Overnight in San Francisco
Aug 3rd, 2010, 10:40 AM
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Overnight in San Francisco
It was an annual August trip to San Francisco and locations beyond that I take with my DD. It's actually her way of getting cool Back to School clothes.
We drove into SF and maneuvered to our favorite parking garage at O’Farrell and Mason. This is a super clean parking garage. It’s like they wax the floors.
Skies were sunny and air was nice. Not too cold, though the fog was blowing around a bit up high.
We had tix to the 2:00 performance of Wicked and had about 90 minutes before we needed to be there. We headed over to Union Square to verify where the Jessica McClintock store was located since we had plans to shop there the next day. There were throngs of people walking up and down Powell. Just like last year. The line for the cable car was extensive. I think they should have one of those wait time notices like Disneyland. I can’t imagine how long people wait to get on.
We were a bit dressed up and after a bit of walking in shoes not intended for that, we decided to catch BART from Powell to the Civic Center. Yes it’s a reasonably short walk but the shoes were wearing the skin off DD's toes, so off we went.
The Orpheum – if you haven’t been – is a beautiful theater. It’s hard to tell from the seating chart how close everything is. Our seats at the end of the center Orchestra section Row N were fantastic. By the end of the row the seats are really off center of each other so both DD & I could see right between the people in front of us. I had heard people mention that the seats are narrow as they are from a prior time when people were smaller. We didn’t really notice that at all as we though the seats were quite comfortable. For this play I would not suggest sitting in the rows beneath the balcony as it appeared your view of some of the show would be obstructed.
Wicked was spectacular. Stunning set and costumes. Wonderful lighting and special effects. And really great performances by the whole cast. I did not expect it to be so clever and fun. It will be in SF one more month, closing on Sept 5th. I did get a kick out of people with their iPads playing games at intermission. These were not kids either. All were adults. I guess everyone has his addiction- smokers were sent outside.
Back on BART to Powell, stopping in at the car to grab our luggage and made our way up Mason to Bush and then over to Powell to the Orchard Hotel. We were greeted warmly and advised we were upgraded to a suite. In the past when I have been told I was upgraded it was always to the hotel’s advantage but not necessarily an improvement for our accommodations. This time we got an amazing suite. Living room, enormous bathroom and nice bedroom. It was very, very nice.
Then we went off to find some dinner since we hadn’t eaten since breakfast. I had high hopes for dinner but when DD said Cheesecake Factory my hopes were dashed. Fortunately for me there was a 40 minute wait (why?) for a table so I steered us over to her second choice Kuletos. They said we could sit at a table in the bar as we had no reservations. The food was fantastic. The service was quite accommodating – everyone was friendly and nice.
The next day we checked out, returned out luggage to the car and stopped in to the Pine Crest for breakfast. They have redone all the booths and walls and ceiling fans at the PineCrest. It looks very nice and clean. Food is fast and hot and good. Service is prompt and friendly.
The rest of the day was spent shopping along Powell and at Westfield. There were so many people. The sales girl asked for my ID whe I used my credit card and remarked that it was the first time that day she had seen a CA driver’s license. It was 2:00.
On our way home we stopped at the Premium Outlet in Vacaville. I never go there so I have no prior experience but I thought it was a virtual ghost town. Lots of shops, but no people. Apparently they had been there the day before from what the sales girl said. We found many great deals however.
Anyway another great stay in SF. We thought everyone was friendly. Can’t wait to go back again.
We drove into SF and maneuvered to our favorite parking garage at O’Farrell and Mason. This is a super clean parking garage. It’s like they wax the floors.
Skies were sunny and air was nice. Not too cold, though the fog was blowing around a bit up high.
We had tix to the 2:00 performance of Wicked and had about 90 minutes before we needed to be there. We headed over to Union Square to verify where the Jessica McClintock store was located since we had plans to shop there the next day. There were throngs of people walking up and down Powell. Just like last year. The line for the cable car was extensive. I think they should have one of those wait time notices like Disneyland. I can’t imagine how long people wait to get on.
