhoods, parking is too expensive-take the Hop on-Hop off Bus!!!" Sigh. Husband was sold on it however, so off we went with somewhat glum me in tow.
To be continued.........
I am an excellent trip planner (although an over-scheduler) but my follow up work could use some improvement. Before I leave for a trip I am resolute about returning home to write a lengthy trip report and put together fabulous photo albums. These things inevitably fall by the wayside as I unpack and then begin researching our next annual family vacation.
So here goes. I'm hoping someone will benefit from my travel details as much as I've benefitted from others' in this forum.
And We're Off!
Well, not exactly. Our initial flight out of Milwaukee was postponed because of weather in Chicago. We sat on the runway for about 90 minutes. As I sat, I called United and asked to be put on another flight out of Chicago to San Francisco as I was sure we were going to miss our connecting flight at ORD. I was told that wasn't possible. We then deplaned and were instructed to go to another gate for information regarding when and if our flight out of Milwaukee was going to leave; only the gate agents had no information. Back we traipsed to our original gate where our pilot informed us we'd been cleared to leave in 25 minutes. We missed our connecting flight in ORD but found space on a later one and meanwhile enjoyed some surprisingly good sushi at the airport. We arrived in SF about midnight (8 hours later than anticipated).
We took the airtrain to Budget car rental where we had a speedy pick up of our reserved car. (I guess there are some advantages to arriving in the middle of the night.)
We drove to the Marina district (thanks for the tip Fodorites), parked the car and checked into the Chelsea Motor Inn. Our room was spacious and clean. The location was ideal and the staff was helpful-- I wouldn't hesitate to stay here again. My only criticism is the very bright fluorescent lighting in the bathroom. The strange green pallor it gave had me convinced I was taking on the city each day looking a bit ill.
First Full Day in San Francisco
Up and out by 7 (o.k. 8) we headed a block down to Mel's Diner for breakfast. We all gave it a thumbs up and my son was particularly fond of the smoothies. Good diner fare.
We then returned to the Chelsea for jackets-we'd been fooled by the sun outside our hotel window-and were about to start exploring on foot, following my carefully researched itinerary (see above). That is until the man behind the front desk called us over. He wanted to tell us about the "real" way to see the city. "Buses can take you to bad neighborhoods, parking is too expensive-take the Hop on-Hop off Bus!!!" Sigh. Husband was sold on it however, so off we went with somewhat glum me in tow.
To be continued.........
May 10th, 2014, 04:54 AM
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Forgot to mention that Mel's Diner had a great old jukebox my son and other kids enjoyed looking at.
Back to the Bus. The bus stop for our tour bus was right outside our hotel and ran every 15 minutes. We waited and caught the next red double decker that came by. It had someone chatting about highlights of each neighborhood as we drove through. We got off at the Union Square stop and strolled to Union Square Park. As luck would have it, we were just in time for a live dance performance in celebration of "Bay Area National Dance Week." It was a modern dance piece that I would have been hard pressed to persuade my son to attend back home. The dancers did a wonderful job and it's one of my favorite memories of the trip.
We strolled around the neighborhood a bit, popped in a couple stores then back on the big Bus. This bus had a recorded program (as opposed to the tour guide on the last one) so we put on our earphones and off we went. The bus drove past Chinatown and the Steuart Street area before stopping at Pier 39. We had lunch here-sorry I don't remember restaurant name but I do remember it had a surfing theme. Next stop was Norman's ice cream which was difficult to locate but pleasant to find. Not particularly for the ice cream, although that was good, but for the setting. It's located in a quiet courtyard with lots of seating and is a great place to sit back and enjoy a treat. It happened to be near 90 degrees that day so we really enjoyed the shade there and peace of it all.
Back on the bus on through Golden Gate Park and then across the Golden Gate Bridge. This was probably the highlight of the bus tour because my son really enjoyed seeing the view from the bridge this way and it did provide spectacular vistas. The lowlight of the tour was when a fellow rider spilled her orange soda down my arm and into my lap. Ah well......it was a hot day anyway. Back to our hotel where our son had a bit of homework to do. Husband found some Italian carryout in the neighborhood and we all relaxed the rest of the evening.
Back to the Bus. The bus stop for our tour bus was right outside our hotel and ran every 15 minutes. We waited and caught the next red double decker that came by. It had someone chatting about highlights of each neighborhood as we drove through. We got off at the Union Square stop and strolled to Union Square Park. As luck would have it, we were just in time for a live dance performance in celebration of "Bay Area National Dance Week." It was a modern dance piece that I would have been hard pressed to persuade my son to attend back home. The dancers did a wonderful job and it's one of my favorite memories of the trip.
We strolled around the neighborhood a bit, popped in a couple stores then back on the big Bus. This bus had a recorded program (as opposed to the tour guide on the last one) so we put on our earphones and off we went. The bus drove past Chinatown and the Steuart Street area before stopping at Pier 39. We had lunch here-sorry I don't remember restaurant name but I do remember it had a surfing theme. Next stop was Norman's ice cream which was difficult to locate but pleasant to find. Not particularly for the ice cream, although that was good, but for the setting. It's located in a quiet courtyard with lots of seating and is a great place to sit back and enjoy a treat. It happened to be near 90 degrees that day so we really enjoyed the shade there and peace of it all.
Back on the bus on through Golden Gate Park and then across the Golden Gate Bridge. This was probably the highlight of the bus tour because my son really enjoyed seeing the view from the bridge this way and it did provide spectacular vistas. The lowlight of the tour was when a fellow rider spilled her orange soda down my arm and into my lap. Ah well......it was a hot day anyway. Back to our hotel where our son had a bit of homework to do. Husband found some Italian carryout in the neighborhood and we all relaxed the rest of the evening.
