A Weekend in The City (San Francisco, that is!) ;)
Jan 12th, 2004 | 08:45 AM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 16,854
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A Weekend in The City (San Francisco, that is!) ;)
Who would have thought that a weekend in January could be so awesome!!! Terrific weather, sunny and winter warm both Saturday and Sunday after a rainy Friday.
Reserved a room at the Mark Hopkins for two nights and lunch at Kuletos from Site59 on Monday for a great rate. Everything was very smooth and now I love site 59.
The Mark Hopkins is fab and the people getting married there all weekend were beautiful!
The Weekend started with seeing Jerry Seinfeld at the Paramount in Oakland. Beautiful theater, hilarious show. Had a laugh headache afterward.
Proceeded to SF afterward and checked into the Mark Hopkins. Smooth. No view but room was nice and at the end of the corridor so quiet. Better than those who get the room facing the elevator bank.
Went to the Top of the Mark for a drink but it had a $10 cover to listen to swing music. Not our thang so we went across the street to the Fairmont, another beautiful hotel BTW, and went to the Tonga Room. If you've never been it sure is a hoot. Very Polynesian with indoor rain and the band, which was terrific, is on a boat in a pool. Great Mai Tais, $5 cover for a fun band singing pretty current music.
Had to get one person in the party to the Bart Station on Powell near Union Square before the last one left so we dashed out and caught the Cable Car at California. Wow those cable car guys sure get a workout! Left the Bart station and walked up Powell to the St. Francis. Beautiful hotel. Took the elevator to the 31st floor to see the skyline. Nice view even with the lifting clouds. Grabbed the cable car back up Powell and its nearly 1:30 so they let us ride up for free. Was only about 3 or so blocks by then though.
Next day we slept late and walked down Powell to Kuletos for our 11:30 lunch. Wow, one false step and you'd surely roll down the entire hill!
Kuletos was wonderful. Had the potato leek soup and then angel hair pasta with tomatoes and garlic. Couldn't finish the pasta so turned down the dessert. Since it was included, the waitress said she'd just bring the biscotti in a to go container. Nice of her to consider that. Other diners had the tiramisu and canolis (sp?) which they raved about. Kuletos got very crowded while we were there. The bread was so yummy too.
Passed the St. Francis on the way back up Powell and ducked back in to take the elevator up and pressed all the upper floor buttons so we could gape at the view. We had no plans per se but grabbed the cable car and headed to Fishermans warf with thoughts of going to Sausalito since it was such a sunny day. Finally arrived at the Blue and Gold counter in time to see the boat leave the dock. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow. Had already had enough of Fishermand's Warf. What's the deal with the ice cream? Don't any tourist have ice cream parlors in their home towns? Lots of performers, some very talented.
Walked to North Beach and took in all the wonderful smells. Great place to hang out. Walked on to China Twn for some shopping. Ended up picking up stuff for those poor family memebers left at home.
Shopping was very good but it's getting late so we continue up Grant to California. We can see out hotel at the top of the hill but can we make it? Here's a tip, laughing while walking straight up hill is very hard! Did we pass the Ritz Carlton? One beautiful hotel whatever it was. Wow!
Dropped our bags and headed up tot eh Top of the Mark. Only 6:30 so we got in with no cover. Amazingly we got the absolute best table on the floor. What a view!!!! Had a drink and decided that we had better eat or there'd be serious consequences. Retrieved the car from the garage and headed back down to North Beach to Cafe Pescatore. At 8:45 it seemed kind of slow so we wondered if we had chosen wisely. Not to worry. We started with procuitto wrapped mozerella with grilled onions peppers with a balsamic viniger sauce. It was so wonderful. I had the Hazelnut crusted sea bass which was outstanding (unanimous). Others had the crab filled raviolis in a really wonderful sauce and Saltambucco which was great. Waiter was wonderful too. Best part was that the prices are really reasonable. entrees $17 - $19. Afterward we negotiated the streets of SF. Cheking out the old haunts that one in the party frequented as prevcious resident. Down Lombard to Freemont to an unbelievably crowded area. If you are 20-30 something this is the place for you!!! Ever place is packed with lines of people waiting to get in and more coming and it's after 11:00 pm. Cow Hollow and Marina are great places if you want lots of action.
Next day we checked out and drove to Pier 39 to catch the 10:45 ferry to Sausolito. Found great street parking only a few blocks up. Beautiful sunny day. Shopped around visted a copuple of galleries, viewed the marina full of boats bigger than any ever seen and then sat on a sunny bench enjoying the great day. Weekend is over upon our return to SF at 3:45. Dashed to Oakland airport to drop one in the party and then on to pick up my own car and drive home in the dark and the FOG of the central valley. All in all a really wonderful time.
PS. Loved Union Square, no problems with panhandlers at all.
Reserved a room at the Mark Hopkins for two nights and lunch at Kuletos from Site59 on Monday for a great rate. Everything was very smooth and now I love site 59.
The Mark Hopkins is fab and the people getting married there all weekend were beautiful!
