Honeymoon in San Francisco
 

Hey there San Francisco!

My partner and I will be spending our Honeymoon in San Francisco this August. We are young left of centre ladies who love art, music & nature. We have a long list of things we want to do and see. If I list them all, could you recommend a good itinerary? or give us suggestions of other things to see? I also have quite a few questions.

We will be in San Francisco for a week and will be arriving on a Sunday at around 4pm, from a very long trip from Toronto (we’ll be flying out of buffalo at 8am in the morning and have a stop over in Atlanta) . We plan on taking the BART from the airport to our Hotel - The Grant hotel. (Any info on the Grant? It looks like it get's pretty good reviews for the most part and is cheap!)

When we get in, I’m certain we’ll be very tired! Most likely will grab a bite to eat, walk around Union Square and then settle in for the night so we are up an early on Monday. Any suggestions for a good restaurant near The Grant Hotel? We are vegetarians who are on a budget. Also I know it looks like a lot but we plan to sleep as little as possible. We are going to be walking and taking transit, I see we luck out and can get the week pass instead of the 7 day pass and will save $10 (since we are in town Sun – Sun) Am I correct in thinking this?

Here is a list of things we want to accomplish, but we are not sure what to do together or when to do it:
We want to explore the following neighborhoods, but not limited to: The Castro, Mission District, Nob Hill, Haight Ashbury, Pacific Heights, Twin Peaks, Tenderloin ( we don’t care that this is a “scary neighborhood”), North Beach, China Town, The Marina…we basically want to see all the neighborhoods that aren’t the suburbs.

Walk the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and take the ferry back. ( I hear the walk to Sausalito may be too far or hard to do?)

Alcatraz night Tour

SFMOMA

Visiting smaller/independent Art Galleries (Any suggestions?) I Hear along Post Street and Sutter Street around downtown & In the Mission District may be a good place to look?

See the art murals around the city (Which areas would be good for this?)

See a film at the Castro theatre

Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory & soda fountain

Names project foundation Aids memorial Quilt

Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 31 (sea lions)

Twin Peaks

The Women’s building

Dolores Park

Ride the cable cars.

Metreon – “Where The Wild Things Are” exibit.

Yerba Buena Gardens

We want to spend some time walking along the beaches, I know it won’t be warm enough to swim. China beach, Baker Beach, Ocean Beach? Which beach is nicer?

Cartoon art museum

South Park

Grace Cathedral

National AIDS Memorial

Japanese Tea Garden

Lombard St

Musee Mecanique

San Francisco Public Library Gay & Lesbian Centre / Museum.

Coit tower

Telegraph Hill looking for the Parrots (Where is the park they frequent?)

Vintage Clothes & Record shopping in Height.

Fortune Cookie Factory

Conservatory of Flowers

Palace of Fine Arts

Trip to Berkeley (over on the BART) for shopping on Telegraph Ave, check out the university, etc. (Any other suggestions of things to see or do in Berkeley?)

We are renting a car for a Day Trip to Point Lobos, we want to dip down to Big Sur for a scenic hwy 1 drive, maybe down as far as Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park…not sure if we’ll have enough time or how far to drive? Then up to the Santa Cruz boardwalk for the evening and then back to San Francisco for a good nights sleep. Can anyone suggest a good route down to Point Lobos? We would like to take the fastest route? As well as a good route back from Santa Cruz to San Francisco? We plan on heading out at 7am from San Francisco. What day of the week do you think would be best for this?

Phew! I'm tired already.

Any veggie restaurant suggestions would be great! We love Indian food..

Thank you very much in advance for your suggestions...I hope I haven't asked for too much.

Take care.

S

Wow. We've spend a couple of months in SF over the past few years and I don't think we've accomplished all that yet. But go for as much as you can -- sounds like you want to stay active.

My one suggestion is to ride bikes over the GG Bridge and down into Sausalito. You can bring them back on the ferry.
Better than walking, and it is all downhill to Sausalito.

