Trip Report - San Francisco advise for 1st timers like us!!
Jun 13th, 2015, 09:33 AM
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Trip Report - San Francisco advise for 1st timers like us!!
My husband and I just returned from our first time visit to San Francisco. I had researched for months on Fodor's so I thought I would share some insight to some of the questions I had before our trip.
We were there from May 30 - June 5, 2015. That was a great week for us to go! I had checked on the events calendar for the city of San Francisco (recommendation from Fodorites) to try to avoid as much as possible the busy convention season. The rates were very reasonable during our stay and the weather was great. We live in Mississippi and it was already getting hot here, so my husband was very skeptical when I warned him to pack a jacket! He was glad he listened to me!!
We arrived at SFO about 8:30 pm on Saturday, May 30, 2015. One of my questions I researched was which mode of transportation I wanted to use to get to my hotel. We stayed on Columbus Ave in North Beach. BART was inconvenient for our location. It was going to be late in the evening when we arrived, so I knew we wouldn't want a airport shuttle. Taxi was pretty expensive.
PICK UP FROM AIRPORT Solution: I read a post on Fodor's about WINGZ. It was perfect! We highly recommend it. You schedule your ride ahead of time (very easy to do). They give you the cost of the ride based on # of people, location and luggage. You know how much the ride will cost before you book it. You get an email confirmation with the name of the driver, picture of driver and picture of vehicle. That way you know who to look for when you are standing at the airport! The ride is charged to your credit card once the trip is complete so you never have to exchange money with the driver. Our ride was $35 from SFO to hotel in North Beach. We tipped $10. Carlos was our driver picking us up from airport. Very nice. He gave us tips about our trip. We talked the whole way there! I scheduled our ride from hotel to airport 3 days before we were ready to leave. Our driver on that trip was Yusuf. $35 for ride and $10 tip. Super nice man. Both drivers were at pick up early waiting on us. Very courteous and safe drivers. They both were in communication with us day of pick up by text message so they would know exactly where to meet us. Very efficient!!
Next up: Which hotel did we pick out of the thousands to choose from?!!??!!
We were there from May 30 - June 5, 2015. That was a great week for us to go! I had checked on the events calendar for the city of San Francisco (recommendation from Fodorites) to try to avoid as much as possible the busy convention season. The rates were very reasonable during our stay and the weather was great. We live in Mississippi and it was already getting hot here, so my husband was very skeptical when I warned him to pack a jacket! He was glad he listened to me!!
We arrived at SFO about 8:30 pm on Saturday, May 30, 2015. One of my questions I researched was which mode of transportation I wanted to use to get to my hotel. We stayed on Columbus Ave in North Beach. BART was inconvenient for our location. It was going to be late in the evening when we arrived, so I knew we wouldn't want a airport shuttle. Taxi was pretty expensive.
PICK UP FROM AIRPORT Solution: I read a post on Fodor's about WINGZ. It was perfect! We highly recommend it. You schedule your ride ahead of time (very easy to do). They give you the cost of the ride based on # of people, location and luggage. You know how much the ride will cost before you book it. You get an email confirmation with the name of the driver, picture of driver and picture of vehicle. That way you know who to look for when you are standing at the airport! The ride is charged to your credit card once the trip is complete so you never have to exchange money with the driver. Our ride was $35 from SFO to hotel in North Beach. We tipped $10. Carlos was our driver picking us up from airport. Very nice. He gave us tips about our trip. We talked the whole way there! I scheduled our ride from hotel to airport 3 days before we were ready to leave. Our driver on that trip was Yusuf. $35 for ride and $10 tip. Super nice man. Both drivers were at pick up early waiting on us. Very courteous and safe drivers. They both were in communication with us day of pick up by text message so they would know exactly where to meet us. Very efficient!!
Next up: Which hotel did we pick out of the thousands to choose from?!!??!!
Jun 13th, 2015, 12:28 PM
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Always nice to hear about another solution from the airport into town and taxis in general. I'm an uber gal for most of my life needs, but always good to keep them on their toes!