May 17th, 2014, 05:58 AM
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Day 2
Ate at Baywatch, a neighborhood diner with good service.
On the way plane ride to SFO, my son had read about an exhibit at the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park on Carnivorous Plants. We've made a couple of unsuccessful attempts at growing a Venus Fly Trap so thought we'd go take a look. The Conservatory building itself is beautiful and worth a visit even minus the man-eating plants. A kind docent there chatted with us about the exhibit for about 20 minutes and gave us some tips for growing them. The exhibit was well done and had a number of looming, oversized models of the plants that, along with some spooky music, gave the whole thing a "Little Shop of Horrors" feel. Very kid friendly stop and completely worthwhile.
Ate at Baywatch, a neighborhood diner with good service.
On the way plane ride to SFO, my son had read about an exhibit at the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park on Carnivorous Plants. We've made a couple of unsuccessful attempts at growing a Venus Fly Trap so thought we'd go take a look. The Conservatory building itself is beautiful and worth a visit even minus the man-eating plants. A kind docent there chatted with us about the exhibit for about 20 minutes and gave us some tips for growing them. The exhibit was well done and had a number of looming, oversized models of the plants that, along with some spooky music, gave the whole thing a "Little Shop of Horrors" feel. Very kid friendly stop and completely worthwhile.
May 17th, 2014, 06:25 AM
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Our next stop Wednesday was the Musee Mecanique. This place is at Fisherman's Wharf and is a private collection of antique arcade games and musical machines that date back to the turn of the 20th century. Most of them are operational were a kick to play (not to mention cheap; 25 to 50 cents). My favorite was the arm wrestling man machine-no one we saw could beat it. It was remarkable to me how simple yet utterly entertaining these machines could be. My son's favorite was a baseball game where he scored a number of home runs. We left with great big smiles on our faces.
We returned to our hotel, changed and headed off for dinner and a magic show that evening. The show is called the Marrakech Magic Show and it really delivered. No high-tech- illusion entertainment here. It's just classic tricks done extremely well. It's intimate and there's some audience participation. Great stop for any magic fans. I should add that before the show there are middle-eastern appetizers (I believe the building the magic show is in also houses a middle-eastern restaurant) and they were delicious.
We returned to our hotel, changed and headed off for dinner and a magic show that evening. The show is called the Marrakech Magic Show and it really delivered. No high-tech- illusion entertainment here. It's just classic tricks done extremely well. It's intimate and there's some audience participation. Great stop for any magic fans. I should add that before the show there are middle-eastern appetizers (I believe the building the magic show is in also houses a middle-eastern restaurant) and they were delicious.
May 17th, 2014, 06:41 AM
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Last post was dated Wednesday when it should have been Thursday. Sorry about that--I was wondering how we packed so much in!
Friday
Our last day in SF and we did some classic SF experiences. After breakfast we walked to the Cable Car Museum. Favorite kid experience: ringing the bell. Favorite parent experience: watching how the whole operation worked. The museum is actually in the cable car powerhouse and overlooks the huge engines and winding wheels that pull the cables. Downstairs is a viewing area of the large sheaves and cable line entering the building through the channel under the street.
We then hopped a cable car (son rode a la "Rice a Roni" commercial while mom nervously supervised). So great!! Watching the brakeman in action was entertaining as well.
Next, we grabbed a cab to Chinatown. We had a mediocre dining experience there but lots of fun walking around. We bought some never-seen-before (by us anyway) produce and walked and snacked. Great weather and perfect for strolling.
Friday
Our last day in SF and we did some classic SF experiences. After breakfast we walked to the Cable Car Museum. Favorite kid experience: ringing the bell. Favorite parent experience: watching how the whole operation worked. The museum is actually in the cable car powerhouse and overlooks the huge engines and winding wheels that pull the cables. Downstairs is a viewing area of the large sheaves and cable line entering the building through the channel under the street.
We then hopped a cable car (son rode a la "Rice a Roni" commercial while mom nervously supervised). So great!! Watching the brakeman in action was entertaining as well.
Next, we grabbed a cab to Chinatown. We had a mediocre dining experience there but lots of fun walking around. We bought some never-seen-before (by us anyway) produce and walked and snacked. Great weather and perfect for strolling.
May 17th, 2014, 06:59 AM
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Saturday
All good things must come to an end and it was time to leave San Francisco and head to the San Jose area. The family wedding we were there to attend was held outside and was lovely. Spent the night at the Hayes Mansion and did a little swimming in the pool. The mansion is a historic landmark and we took a self-guided tour that provided lots of information on the family that built it (they actually haled from my home state of WI).
Sunday
Spent day with extended family (lots to say about this but not here). Drove back to San Francisco where we stopped at Land's End and had lunch at the Cliff House. The views from the most western area of the city provided wonderful last memories of the trip. Spent final night in Hyatt near airport and we were off again for home the next morning.
All good things must come to an end and it was time to leave San Francisco and head to the San Jose area. The family wedding we were there to attend was held outside and was lovely. Spent the night at the Hayes Mansion and did a little swimming in the pool. The mansion is a historic landmark and we took a self-guided tour that provided lots of information on the family that built it (they actually haled from my home state of WI).
Sunday
Spent day with extended family (lots to say about this but not here). Drove back to San Francisco where we stopped at Land's End and had lunch at the Cliff House. The views from the most western area of the city provided wonderful last memories of the trip. Spent final night in Hyatt near airport and we were off again for home the next morning.
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