Great advice from you all! Keep it coming.

I'm going to go with my original gut feel and skip the aquarium, unless as several of you have said...it's raining.

I also think, for various reasons...roads, time, etc., that I'll skip Nepenthe to allow more time closer to PG.

I really over research these things and need to get better with being more spontaneous. It's just the OCD kicking in. Half the time my plans gel for about half the intentions!

My original plan was to try to use the full day to do the 17 mile drive, see Pebble Beach and maybe go down to Point Lobos. Then I thought we could visit Carmel on the day we return to SF.

I'm now thinking that the timing below would be better:

Day of arrival in PG - Check in and possibly walk to Monterey Wharf. Dinner up in the air.

Full day - Visit Carmel, including the Mission and maybe Clint's Mission Ranch for drinks (it looks like a great setting but food reviews aren't so good) and then head down to Point Lobos. Again, lunch and dinner up in the air.

Departure day for SF...do the 17 mile drive, including all stops and photo ops, and then continue back to SF. Lunch destination questionable, but dinner in the Bay area.

Feedback? I also really need restaurant recs. The various dining sites make everything soooo confusing.

And I'm getting close to my bazillion questions about San Fran. It's been 25 years since my last visit. I have a few things I'd like to repeat...and many other things I'd like to try for the first time!!!

Please put on your thinking caps. I read Stu Dudley's dissertation, and I think I need the Cliff Notes version! LOL

You're right. The virtue of Stu Dudley's dissertation is that it's encyclopedic in scope. The drawback is that it is encyclopedic in scope. Try this for a broader view.

http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/s...city-guide.htm

Thanks dbd...that link was informative, but it's still hard to decide on activities and food!

I'll now start on my SF questions, but will just throw out a few at a time.

We originally planned to rent a car at the airport and return it in the city late in the afternoon, by 6 PM. This will cost slightly more than returning the car to SFO, but I thought it would be worth not having to return to the airport. But, thanks to the how stuff works info, I'm wondering if I should just return the car to the aiport and take BART into the city. I really don't want to get stuck in rush hour traffic. I'm currently looking at Alamo, Dollar and Enterprise. Any opinions?

I definitely think the library tours would be worthwhile. These are the ones I'm considering:
Chinatown (Monday @ 10 AM & 1:30 PM)
Haight-Ashbury (Sunday @ 11 AM)
North Beach (Sunday & Monday @ 7 PM)
Pacific Heights Mansions (Saturday @ 11 AM)
Rising Steel (Sunday, June 5th @ 11 AM)

Do you mean return it at the airport on your way to the city from Monterey? I personally wouldn't bother -- the worst of the traffic you'll hit will be in the San Jose area, so you have to deal with that anyway. And it will certainly take more time to drop the car off at the SFO car rental center, take the air-train back to the terminal, then wait for BART, and take BART into the city, than the delay caused by traffic from SFO into the city (not saying there won't be any traffic into the city, just that you won't save any time by doing it the way you suggest and, in fact, I think it will take longer -- 30-45 minutes driving SFO into the City, vs. an 1+ hours or so of combined drop-off, waiting for trains, and BART time the other way).

thx sf...as I said the orignal plan was to rent at the airport and return the car near Union Square after the trip to Monterey. We'll just have to shlep suitcases a few blocks or take a taxi...depending on the rental car agency we choose.

Any advice on the walking tours?

Sorry, I've never taken a walking tour here!

you have some great restaurant choices- i really like monterey fish house but it gets mixed reviews
i personally would go to aquarium just to see the otters- want to take one home!
have a great trip!

sf...that's what happens when one lives somewhere...

ton...I love the otters too, but we have river otters here at the zoo and the aquarium. They are soooo much fun.

What route are you taking from Pebble to SF? The reason I ask is that if you go inland i.e. 156/101 there aren't too many places to stop for lunch on that route, so I would recommend lunch either at a location in Pebble or maybe in PG before you leave for SF. If you take 1, the coast route there are a number of places that might work such as Phil's in Moss Landing, Duarte's for late lunch.

BTW since there is an entrance to 17 mile drive from PG, and an exit in Carmel you might consider just doing that part of the drive--past golf courses and along coast--rather than the entire loop. You could do Scenic Drive in Carmel and then proceed to Point Lobos per your original plan. I would skip the Monterey wharf walk in favor of an evening walk along the water front in PG.

I have done several of the walking tours in SF:

Chinatown: excellent
Ferry Bldg: very good
Palace Hotel: excellent
Bawdy ??(regarding redlight district): Just OK.

Hola amigos,
Still looking for PG restaurant recs! Any and all feedback is appreciated!

I have done the Chinatown and Telegraph Hill walking tours with City Guides in SF - both were excellent. I really recommend them.

Pacific Grove restaurant recommendations - I really liked the Red House Cafe. I need to give Passionfish another try though. We didn't have a great experience there, but because everyone gives it such great reviews, I want to give it a second chance.

Thx Michelle and november...I wasn't sure about doing the Chinatown walk, but it sounds like a good choice! We plan to go to the Ferry Building for the farmer's market on Saturday, so I think we'll skip that tour. Telegraph Hill sounds interesting; I will have to look into that. They have so many options, it's hard to decide!

I hate to miss something really good, but my gut feel, at least at the moment, is to skip Passionfish. I'm leaning more towards Red House Cafe, but then I also heard that there is some secret "List" that gives diners preference. As I said, we don't do well with this bogus wait forever and the wait time keeps changing!

The Chinatown walk was really informative - I've been to Chinatown more times than I can count and I am reasonably knowledgable about CA history - but I learned a ton about the neighborhood on that tour. It was great.

Our departure for CA is quickly approaching and I'm trying to get back to my planning.

For the city walking tours, I think we will definitely do Chinatown. The others I'm still considering are North Beach at night, Pacific Heights Mansions, and Rising Steel. I don't want to spend all our exploring time on tours, so I'd like to know if any of you are familiar with these other 3.

I'm not sure we will be able to spend time at both the Presidio and Golden Gate Park. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each.

I thought it would be fun to walk across GG bridge, have lunch in Sausalito and then take the ferry back. But due to time constraints, I'm considering renting a car for one day, no overnight parking involved, and driving to Sausalito for lunch, and then go up to Muir Woods. We will be taking a ferry over to Alcatraz, and I assume the ferry ride to/from Sausalito would be very similar. We could then just walk out onto the bridge for a little way and then turn around and come back.

Thoughts?

I'm a little confused about the walk onto the bridge - from where do you mean? Do you mean you'll drive to the bridge, park and then walk onto the bridge? That's doable - without a car would be very difficult.

sf...I'm not really sure. When I wasn't planning to have a car for the day, I assumed we could take some type of transit to the bridge. I haven't studied the GG bridge logistics too much.

Would it be easier to park and walk on the Sausalito or SF side if we have a car?

There is a city bus that goes to the parking lot on the south side of the bridge. You can walk to the middle and back, or walk tot he other side. At that point you might s well walk to Sausalito and take the ferry back.

If you do rent a car for the day, I'd propose that you go to Muir Woods early (I haven't been in years, but apparently the parking lot fills up), after that head to Sausalito. Spend an hour or two wandering, and have lunch. Then head back toward the city, park at the parking lot at the south end of the bridge (this assumes you can access that parking heading south -- I'm not sure if you can or not), walk a little ways onto the bridge and back (as much as you think you have time for and weather permitting), go back to your car and continue into the city. Return the car in time for dinner.