Looking forward to the rest of your report!
Looking forward to the rest of your report!
Jun 13th, 2015, 02:30 PM
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Bostonblondie, I did check on Uber also. I believe Wingz only does airport shuttles. It was a few months ago, so I may be mistaken, but I think Wingz was a little cheaper. Our first driver told us he also drives for Uber and a couple other companies!
Jun 13th, 2015, 03:01 PM
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HOTEL: After MUCH research, we decided to stay at Columbus Motor Inn on Columbus Avenue. It is in a great location. It was highly recommended online and had great reviews. It was within easy walking distance to North Beach, Chinatown and Fisherman's Wharf. There was a bus stop literally out the front door of the hotel. One street over is the Mason-Powell cable car route. Many choices for food within a 2-10 minute walk depending on what you want.
A king bed room for our stay was $128 Sun-Thu and $158 Sat. We had room 309 which is on the 3rd floor. There are only 3 floors. I read reviews to ask for a quiet room in the back of hotel due to traffic noise on Columbus. I also asked for a room away from elevator and ice machine. We slept great every night, and I am a very light sleeper.
The bed was quite comfortable. The room (and especially bathroom) was VERY clean. The hotel and furnishings are outdated, which is why the price is so reasonable. The lobby is very small and there are no amenities, other than free parking which is rare in San Francisco. It is an older hotel, but the staff were wonderful. The cleaning lady, Perla, told us she had worked for the family who owns the hotel for 30+ years. That speaks volumes of the owners to me! We would definitely stay at this hotel again.
We checked in to the hotel about 9:30pm. We were starving!! You know airlines don't feed you anymore!! I knew our first stop would be In N Out Burgers. I had heard about them but had never eaten there before. Thank goodness for us, In N Out was only a 10 minute walk from our hotel and open late. We got there at 10:00pm and the place was packed. It was a Saturday night. We inhaled the burger and fries! Delicious! We couldn't believe how cheap they were. We both ate for less than $10.
We walked back to the hotel and unpacked. Time for bed. We were so tired because our bodies were still on central time which is a 2 hour difference. It took us a couple of days to adjust to the time!
Tomorrow - tickets for Alcatraz!
Gina
A king bed room for our stay was $128 Sun-Thu and $158 Sat. We had room 309 which is on the 3rd floor. There are only 3 floors. I read reviews to ask for a quiet room in the back of hotel due to traffic noise on Columbus. I also asked for a room away from elevator and ice machine. We slept great every night, and I am a very light sleeper.
The bed was quite comfortable. The room (and especially bathroom) was VERY clean. The hotel and furnishings are outdated, which is why the price is so reasonable. The lobby is very small and there are no amenities, other than free parking which is rare in San Francisco. It is an older hotel, but the staff were wonderful. The cleaning lady, Perla, told us she had worked for the family who owns the hotel for 30+ years. That speaks volumes of the owners to me! We would definitely stay at this hotel again.
We checked in to the hotel about 9:30pm. We were starving!! You know airlines don't feed you anymore!! I knew our first stop would be In N Out Burgers. I had heard about them but had never eaten there before. Thank goodness for us, In N Out was only a 10 minute walk from our hotel and open late. We got there at 10:00pm and the place was packed. It was a Saturday night. We inhaled the burger and fries! Delicious! We couldn't believe how cheap they were. We both ate for less than $10.
We walked back to the hotel and unpacked. Time for bed. We were so tired because our bodies were still on central time which is a 2 hour difference. It took us a couple of days to adjust to the time!
Tomorrow - tickets for Alcatraz!
Gina
Jun 14th, 2015, 03:47 AM
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Gina,
Thank you so much for posting this -- I am heading for SF for first time at end of June so especially following you. And since highs here are consistently in 90s with lows of 70, it is hard for me to think about packing jacket and warm clothes, too!