The Weekend started with seeing Jerry Seinfeld at the Paramount in Oakland. Beautiful theater, hilarious show. Had a laugh headache afterward.
Proceeded to SF afterward and checked into the Mark Hopkins. Smooth. No view but room was nice and at the end of the corridor so quiet. Better than those who get the room facing the elevator bank.
Went to the Top of the Mark for a drink but it had a $10 cover to listen to swing music. Not our thang so we went across the street to the Fairmont, another beautiful hotel BTW, and went to the Tonga Room. If you've never been it sure is a hoot. Very Polynesian with indoor rain and the band, which was terrific, is on a boat in a pool. Great Mai Tais, $5 cover for a fun band singing pretty current music.
Had to get one person in the party to the Bart Station on Powell near Union Square before the last one left so we dashed out and caught the Cable Car at California. Wow those cable car guys sure get a workout! Left the Bart station and walked up Powell to the St. Francis. Beautiful hotel. Took the elevator to the 31st floor to see the skyline. Nice view even with the lifting clouds. Grabbed the cable car back up Powell and its nearly 1:30 so they let us ride up for free. Was only about 3 or so blocks by then though.
Next day we slept late and walked down Powell to Kuletos for our 11:30 lunch. Wow, one false step and you'd surely roll down the entire hill!
Kuletos was wonderful. Had the potato leek soup and then angel hair pasta with tomatoes and garlic. Couldn't finish the pasta so turned down the dessert. Since it was included, the waitress said she'd just bring the biscotti in a to go container. Nice of her to consider that. Other diners had the tiramisu and canolis (sp?) which they raved about. Kuletos got very crowded while we were there. The bread was so yummy too.
Passed the St. Francis on the way back up Powell and ducked back in to take the elevator up and pressed all the upper floor buttons so we could gape at the view. We had no plans per se but grabbed the cable car and headed to Fishermans warf with thoughts of going to Sausalito since it was such a sunny day. Finally arrived at the Blue and Gold counter in time to see the boat leave the dock. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow. Had already had enough of Fishermand's Warf. What's the deal with the ice cream? Don't any tourist have ice cream parlors in their home towns? Lots of performers, some very talented.
Walked to North Beach and took in all the wonderful smells. Great place to hang out. Walked on to China Twn for some shopping. Ended up picking up stuff for those poor family memebers left at home.
Shopping was very good but it's getting late so we continue up Grant to California. We can see out hotel at the top of the hill but can we make it? Here's a tip, laughing while walking straight up hill is very hard! Did we pass the Ritz Carlton? One beautiful hotel whatever it was. Wow!
Dropped our bags and headed up tot eh Top of the Mark. Only 6:30 so we got in with no cover. Amazingly we got the absolute best table on the floor. What a view!!!! Had a drink and decided that we had better eat or there'd be serious consequences. Retrieved the car from the garage and headed back down to North Beach to Cafe Pescatore. At 8:45 it seemed kind of slow so we wondered if we had chosen wisely. Not to worry. We started with procuitto wrapped mozerella with grilled onions peppers with a balsamic viniger sauce. It was so wonderful. I had the Hazelnut crusted sea bass which was outstanding (unanimous). Others had the crab filled raviolis in a really wonderful sauce and Saltambucco which was great. Waiter was wonderful too. Best part was that the prices are really reasonable. entrees $17 - $19. Afterward we negotiated the streets of SF. Cheking out the old haunts that one in the party frequented as prevcious resident. Down Lombard to Freemont to an unbelievably crowded area. If you are 20-30 something this is the place for you!!! Ever place is packed with lines of people waiting to get in and more coming and it's after 11:00 pm. Cow Hollow and Marina are great places if you want lots of action.
Next day we checked out and drove to Pier 39 to catch the 10:45 ferry to Sausolito. Found great street parking only a few blocks up. Beautiful sunny day. Shopped around visted a copuple of galleries, viewed the marina full of boats bigger than any ever seen and then sat on a sunny bench enjoying the great day. Weekend is over upon our return to SF at 3:45. Dashed to Oakland airport to drop one in the party and then on to pick up my own car and drive home in the dark and the FOG of the central valley. All in all a really wonderful time.
PS. Loved Union Square, no problems with panhandlers at all.
Jan 12th, 2004 | 09:06 AM
#4
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 16,854
Likes: 0
Loved the Fairmont. Stunning Hotel. You will have a wonderful time. We loved our location on Nob Hill. Very close to places we wanted to visit. We are walkers so no comlaints. China Town is just a few blocks down California to Grant and Union Square is a few blocks down Powell. Fishermans Warf is a Cable Car ride that you catch at Powell and California. Not convenient to the Marina area without other types of transportation.
Make sure you at least visit the Tonga Room. Early in the day there is no cover. Visit the Top of the Mark also no cover early in the day.
Hope you are as lucky as we were with the weather. Have a great time!!!!
Make sure you at least visit the Tonga Room. Early in the day there is no cover. Visit the Top of the Mark also no cover early in the day.
Hope you are as lucky as we were with the weather. Have a great time!!!!
