Deb, you're always so organized for your trips. I'm hungry, so you'd better get on with the meal descriptions!

I am going to be a bit lazy. I have several of our DAT meals posted on chowhound, so I am going to take the easy way out on those:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/680728

I will post on non DAT meals here, in a bit.

Nice report Deb. Boy did you hit the restaurants! Sounds like you had a fab time. We will be there in a couple of weeks so got a few ideas from you.

Ronda
Chapeau took over the old Clementimne location - and it is excellent. Read the reviews on SFGate.

Stu Dudley

I luvvv Chapeau. Thanks for reminding me.

Yesterday I used your link to SF City Guides, Deb, and it worked just fine. Today I got some other site. In checking the address I found it should have an s on the end of guides:

http://www.sfcityguides.org/

Glad the site proved helpful,Ronda. My link does have the s, maybe when your tried today, you left the s off.

I will be working on trip report later this morning, tune back.

Another BIG tip is to buy a transit map for $3 - it is most helpful -- has bus and light rail routes. Also very helpful is

http://tripplanner.transit.511.org/m...T2?language=en

Deb

I'm sooo looking forward to the continuation of your report. You appear to enjoy eating as much as my husband and me. That is why we like to walk as much as we can. I appreciate all of the help from the Fodorites as it is always very current and usually spot-on accurate.

We will be in SF in two weeks and have been doing our homework. We have been to DC several times and I find riding the Metro. to be a snap. Traveling in SF appears to be a bit more challenging. Maybe we will change our minds once we get there. Your suggestion of the transit map is going to be our first purchase.

I just skimmed your report and am looking forward to reading the rest of it. I am heading to the Bay Area in a couple of weeks and looking forward to savoring your pictures when I have some time.

OK, I'm feelin lazy: Where can a Muni Pass be purchased?

and a Transit Map?

Ronda - map --
http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mmaps/indxmaps.htm

Passport --

http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mfares/passports.htm

Hi Deb -
So enjoying your report. Sad I did not get to see you but hopefully you will make it back to southern California ;-)

Our activities --

The first thing on our agenda was to go to Ana Nuevo State
Reserve to see the elephant seals. In fact, this trip was timed to coincide with the birthing and breeding of the seals. We had been there in March, but most of the seals were gone and there was little action. I also somehow lost all of my pictures and videos, so I really wanted to go again to replace them, but of course to see the seals in action.

I booked a tour about a month in advance, to be sure we could get one at a time that would allow us to rent a car for just the day.

We got there about 45 minutes early and we were able to go on an earlier tour. We did that and how lucky - the rain stopped and the sun actually came out while we were do the tour.

It is an amazing site, to see over 1000 seals and over 600 newborn pups lying about the dunes and the beach.

You have to stay 25 feet away and the docents are really good about getting you close to see, but respecting the animals.

The first one we encountered, a bull, was quite large and by himself; far from the crowd. The docent said it was because he had been chased away by a dominant bull. Their hierarchy is really amazing, so many of the males never get to have a harem and mate.

He was very aware of us, and became pretty vocal. Their voice is like a steel drum with a clicking kind of sound rolled in. The reared up several times and came forward towards us at least twice. You could see he was looking right at the group of us and did not want us near him. We had to turn around, walk out in single file and go another way. On the video [link above] you can hear the guide tell us to "walk fast".

The seals are all about, many young bulls in the dunes, where they are just laying about, waiting to head out to sea in a few months.

The beach is where the action is happening. There are the harems, with 10- 15 females and some with their newborn pups. Other females are waiting to give birth. They usually give birth within 2-3 days of arrival. The nurse the pups for about 3 week and then they breed. The eggs are not implanted immediately, since the mother is so depleted of nurishment. They will no implant until she has left and started to feed again.

The pups are tiny, they stay close to the cows and nurse, gaining LOTS of weight in the 3 weeks they are nursed. Once the mothers stop nursing and leave, the pups are called weaners and are on their own to learn how to swim and what to eat.