Thank you so much for posting this -- I am heading for SF for first time at end of June so especially following you. And since highs here are consistently in 90s with lows of 70, it is hard for me to think about packing jacket and warm clothes, too!
Jun 14th, 2015, 02:11 PM
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CLBtravel,
I agree about the weather, but definitely take a jacket!! I had several specific questions before our trip, and I did a lot of reading on websites. I also posted several questions that fodorites helped me on. I've never posted a trip report, but they have been so helpful to me in my planning that I wanted to return the favor. Hope it helps!
Bostonblondie,
Thank you! Stay tuned...
Gina
I agree about the weather, but definitely take a jacket!! I had several specific questions before our trip, and I did a lot of reading on websites. I also posted several questions that fodorites helped me on. I've never posted a trip report, but they have been so helpful to me in my planning that I wanted to return the favor. Hope it helps!
Bostonblondie,
Thank you! Stay tuned...
Gina
Jun 14th, 2015, 03:37 PM
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DAY 2:
As you will probably pick up on from reading my post, I am a firm believer in planning way ahead. In fact, for me, researching and planning a trip is a big part of the experience.
We started our day about 9:00 am. I had a general idea for our schedule for the week, but tried to leave a lot of room for being spontaneous. I have been an overplanner in the past, and I can wear my husband out with too rigid of a schedule. So I am trying to be better about that!
This is actually our first full day in San Francisco, since we arrived late the night before. I purchased our Alcatraz tickets for our first day. I bought the tickets online on the official Alcatraz website on the first day they were available to purchase. You can order the tickets 3 months in advance, so I had set a reminder in my phone when I could buy them.
I had read several reviews and opinions about which Alcatraz tour to do: day or night. My husband and I both agreed we wanted to do the night tour. Mainly because it was less people at night and you have access to parts of the prison that are not on the day tour. I also thought after a long day of touring, we would see Alcatraz, eat, and then head back to the hotel for the night.
MUNI PASS: We bought a muni pass for the 2 of us at the Walgreens that was two blocks from our hotel (which was our go-to store for everything we needed). We really only needed a pass for 4 days, but you only have the option of a 3-day or 7-day pass. We bought the 7 day pass and left it with our hotel clerk when we checked out to pass on to someone else (it had 2 days left on it). The days run consecutively, so the 3 day pass would not have been long enough. In hindsight, we would have come out cheaper to just pay for each ride instead of buying a pass. We ended up walking a lot more than I thought we would. I like to get a feel for the neighborhoods, and it's hard to do that on a bus. It was, however, very convenient to just show the pass when we boarded and not have to worry about having money each time.
We started our day with a visit to the Coit Tower. We decided to walk since we could see it from our hotel. It didn't look that far. Have you ever heard the saying, "Looks can be deceiving??" Keep in mind, the Coit Tower is on a hill. I knew that. I just didn't realize how steep that hill really was! We have flat land in Mississippi. We are in pretty good shape. I'm 49 and my husband is 52. It was a workout for the both of us! The walk was a great photo op of looking down at the steepness of the streets. That amazed us! We amaze easily!! After paying an entrance fee, we made it to the top of the tower and it was absolutely worth it! Beautiful 360 degree views of the city and the bay. We took several pictures and took in the great views and then quickly decided to take the bus back down!
We got off at Washington Square in North Beach. No agenda. Just walking and people watching. It was a Sunday so the park was full of people and their dogs. My husband loves animals so he loved watching the dogs run and play. We ate at La Boulange. We split a sandwich and got some croissants for breakfast the next morning. The sandwich was very good and the people were very nice.
Since we were in "Little Italy", gelato was definitely on our list. We went to Italy six years ago and developed an immediate love for gelato! I wish I could remember the name of the little place we went. They only sold gelato and it was a tiny little business. They were decently priced compared to some other places. After sampling a few flavors, we got our cups and satisfied our craving. I spotted Tony's Napoletana Pizza place, but was too full for pizza then. I did return twice for a slice of pizza at the Slice House next door to it before the week was over!