We were a bit dressed up and after a bit of walking in shoes not intended for that, we decided to catch BART from Powell to the Civic Center. Yes it’s a reasonably short walk but the shoes were wearing the skin off DD's toes, so off we went.
The Orpheum – if you haven’t been – is a beautiful theater. It’s hard to tell from the seating chart how close everything is. Our seats at the end of the center Orchestra section Row N were fantastic. By the end of the row the seats are really off center of each other so both DD & I could see right between the people in front of us. I had heard people mention that the seats are narrow as they are from a prior time when people were smaller. We didn’t really notice that at all as we though the seats were quite comfortable. For this play I would not suggest sitting in the rows beneath the balcony as it appeared your view of some of the show would be obstructed.
Wicked was spectacular. Stunning set and costumes. Wonderful lighting and special effects. And really great performances by the whole cast. I did not expect it to be so clever and fun. It will be in SF one more month, closing on Sept 5th. I did get a kick out of people with their iPads playing games at intermission. These were not kids either. All were adults. I guess everyone has his addiction- smokers were sent outside.
Back on BART to Powell, stopping in at the car to grab our luggage and made our way up Mason to Bush and then over to Powell to the Orchard Hotel. We were greeted warmly and advised we were upgraded to a suite. In the past when I have been told I was upgraded it was always to the hotel’s advantage but not necessarily an improvement for our accommodations. This time we got an amazing suite. Living room, enormous bathroom and nice bedroom. It was very, very nice.
Then we went off to find some dinner since we hadn’t eaten since breakfast. I had high hopes for dinner but when DD said Cheesecake Factory my hopes were dashed. Fortunately for me there was a 40 minute wait (why?) for a table so I steered us over to her second choice Kuletos. They said we could sit at a table in the bar as we had no reservations. The food was fantastic. The service was quite accommodating – everyone was friendly and nice.
The next day we checked out, returned out luggage to the car and stopped in to the Pine Crest for breakfast. They have redone all the booths and walls and ceiling fans at the PineCrest. It looks very nice and clean. Food is fast and hot and good. Service is prompt and friendly.
The rest of the day was spent shopping along Powell and at Westfield. There were so many people. The sales girl asked for my ID whe I used my credit card and remarked that it was the first time that day she had seen a CA driver’s license. It was 2:00.
On our way home we stopped at the Premium Outlet in Vacaville. I never go there so I have no prior experience but I thought it was a virtual ghost town. Lots of shops, but no people. Apparently they had been there the day before from what the sales girl said. We found many great deals however.
Anyway another great stay in SF. We thought everyone was friendly. Can’t wait to go back again.
Aug 3rd, 2010, 11:41 AM
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Lovely trip report, Suzie, and it brings back so many memories of staying in SF with our daughter, my stepdaughter, my stepson and my grandsons and stepgrandsons. SF is a great city for young people, well for all ages actually. It is good to read that Kuleto's still have good food, I haven't eaten there for quite some time.
I live in Vacaville and yes it is usually quite "lonely" at the outlets. A friend and I were talking this weekend how empty our streets are also, very few vehicles compared to the past. However the Friday Night Concerts downtown are packed with people no doubt because there is no admission charge although each parcel in Vacaville is billed around $5.00 per month to cover the concerts and our two beautiful libraries. A well spent $5.00.
Wishing you many more getaways with your daughter!
I live in Vacaville and yes it is usually quite "lonely" at the outlets. A friend and I were talking this weekend how empty our streets are also, very few vehicles compared to the past. However the Friday Night Concerts downtown are packed with people no doubt because there is no admission charge although each parcel in Vacaville is billed around $5.00 per month to cover the concerts and our two beautiful libraries. A well spent $5.00.
Wishing you many more getaways with your daughter!
Aug 18th, 2010, 08:36 AM
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Thanks. Yes it is fun to have a teenaged DD who wants to spend time with you. SF is the prefect place for that too. There is so much more to do too that we just haven't gotten to yet.
