DH and I are going to San Francisco the first week of October for our wedding anniversary. I had a much shorter-than-usual planning time - we only booked our tickets a month before the trip - but we have our basic plans in place.

We fly in to SFO on the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 3, pick up a rental car and drive to Monterey. We're staying at the Gosby House Inn in Pacific Grove. The next day, we're kayaking Elkhorn Slough with my cousin and her husband. On Monday, we drive back up to SF, stopping at picturesque places along the way. We're dropping off the car just a few blocks away from our hotel. We've reserved an apartment in the Grosvenor Suites in Nob Hill. We leave Saturday morning.

We know a few people out that way, so we should be pretty busy. A college friend of mine is going to take us on a tour of the alleyway murals in the Mission.

For a while I was trying to figure out where to go for our anniversary dinner the night we arrive, but we've decided to just wander and see what we find. I've been surfing Yelp and other boards for restaurant suggestions for the rest of the week. The one place I really want to try is Nick's Crispy Tacos for their fish tacos. My friend who lives out there also told me to try the raw food restaurant Cafe Gratitude.

I have a list a mile long of places and neighborhoods I want to see. I'll be carrying Time Out's San Francisco guide, and I just ordered "Stairway Walks in San Francisco," mentioned by Stu Dudley on these boards.

We are really looking forward to this trip, and I will be posting a trip report when I get back!

Wow - I'm trying to imagine my wife wanting to celebrate our anniversary at "Nick's Crispy Tacos"...

Nope. I can't picture it. Which means that my trip advice would likely be far off-base for you. So I have no recommendations, but regardless - happy anniversary, and have a great trip.

As long as you understand the Yelp demographic, Nick's Crispy Taco's makes sense.

We look forward to a report from a different perspective!

LOL! I didn't mean that I wanted to go to Nick's Crispy Tacos for my anniversary dinner; I just meant that I want to go there at some point during the week. Not sure I'm in Yelp's demographic, either... DH and I are in our late 30's. I just don't want to be bothered with dressing up to go out while I'm on vacation.

bobludlow, I would love to hear any recommendations you have. Like I said, DH and I are in our late 30's, from NYC. We are big walkers and we're pretty much planning on hiking all over the city. We're really into photography and we'll be taking a lot of pictures. We enjoy doing things that are offbeat and adventurous, and exploring places tourists wouldn't ordinarily go. For food, we don't have to have a fancy setting as long as the food is good.

We usually go to Europe at this time of year, but with the dollar getting hammered, we decided to visit San Francisco, which we've been meaning to visit for years.

Thanks for the well-wishes!

Apologies for mis-reading your post. It did make for an entertaining mental image, though. What if you packed your wedding outfits - and wore them once more for a night of crispy tacos? Just an idea...and likely a far better idea for a Pacific Grove dinner would be Passionfish at 701 Lighthouse Ave. Great menu, wonderful service, casual/classy ambience, and the bestest/cheapest wine list you will ever see anywhere. They carry wines that are almost impossible to find and would cost 2x-3x as much if you did find a restaurant that carried them. Another nice change from NYC would be Stokes Restaurant at 500 Hartnell Street in Monterey - it is built in an old mission-era adobe building and the food is extremely good.

In San Fran don't miss the Tuesday/Saturday farmers market held all around the downtown Ferry Building. Great photo opportunities abound and you can buy picnic fixings for one of your hikes. You could also catch a ferry to Oakland or Tiburon, but since you love hiking I'd recommend taking a ferry from Pier 43 1/2 to Angel Island for great views and the steep climb up 781-foot Mount Livermore.

Closer to your hotel I highly recommend Cafe de la Presse at 352 Grant Avenue for breakfast, lunch, or just a glass of wine. Their cosmopolitan clientele are probably attracted equally by their great coffee and their wall full of European magazines for sale. Another block further takes you to all of the fun little restaurants that inhabit that tiny alley called Belden Place. I like either Plouf for moules and frites or B44 for tapas and paella. You could also gently suggest that your hubby peruse the online inventory at langantiques.com before your trip...

Hi,
I agree with B44 as well. There are nice restaurants along Union St., Fillmore, and also in the Marina, cute boutique stores there as well, I'm not a fan of big chain stores.

I'm attaching links here to check it out more:

http://www.unionstreetshop.com/
http://www.chestnutshop.com/ (the Marina)
http://www.fillmoreshop.com/

I like going to Golden Gate Park and stopping at the Conservatory of Flowers, Japanese Tea Garden, and the De Young Museum, a nice day spent at the park.

Have fun!