We walked and just wandered around taking in the sights. Met and talked with a few locals who were walking their dogs. We made our way by accident to the Mason/Powell cable car turnaround. Perfect time to ride a cable car for the first time in our lives since it was empty with no lines!!! We rode to the end of the line, which was near Union Square. Perfect coincidence for me! I had wanted to go to Uniqlo to buy a new jacket before we went to Alcatraz and it was right there!! I took that as a definite sign. New jackets for me and hubby!
The line on the cable car to return to Fisherman's Wharf was a 2 hour wait! Needless to say, we rode the bus. I hadn't figured out the bus schedule by this point, but the bus drivers are SO helpful about telling you which number bus to get on for your destination. We went back to our hotel to freshen up before heading to Pier 33 for Alcatraz tour.
I bought tickets for the first night tour which was 5:55pm. It cost $37 per person. I had printed our boarding passes at home. Be sure to bring photo ID. We arrived at the pier early and waited our turn. Before we boarded the ferry, I was surprised at the number of people on this tour. With a crowd this size, I would hate to see what the day tours look like!
I didn't know all of the history of Alcatraz before the tour. It was very interesting. They do a great job. There is a good bit of walking and some steep walks up to the prison. We had a tour guide from the time we got off of the ferry until we were inside the prison, then we were on our own. You have headsets for the inside tour and can go at your own pace. You can take all of the pictures you want. We had about an hour after the tour to explore on our own before the next ferry departed. It was plenty of time to walk the entire island and take great pictures of the city from a distance at dusk.
When we headed back to the pier, we sat inside the ferry because it was very cold by this time. We arrived and walked back to our hotel, which was about a 15-20 minute walk. We stopped by a local supermarket and picked up some food to take back to the room to eat. It's been a long day and our feet were hurting. Always wear comfortable shoes! We did, but we walked a lot!!
Tomorrow is our tour with Dylan's Tours. One of the best parts of our trip! Stay tuned...
Gina
As you will probably pick up on from reading my post, I am a firm believer in planning way ahead. In fact, for me, researching and planning a trip is a big part of the experience.
We started our day about 9:00 am. I had a general idea for our schedule for the week, but tried to leave a lot of room for being spontaneous. I have been an overplanner in the past, and I can wear my husband out with too rigid of a schedule. So I am trying to be better about that!
This is actually our first full day in San Francisco, since we arrived late the night before. I purchased our Alcatraz tickets for our first day. I bought the tickets online on the official Alcatraz website on the first day they were available to purchase. You can order the tickets 3 months in advance, so I had set a reminder in my phone when I could buy them.
I had read several reviews and opinions about which Alcatraz tour to do: day or night. My husband and I both agreed we wanted to do the night tour. Mainly because it was less people at night and you have access to parts of the prison that are not on the day tour. I also thought after a long day of touring, we would see Alcatraz, eat, and then head back to the hotel for the night.
MUNI PASS: We bought a muni pass for the 2 of us at the Walgreens that was two blocks from our hotel (which was our go-to store for everything we needed). We really only needed a pass for 4 days, but you only have the option of a 3-day or 7-day pass. We bought the 7 day pass and left it with our hotel clerk when we checked out to pass on to someone else (it had 2 days left on it). The days run consecutively, so the 3 day pass would not have been long enough. In hindsight, we would have come out cheaper to just pay for each ride instead of buying a pass. We ended up walking a lot more than I thought we would. I like to get a feel for the neighborhoods, and it's hard to do that on a bus. It was, however, very convenient to just show the pass when we boarded and not have to worry about having money each time.
We started our day with a visit to the Coit Tower. We decided to walk since we could see it from our hotel. It didn't look that far. Have you ever heard the saying, "Looks can be deceiving??" Keep in mind, the Coit Tower is on a hill. I knew that. I just didn't realize how steep that hill really was! We have flat land in Mississippi. We are in pretty good shape. I'm 49 and my husband is 52. It was a workout for the both of us! The walk was a great photo op of looking down at the steepness of the streets. That amazed us! We amaze easily!! After paying an entrance fee, we made it to the top of the tower and it was absolutely worth it! Beautiful 360 degree views of the city and the bay. We took several pictures and took in the great views and then quickly decided to take the bus back down!
