San Fran itinerary -- please critique!
 

My boyfriend and I will be in San Fran 5/15-5/18 and am trying to see as much in and out of the city as possible. He has a work conference, so our real time to spend is limited to Friday afternoon through Sunday morning. Here's what I've been thinking:<BR><BR>Friday early afternoon -- drive to Muir Woods, hike and enjoy the beautiful scenery. (Traffic concerns???)<BR>Saturday morning -- drive to Pt. Reyes and visit the lighthouse (maybe see some whales?) Eat lunch at the Station House in Pt. Reyes. Then cut over from Hwy. 1 to 101 and towards Santa Rosa, visit some wineries, spend the afternoon. Back to San Fran for dinner and evening.<BR>Sunday morning -- visit Haight-Ashbury. Will any stores/restaurants be open? Specifically, Ben &amp; Jerry's??? (rubbing hands together with glee!)<BR><BR>Thanks a bunch! BTW - we're staying at the Cartwright on Sutter in Union Square. I've read the 40 posts about Union Square and since we prepaid our hotel, we're pretty much wed to it, so wish us luck!<BR><BR>

This is the weekend of the Bay to Breakers Race. The Sunday run attracts a HUGE number of runners and changes the face of the city for the entire weekend. Your plans take you out of the city on Fri. and Sat. and have you in the city on Sun. You may want to revise that slightly! As for being in Union Square. You really don't need to worry. There are a couple of posters (maybe enen one using different names) who bash the area. But I wouldn't be concerned.

Thanks, Grasshopper! I had planned to check out what was going on in the city that weekend, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. We definitely can't change visiting the wineries, since they close between 4 and 5 on Friday and we wouldn't have time to get out there. Maybe we'll switch Pt. Reyes to Sunday morning. I'll read up on the Race and try to plan accordingly.<BR><BR>Thanks again!

I'd opt for Point Reyes on Sunday for a variety of reasons. 1)the Bto B race 2) you really do need time IMO at Point Reyes. It will take you about 1 1/2 hours to reach to lighthouse. There are many stairs to climb both up and down and then you want some time to watch whales. This is a wonderful place with many more spots to visit. It will be alot to then try and have lunch at the Station House drive over to Santa Rosa and hit what wineries you want. Also 101 on a Friday afternoon from Novato North will be very busy. I'd plan for some particularly slow traffic through Santa Rosa. And 3) I don't know when you were in the Haight last..it's (again IMO) pretty gritty with an occassional head shop (still!) vaguely suggestive of &quot;days gone by&quot;, some reasonalble places to eat and alot of &quot;past it&quot; folks and surround. You can buy Ben and Jerry's in the markets here(almost any market) including probably the Palace market in Point Reyes Station. I'd bypass the trip to the Haight for more time in Point Reyes.

You can always count on PamSF to give great advise!!!

Just so you know, Bay to Breakers often attracts around 70,000 people. They go from downtown across the city to Golden Gate park, and end up at the Beach.<BR><BR>If I were you, I would do Haight Ashbury on Friday afternoon and Muir Woods on Sunday morning.<BR><BR>I like the Haight, yes there are a hot of pan-handlers there, and hippie kids, and kids who think they invented punk rock. There is also great vintage and resale clothing, a number of boutiques, some really good bookstores, a few stores selling the hippie experience(tie-dye banners &amp; grateful dead beanie bears). And a wide variety of good inexpensive restaurants.<BR><BR> Many of the victorian houses in that area have been repainted, though you have to wander off Haight proper to see them.<BR><BR>There are several Ben &amp; Jerry's Scoop shops in SF, I'm pretty sure there is one in North Beach.<BR><BR>On sunday, enjoy Muir woods, you may have it all to yourself!<BR>

Last I heard, the Point Reyes Lighthouse is closed for renovation.

Instead of having lunch at the Station House, I would pick up picnic items in Pt. Reyes--there's a great bakery across from the supermarket and Cowgirl Creamery has an outlet on one of the side streets. The sueprmarket has good fruit.

Because of the Bay to Breakers and its possible traffic tie-ups going to the Godlen Gate, consider this alternative: Pick up picinic stuff in San Franicsco, drive south on 280, take 92 east to 35 (Skyline Blvd with nice views of the bay and the Pacific) and stay on the crest to Alpine Rd. Take Alpine Rd. west (a beautiful view of the coastal range) to Pescadero Rd. On Pescadero Rd you will come across a picnic place in the redwoods, and trails from there into the forest for short hikes. Then continue to Cloverdale Rd. Go south toward Butano State Park and continue to the coast on Gazos Creek Rd. Go south to Ano Nuevo to see the elephant seals. Come back to San Francisco via the coast.