The dominant bulls, really have the rule of the roost. They breed with the females, even with some that have not delivered! They protect the cows, but every once in a while, a young bull will try to sneak over for a quickie! Sometimes they get lucky,most of the time they just get barked at and chased off. [There are videos of dominants chasing off bulls.]

It is a fascinating place; if you are there at the right time - it is amazing to see these huge creatures in their natural surroundings and to learn of their travels and lives.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=523

Entertainment:

We went to Beach Blanket Babylon with Fodorite, Abranz. We had such a fun time! The show, running for ages, is a San Francisco institution. The show had several current references, so it is not the same show.

We went to Yoshi's Jazz Club to see saxaphonist Kenny Garrett. The show was excellent and the tickets were very reasonable. We went to the Yoshi's in San Francisco; the original is in Oakland. The seating is open, and we were able to get a good line of sight from our seats. It is pretty close seating, with 4 tables around little cabaret tables. If you are only 2, as we were, you have to share the table with others. You can order appetizers, drinks at the tables. There is also a dining room. They did not bug us to order anything, which was nice. We in fact, did not order.

We rented a car for only 1 day. We rented from Dollar and picked it up at the Sheraton @ Fisherman's Wharf; just a couple of blocks from the Courtyard. We picked the car up around 8:15am and returned it around 5 pm. Cost for the rental was $23 tax included and under $10 to refill the tank. [Hard to find gas stations @ FW, there was one and it was expensive; there were others on Van Ness, but we were too lazy to bother for the few gallons we used].

We have done the one day rentals from Dollar before, using their O'Farrell street location. They also have good prices. Since they are non-airport, the fees are way less. They also did not have a drop off fee when we returned the car to SFO in 2007. Not sure if that is the case, but worth checking out.

I had reserved the car when I bought the tickets to Ana Nuevo; they seem to offer San Francisco "city" special, so I kept checking and the rate did drop a few days before we flew out,so I change reservation and got a $6 drop. Not much, but almost paid for gas.

We used the car to get to Ana Nuevo and returned it same day to avoid having to pay parking for overnight since we really didn't need the car after 5 pm.

I made extensive use of the SF transit website to plan bus routes:

http://tripplanner.transit.511.org/m...T2?language=en

I did not buy the transit map, using the ones in the bus stops for a quick reference when needed. I mapped routes out in the hotel, using their free wifi and our new netbook.

I would buy a map; it is a good investment.

Tour Talk - coming up next!

We discovered the SF City Guides walking tours in 2009; thanks to StuDudley. We took 2 of them and were hooked! Excellent tour guides who not only knew their "stuff" but had a passion for San Francisco.

With those tours under our belts and a love of San Francisco ever growing, we knew we had to do more of them. Alas, due to a medical emergency at home, we had to cut our trip short last year.

Thus grew the format for our next trip to SF: get in as many tours as practical to really learn more about the city as sometimes can only be seen by someone who has lived in the city and enjoys sharing their knowledge with others.

If you haven't checked out the website, you must do so -- the variety of tours is staggering and we have just barely scratched the surface with the ones we took. We did a tour almost everyday day, and 2 on one day! The list is above.

We did do other touring on our own, but this is such a great way to learn things we would never have found on our own.

We "hiked" Twin Peaks; did the Vallejo Stairs; we went to the Cable Car Museum; we went to the Railroad/Trolley Museum on our own.

You hiked UP Twin Peaks - wow !!! I feel like a whimp.

Stu Dudley

I should have known that Deb would have a great post with many links.

Just decided to head to San Fran this summer with a friend. I'll have to spend lots of time coming back to your posts.


Thanks :)

And here are three of my favorite (real) Museums/Interesting places, and a rainy day is also a great time to catch up on the latest movies. :)

http://legionofhonor.famsf.org/legio...arde-1860-1900

http://deyoung.famsf.org/

http://www.palaceoffinearts.org/Welcome.html