We got off at Washington Square in North Beach. No agenda. Just walking and people watching. It was a Sunday so the park was full of people and their dogs. My husband loves animals so he loved watching the dogs run and play. We ate at La Boulange. We split a sandwich and got some croissants for breakfast the next morning. The sandwich was very good and the people were very nice.
Since we were in "Little Italy", gelato was definitely on our list. We went to Italy six years ago and developed an immediate love for gelato! I wish I could remember the name of the little place we went. They only sold gelato and it was a tiny little business. They were decently priced compared to some other places. After sampling a few flavors, we got our cups and satisfied our craving. I spotted Tony's Napoletana Pizza place, but was too full for pizza then. I did return twice for a slice of pizza at the Slice House next door to it before the week was over!
We walked and just wandered around taking in the sights. Met and talked with a few locals who were walking their dogs. We made our way by accident to the Mason/Powell cable car turnaround. Perfect time to ride a cable car for the first time in our lives since it was empty with no lines!!! We rode to the end of the line, which was near Union Square. Perfect coincidence for me! I had wanted to go to Uniqlo to buy a new jacket before we went to Alcatraz and it was right there!! I took that as a definite sign. New jackets for me and hubby!
The line on the cable car to return to Fisherman's Wharf was a 2 hour wait! Needless to say, we rode the bus. I hadn't figured out the bus schedule by this point, but the bus drivers are SO helpful about telling you which number bus to get on for your destination. We went back to our hotel to freshen up before heading to Pier 33 for Alcatraz tour.
I bought tickets for the first night tour which was 5:55pm. It cost $37 per person. I had printed our boarding passes at home. Be sure to bring photo ID. We arrived at the pier early and waited our turn. Before we boarded the ferry, I was surprised at the number of people on this tour. With a crowd this size, I would hate to see what the day tours look like!
I didn't know all of the history of Alcatraz before the tour. It was very interesting. They do a great job. There is a good bit of walking and some steep walks up to the prison. We had a tour guide from the time we got off of the ferry until we were inside the prison, then we were on our own. You have headsets for the inside tour and can go at your own pace. You can take all of the pictures you want. We had about an hour after the tour to explore on our own before the next ferry departed. It was plenty of time to walk the entire island and take great pictures of the city from a distance at dusk.
When we headed back to the pier, we sat inside the ferry because it was very cold by this time. We arrived and walked back to our hotel, which was about a 15-20 minute walk. We stopped by a local supermarket and picked up some food to take back to the room to eat. It's been a long day and our feet were hurting. Always wear comfortable shoes! We did, but we walked a lot!!
Tomorrow is our tour with Dylan's Tours. One of the best parts of our trip! Stay tuned...
Gina
Jun 14th, 2015, 03:48 PM
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Great report! Now let's have a show of hands - how many San Franciscans on this board have never been to the top of Coit Tower (3 hands showing in this house! At least I got my DH to Alcatraz last year!)
Jun 14th, 2015, 04:07 PM
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sf7307,
Honestly, if it had not been recommended to me by a friend who went to San Francisco last year, I probably would not have gone to Coit Tower. But I was really glad that we did! Go on a clear day for the best views! (Didn't that last comment sound like a local?!!?).
Gina
Honestly, if it had not been recommended to me by a friend who went to San Francisco last year, I probably would not have gone to Coit Tower. But I was really glad that we did! Go on a clear day for the best views! (Didn't that last comment sound like a local?!!?).
Gina
Jun 15th, 2015, 02:49 PM
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Hi Gina,
Great post! Like you, I'm also a planning in advance dorkette, so can totally relate to your approach on ticket buying in advance, which I do whenever possible! (This was a big timesaver during a recent trip to Amsterdam & Paris!)