Thanks for the recommendations, bobludlow and Mademoiselle! I'm still making my way through all of them, but they all sound great so far! The shopping sounds like a lot of fun, Mademoiselle. Thanks for reminding me about the Japanese Tea Garden and the De Young museum. Those are on my list.

Bob, Passionfish is right down the block from our B&B in Pacific Grove, and we will definitely be checking it out. Thanks again!

Haha!

In Pacific Grove, I liked the Red House Cafe. Right on Lighthouse in the center of town. Casual but good food (moderate price) great desserts. The same people operate the restaurant at the PG Muni Golf course (breakfast and lunch only).

On Union Street, try Betelnut (Asian fusion)

On Chestnut Street, try A16

On Fillmore, try SPQR (owned by the same folks who own A16, but different menu, and SPQR doesn't take reservations).

Ditto on the Red House in PG. Also like Toastie's cafe for breakfast, and Peppers for good Mexican food. I'm curious to see any opinions on Cafe Gratitude, as I'm staying near there the weekend of 10/3.

The other great thing about Passionfish is that it only serves sustainable fish. Also second recommendation for Peppers for lunch in PG. You also might try Phil's Fish Market in Moss Landing for lunch if you are going to Elkhorn {BTW I think early in the am is the best time to see otters--or least it has been the times I have gone).

There are many restaurant possibilities in the Mission--my favorite being Delphina's. If you are in the Mission at lunchtime, try their pizzaria.

BTW the remodeled Science Academy in Golden Gate Park (near the DeYoung) will be open when you are here--it will be worth a visit also.

Hi sunny16!

Happy Anniversary!!

We were in Monterey for a short time on our October 2001 honeymoon!

If you have the time I thought the 17 mile drive was really, really neat. We did it on a whim to pass time instead of waiting in traffic and I am so, so glad we did!

Check it out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17_Mile_Drive

Also, while youre in San Fran, consider Greens. Its a veggie place but oooooooh is it good! And a cool ambiance!

Check it out:

http://www.greensrestaurant.com/

Have a fantastic trip!

Thanks again, everyone, for the great recommendations! I think we are going to eat very well on this trip.

trippinkpj, you'll be near Cafe Gratitude before I get there, so unfortunately I won't be able to let you know how it is. If you make it there, enjoy!

Congrats!

We had very good meals at "1300 on Fillmore" in August.
Good grub, dressy/casual and had we known Yoshi's was a door down we would have made dinner ressies and then went and listened to some fine music.

Here's a link to Café Gratitude.

http://www.cafegratitude.com/

The menu items are all expressed as affirmations, so, instead of asking for lemonade and nachos, you request 'I am refreshed' and 'I am honoring.'

The website is an enjoyable flashback.

About hiking all over the City...you do know that much of it is built on hills? STEEP hills?

You've chosen a good month to come--October is usually a lovely month for the weather.

You will be in San Francisco for the start of Fleet Week. I only mention this because I always find it very interesting to watch the Blue Angels and the other air show participants do their practice runs on Friday afternoon.

So, if you were going to visit Sausalito or walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, Friday afternoon (10/10) might be a good time to go if you enjoy that type of thing.

http://www.military.com/fleetweek

Hi,
I don't have good things to say about Café Gratitude so I'd rather not. I went in there with an open mind, despite hearing no so good reviews about it from others and the reviews on yelp.

The one good thing out of the entire meal (tried swapping food with my friend, but hers was not any tastier) was the "nacho cheese" on the flaxeed crackers. I say cheese in quotes as it's cheese derived from nut milk, so it's really not dairy in the traditional sense.

Check out the reviews on yelp, I think ideally it sounds like an interesting experience. My coworker's friend is a vegan and she doesn't like the café, and pretty much I think that this place is geared for vegans.

Underhill - yes, I know San Fran is built on steep hills, and I have taken that into consideration for just about every aspect of my preparations for the trip. This is just what my husband and I do - we walk all over the place. If it turns out to be too much, we'll do public transportation or scale back, no biggie.

Otis, thanks for the heads up on Fleet Week. I've never seen an air show before, and I bet it'll be great to watch one with the Golden Gate in the background!

Mademoiselle, thanks for the warning about Cafe Gratitude. I read the reviews on Yelp. Some scary stuff there. The juices and smoothies sound interesting, at least. I guess we'll play that one by ear.

When DH and I venture into the City--we like to "appetizer hop" or make it a "progressive dinner". We pop into one place for appetizers, another for salads or entrees, and (if we can make it) one last "fantastico" spot for a nightcap (usually somewhere with a great view, or nice music.