The Haight on Sunday morning will be one of the areas of town affected by the Bay to Breakers since the race route is along the Panhandle which is two blocks from Haight Street. It will also very crowded with &quot;runners&quot; after the race.

You guys are AWESOME!!! I was thinking Muir Woods on Friday afternoon because my b/f will have been in a conference and meetings for the entire previous day (his last meeting is Friday am) and I thought he might want a &quot;green&quot; break. Plus, I love Muir Woods. However, I agree that getting OUT and AWAY from Haight on Sunday is a good idea. I've been to San Fran before, but he hasn't and don't you think it's kind of a necessity to go to the proclaimed birthplace of the hippie movement? Anyway, I do remember a very extensive record shop and he's big into vinyl and has ecclectic taste in music.

So, now I'm thinking Haight on Friday afternoon, hopefully have time to see a little bit of Golden Gate Park (I could spend the entire 3 days there myself); coast and Sonoma on Saturday; Muir Woods Sunday morning.

Thank you SO MUCH for the feedback (yes, PamSF gives great advice, I've read many other of her posts) and especially the travel route, Michael, as I really don't want to spend our time sitting in traffic!!! I do enough of that here!!!

FlwrheadIf your BF is into vinyl I recommend you check into Village Music in Mill Valley. This will be on your way to or home from Muir Woods. Call to see if they'll be open. This place is rumored to be closing but it is a definite vinyl lover's haven. It is in downtown Mill Valley which is easy to get to.

Flwrhead:
I think your revised plan is a good one. On Fri, there is a great music shop toward the very upper end of Haight St., almost to Stanyan. I'm blanking on the name right now, but it's probably the one you're thinking of. Continue another block west (across Stanyan) and you can enter the park. Right in that area, amongst the good places to eat along Haight, there is a Carribean tapas place called Cha Cha Cha. It's inexpensive, good food, and very popular. Their sangria is excellent and potent.

Also, just to clarify, Micheal's directions are to get to Ano Nuevo, which lies south of the city. It is a good alternative, but those directions are not for Muir Woods or Pt. Reyes/Sonoma, which are north of SF.

Lastly, if you have time before you get out of the city Sunday morning (not sure how early you get up), you might enjoy checking out the race. Bay to Breakers is not your typical 10 kilometer race, it's more of an excuse to party. Except for a few real competitors, most people are out to have a good time. People dress up in costume (a few go naked) and come up with elaborate ways to transport beer kegs over the hills. I've seen tiki bars on wheels, and there's always a group of people who run the race backward - from end to start - dressed as salmon &quot;swimming upstream.&quot; The whole thing culminates in an outdoor concert in Golden Gate park. If you're interested, you can just walk down to Market St. from your hotel and prepare to be amused.

I think she's thinking about Amoeba Music, which is great.

You shouldn't have any problems getting to the GGB on Sunday to head up to Muir Woods because your hotel is north of Market -- Just take Bush to Franklin to Lombard and hence the Bridge and you will be heading away from the Bay to Breakers route and traffic.

Ah, yes, Amoeba Records. That's the name I was trying to think of.

Wow. Y'all are great. I'm pretty sure I'm thinking of Amoeba Records, because I remember it being very close to the park. I bought a Tori Amos album there, but there's no telling what all he'll pick up. On a Nina Simone/Joan Armatrading kick lately.

And I was just reading about Cha Cha Cha in a travel book, I'm glad to hear it recommended non-commercially.

I told him about the race and that there was a costume contest which might be JUST the place for him to premier one or both of his ideas for this year's costumes, but he hasn't responded to that suggestion.

I believe we'll stick with going through Sonoma, we definitely want to visit some wineries and I've been to DeLoach and several in the Healdsburg area. Although we're not planning to drive quite that far, there are so many around Santa Rosa, and I want to drive through Petaluma too (I love pretty old architecture), it makes sense to do something on the coast in the morning, then cut across (a road hopefully surrounded by vineyards???) and hit 101. I'm so excited!!! We're going to have a blast! Thanks again, you guys are great!!!