Coit Tower totally faked me out too. My Mom lives in SF (she just turned 50, I'm late 20s) and we jogged up to it. She's in great shape (most people think she's 40) and she won our little race to the top, but I was surprised at how winded I was as a pretty fit late 20something But the views are indeed magnificent!
Interesting read about the night tour to Alcatraz! Guide or no guide, I wouldn't go anywhere near that place at night -- or dusk for that matter! And wandering alone would freak me out even if I were to go back as an adult! But I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Great post! Like you, I'm also a planning in advance dorkette, so can totally relate to your approach on ticket buying in advance, which I do whenever possible! (This was a big timesaver during a recent trip to Amsterdam & Paris!)
Coit Tower totally faked me out too. My Mom lives in SF (she just turned 50, I'm late 20s) and we jogged up to it. She's in great shape (most people think she's 40) and she won our little race to the top, but I was surprised at how winded I was as a pretty fit late 20something
But the views are indeed magnificent!Interesting read about the night tour to Alcatraz! Guide or no guide, I wouldn't go anywhere near that place at night -- or dusk for that matter! And wandering alone would freak me out even if I were to go back as an adult! But I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Jun 16th, 2015, 03:37 PM
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Day 3 - DYLAN'S TOURS
I thought it would be a good idea to start our week with a tour that would take us all over the city to "get a feel for the city." I saw Dylan's Tours mentioned on some websites as a highly recommended tour. I totally agree!!
I booked our tour several months ago, but there were some on our tour that had booked that day. We ended up with 11 on our tour. We booked the "famous tour" which takes you to most all of the neighborhoods and includes Muir Woods. Check their website for details. What I liked about Dylan's is their maximum number of people is 14. You travel on a small 15 passenger bus. There is plenty of room and it was quite comfortable.
Their tours are very informal which I liked. You book online but don't actually pay until the end of the tour. We had several stops throughout the day in different neighborhoods and had 1 hr 15 min stop for Muir Woods. We had several photo ops in the different neighborhoods with time to explore some of them. Twin peaks was an amazing place to go and take pictures and enjoy the unbelievable view of the city. We would have never gone there if not for the tour, because you need a car to get there. Our tour guide was Eli and he did a great job. He gave us informative info about the city in a fun and interesting way, never boring, and kept us engaged in conversation. The tour that we did costs $85 per person. Our tour lasted about 6 1/2 hours. Great value for the money. My husband and I agreed that this was a highlight of our trip.
You are given several options for where you want to be dropped off when the tour is over. We picked Fisherman's Wharf since we had not really spent any time there and it was within walking distance to our hotel. We walked around the piers a while, visited Ghiradelli and bought chocolate (my husband did)!!
We were getting hungry so our mission was finding somewhere to eat. This was one mistake that we made - we ate at Bubba Gump's! Not so great. We usually eat pretty cheap. This was the most expensive meal that we had and the worse. I had been warned online on all of the posts that I read not to eat in Fisherman's Wharf, but we were really hungry and that's where we were. Lesson learned!! I didn't care much for the wharf area where all of the shops were. We didn't go back. But the area where Boudin Bakery and along the street it was on was okay. Just a lot of souvenier shops (which I had to buy for the family anyway).
Tomorrow: Chinatown
Gina
I thought it would be a good idea to start our week with a tour that would take us all over the city to "get a feel for the city." I saw Dylan's Tours mentioned on some websites as a highly recommended tour. I totally agree!!
I booked our tour several months ago, but there were some on our tour that had booked that day. We ended up with 11 on our tour. We booked the "famous tour" which takes you to most all of the neighborhoods and includes Muir Woods. Check their website for details. What I liked about Dylan's is their maximum number of people is 14. You travel on a small 15 passenger bus. There is plenty of room and it was quite comfortable.