If you pick a Friday for your Santa Cruz excursion, there are free concerts on the beach in the evening; usually oldies but goodies and lots of fun.

I would suggest that you take several free City Guides walks. There are over 30 different walks each week - many in the neighborhoods you want to explore. City Guides is sponsored by the Public Library.

See
www.sfcityguides.org
for descriptions of the walks and schedules.

Visit the Noe Valley neighborhood - just south & "over-the-hill" from The Castro. I think you will really enjoy what many claim is the best neighbornood in the Bay Area. The 24-Divisadero bus runs on Castro St between the Castro district and the Noe Valley. The eastern edge of the Castro is connected to the eastern edge of the Noe Valley by the J-Church underground Muni Metro - but the 24-Divisadero is better because it is above ground & you can see the many Victorian houses on Castro between 18th St & 24th St. Click on my name & see if you can find a description I did a while back about a walk in the Noe Valley.

A good excursion from downtown would be to take the J-Church to the Noe Valley. Sit on the east side (left side, which is the side you get on the bus from if you enter from the downtown stations) of the bus. When you get to Dolores park there are great views back towards downtown. You can get off at Dolores Park & explore if you want. Stay on the J-Church & get off at Church & 30th St. Walk north (the way you came), and enjoy the Church St section of the Noe Valley (see my prior post for cafes, shops, etc). Continue walking north and at 24th st, turn left (west) & walk down 24th St (see my prior post also). After you see the Noe Valley, hop on the 24 Divisadero on the southeast corner of Castro & 24th and head north to The Castro. Get off & explore The Castro thoroughly (there is a City Guides walking tour at 11am on the 2nd & 4th Sundays). After you see the Castro, get back on the 24 Divisadero & continue north until the line terminates - and you will be in Pacific Heights where you can explore this area & walk down Fillmore St - the main shopping area in Pacific Heights. From Pacific Heights, there are many bus lines to get back downtown.

Congrats on the wedding/honeymoon.

Stu Dudley

Hey StuDudley!

Thank you very much for all those walking and bus route recommendations..those are going to come in very handy!

Thank you Neopolitan for the suggestion to rent bikes...it looks like what were going to have to do. And yes we don't plan on sleeping much.

Catbert, thank you as well those concerts do looks like fun.

If anyone else has suggestions or comments..please post them.

thanks again!

S

Dear sleater,
The Valencia Street area sounds like it would be of interest to you. Valencia Street is slightly to the west of Mission Street. It's full of fun and funky shops, restaurants, etc. It would be easy to incorporate it into a stroll from the Castro or Noe Valley neighborhoods.

If I were taking a vegetarian friend out for dinner in the environs, we would have South Indian food at Dosa (Valencia at 22nd or so). This restaurant has been red-hot since its opening - the specialty and namesake is the filled "crepe", or dosa. Plus the uttapams and idlis - you'll have to eat them to find out what they are!
Decent wine list too. Then my companion and I would go across the street for our after-dinner coffee at Ritual Coffeehouse (you'll recognize the place by its insignia of a coffeecup resembling a hammer and sickle). The best, most lovingly roasted and crafted coffee in the city.

If it is a sunny day (or even partly cloudy day), fit in a visit to Dolores Park. This is where people in the 'hood go to relax, toss a frisbee, hang out. You will probably want to move here afterwards.

Check out the free Sunday afternoon concerts at Stern Grove in the western part of the city. There is an amphitheater which has been stunningly re-designed by the architect Lawrence Halprin. It's incredible. Take some sandwiches and be prepared for a crowd.

Have fun, ladies!

Nice to see some good responses :)

Any suggestions for female "family" oriented nightlife? For those of us who are not on our honeymoons... :-D

What and where is "the women's building", never heard of it!

It may be warm enough to swim at the China beach.

The walk from the bridge to Sausalito is easy.