Their tours are very informal which I liked. You book online but don't actually pay until the end of the tour. We had several stops throughout the day in different neighborhoods and had 1 hr 15 min stop for Muir Woods. We had several photo ops in the different neighborhoods with time to explore some of them. Twin peaks was an amazing place to go and take pictures and enjoy the unbelievable view of the city. We would have never gone there if not for the tour, because you need a car to get there. Our tour guide was Eli and he did a great job. He gave us informative info about the city in a fun and interesting way, never boring, and kept us engaged in conversation. The tour that we did costs $85 per person. Our tour lasted about 6 1/2 hours. Great value for the money. My husband and I agreed that this was a highlight of our trip.
You are given several options for where you want to be dropped off when the tour is over. We picked Fisherman's Wharf since we had not really spent any time there and it was within walking distance to our hotel. We walked around the piers a while, visited Ghiradelli and bought chocolate (my husband did)!!
We were getting hungry so our mission was finding somewhere to eat. This was one mistake that we made - we ate at Bubba Gump's! Not so great. We usually eat pretty cheap. This was the most expensive meal that we had and the worse. I had been warned online on all of the posts that I read not to eat in Fisherman's Wharf, but we were really hungry and that's where we were. Lesson learned!! I didn't care much for the wharf area where all of the shops were. We didn't go back. But the area where Boudin Bakery and along the street it was on was okay. Just a lot of souvenier shops (which I had to buy for the family anyway).
Tomorrow: Chinatown
Gina
Jun 17th, 2015, 02:02 PM
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Love your enthusiasm, Gina. Thanks for sharing your experiences. By the way, there is a public bus line that takes you to just below Twin Peaks--the 37-Corbett, which you can catch at Market and 16th. It drops you within a short walk to the viewpoint at the peaks.
Jun 18th, 2015, 05:18 AM
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There is or was a city bus that turns around at Coit Tower if you are not up to the walk up.
We walked down. We hoped to see the famous parrots, but we didn't.
There is another tower on the Berkeley campus should you be in East Bay. It lets you see SF the way Coit lets you see everything else.
Enjoyable report! I love your enthusiasm.
Where do you live in Mississippi? We lived in both Jackson and Oxford.
We walked down. We hoped to see the famous parrots, but we didn't.
There is another tower on the Berkeley campus should you be in East Bay. It lets you see SF the way Coit lets you see everything else.
Enjoyable report! I love your enthusiasm.
Where do you live in Mississippi? We lived in both Jackson and Oxford.
Jun 18th, 2015, 06:40 PM
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Hi Gina!
I looooove Muir woods! I've been out there a few times for day hikes with my Mom who lives in SF and every time I leave I want to go back again for more!
Can't wait for your Chinatown installment! Yum!
I looooove Muir woods! I've been out there a few times for day hikes with my Mom who lives in SF and every time I leave I want to go back again for more!
Can't wait for your Chinatown installment! Yum!
Jun 21st, 2015, 11:22 AM
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Thanks to everyone for your kind words and encouragement! This is my first trip report. Reading those written by others is so helpful to my planning, so I wanted to return the favor!
Ackislander: We live in south Mississippi about an hour south of Jackson. It's a great place to raise your kids. I will probably get to know Oxford soon, since our son is planning to go to Ole Miss next year!
Ackislander: We live in south Mississippi about an hour south of Jackson. It's a great place to raise your kids. I will probably get to know Oxford soon, since our son is planning to go to Ole Miss next year!
Jun 22nd, 2015, 06:33 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2003
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I'd pay good money to see THEE Stu Dudley's face when he read the comment about eating at In n Out at FW.
LOVE The Columbus and thank Neopatrick every time we drive down there vs. taking Amtrak to SF. Great employees as you found out.
As for Coit...."The Walking Commandant" usually walks my arse up the hill (Up Greenwich when we stay at Columbus...up Kearny when in Un Sq/Embarc-PHEW!)....
For all the times we have walked up there we finally went in to see the post remodel. Murals are awesome and one heck of a view from the time.
Waiting for more, please.