In Berkeley - don't miss the Sharffen-Berger chocolat factory free tour and free samples, yummy!!! The Sake factory is not far, and I've heard they have free tasting. To wash down that chocolate, ya know ;)

BART doesn't go to Bush street, if you plan on walking from BART you'll have to climb a steep hill, not recommended with luggage.

You've gotten great advice already.

MISSION DISTRICT:
The Mission is my top advice for you. Even though it's called the Mission, it's really Valencia St between 16th and 24th. Dosa and Ritual are great recommendations. Try also Herbivore and Cafe Gratitude. The Mission is also where many of the great murals are. The Precita Eyes foundation can clue you in, but I think Balmy Alley is part of the destination.

Osento at Valencia and 21st-ish is an all women's hot-tub sauna place open late, and with a nice mellow vibe.

The Lexington Club is a women's bar on 17th near Valencia. Great jukebox.

The Women's Bldg is on 18th btwn Guerrero and Valencia. I think they have murals there too.

OUTER MISSION/BERNAL HEIGHTS
The Outer Mission (Mission between Cesar Chavez & 30th) is also funky but in a less gentrified way. El Rio is a great mixed club there, straight friendly is how I'd call it. Just After 30th is Cortland, the main drag through Bernal. A tiny neighborhood, but very cute and worth trekking to in order to have a drink at Wild Side West, my all time favorite women's bar. It's in a very old building and has a garden not to be believed. Also has pool tables.

OTHER:

Millennium and Greens are SF classic veggie dining destinations.

Also check out the murals I think on Waverly in Chinatown. SF's oldest Buddhist temple is there and worth the 4th floor walk up.


If you go to Berkeley to go to Scharffenberger, get off at MacArthur BART and take the free Emeryville Shuttle called the Emeryville go round. You'll want the Hollis Street line. That will drop you much closer to your destination.

Also in Berkeley is Good Vibrations, a queer owned worker's collective that is a sex toy shop. They have shops in SF too that might be more convenient, but worth a look.

BIG SUR/SANTA CRUZ

To go down to Big Sur I'd recommend taking the Great Highway to Highway 35, to Highway 280 to 101. Then take 156 over to PCH 1 at Monterey to head down to Big Sur. That will be your fastest route down and should let you avoid all the morning commute traffic. I'd go as far as Nepenthe, where I'd have a snack or a drink or both, and then turn around. Take 1 all the way up to Santa Cruz. In Santa Cruz Saturn Cafe is a really neat veggie restaurant downtown on Pacific at Laurel. Not specifically veggie, but still good is Olita's mexican restaurant on the Santa Cruz pier.

Currently you can get validated parking on TUESDAYS at the Santa Cruz Pier. I think that would be a great day to do this trip because you won't have adjusted to west coast time yet, and it will be easier to get up early and get cracking.

If you are going to be in Berkeley, make reservations to eat at Chez Panisse. http://www.chezpanisse.com/ You'll have to make the reservations about a month in advance but it will be so worth it. You can take BART to downtown Berkeley and it is a few blocks to the restaurant.

A big thank you to all you folks for your abundance of information. You are all great and are helping to make this such an incredible trip...we can't wait!!

Here is a link to the women's building site
www.womensbuilding.org

I may have missed seeing this on your list but I would certainly go see Beach Blanket Babylon one night. It is a fun, high energy show. We've seen it several times and it's always a must when we visit SF. We buy our tickets on line and try to get the first balcony row which IMO are the best seats. It's very small theater so there are no bad seats. you'll really enjoy it. It sold out every night so get your tickets before going.
http://beachblanketbabylon.com/

Wow, that's a lot to do! I live in SF and haven't been to some of these place yet!

I agree with Stu's suggestion to see Noe Valley. I live nearby and it's a great neighborhood to live or visit!

Sorry to say, but "Where the Wild Things Are" has closed. :-(

Fog