San Francisco, 2 days with 18 year old son
Oct 5th, 2010, 10:53 AM
#41
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Friday afternoon going to Marin and back you will get stuck in traffic, either going or coming back. Without traffic it is easily a one hour drive each way. I agree with sf skip Muir Woods on Friday.
Oct 12th, 2010, 01:27 PM
#44
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Just got back last night from a wonderful trip to CA. Thanks everyone for all the great advice...here's a quick summary of what we did/did not do or enjoy.
Arrived in SF around 8 pm Thursday evening and went straight to Betelnut. Great recommendation, we especially enjoyed the calamari and the spring rolls.
Friday we went to Alcatraz and the Ferry Building for the farmers market and shopping at Sur la Table. There were quite a few vendors at the market and we enjoyed sampling some goodies and bought some snacks to eat on the boat to Alcatraz. We were fortunate to be there on the day the Blue Angels were practicing their moves, so it was an extra treat to get to watch them put on quite a show!
Thursday evening we had dinner at Ristorante Milano, which was quite good. I had to try their gnochi, which supposedly has it's own fan club, and rightly so! So light it practically floated off the plate!
Friday we did the All About Chinatown tour with Linda Lee. I would recommend it, but it was a little hard to hear her over the noise of the city traffic. Very interesting to go into the pharmacy, and also the Buddist temple and markets. After the tour my son wanted to head to Niketown for some new sneaks, so that interfered with having time for Dim Sum, which I had been looking forward to, but we were a little grossed out after seeing all the eels and stuff in the markets.
Friday afternoon my DH decided we had to drive out to Sonoma, so we hit a couple of wineries, had some shipped home that we can't get here, then drove back and had dinner on Belden Place (Cafe Tiramisu). That was the only disappointing meal of our trip...I would not recommend eating there, even though the ambiance was fun. Saturday morning we took off for Yosemite and stayed at the Evergreen Lodge. Lots of kids, but they were well behaved and we enjoyed making our S'more's over the open fire and staying in the little cabins.
What we didn't get to do...the science academy and the Cliff House. Maybe next time! Overall it was a really fun, but very busy, few days! Now back to work for a rest
Happy travels!
Arrived in SF around 8 pm Thursday evening and went straight to Betelnut. Great recommendation, we especially enjoyed the calamari and the spring rolls.
Friday we went to Alcatraz and the Ferry Building for the farmers market and shopping at Sur la Table. There were quite a few vendors at the market and we enjoyed sampling some goodies and bought some snacks to eat on the boat to Alcatraz. We were fortunate to be there on the day the Blue Angels were practicing their moves, so it was an extra treat to get to watch them put on quite a show!
Thursday evening we had dinner at Ristorante Milano, which was quite good. I had to try their gnochi, which supposedly has it's own fan club, and rightly so! So light it practically floated off the plate!
Friday we did the All About Chinatown tour with Linda Lee. I would recommend it, but it was a little hard to hear her over the noise of the city traffic. Very interesting to go into the pharmacy, and also the Buddist temple and markets. After the tour my son wanted to head to Niketown for some new sneaks, so that interfered with having time for Dim Sum, which I had been looking forward to, but we were a little grossed out after seeing all the eels and stuff in the markets.
Friday afternoon my DH decided we had to drive out to Sonoma, so we hit a couple of wineries, had some shipped home that we can't get here, then drove back and had dinner on Belden Place (Cafe Tiramisu). That was the only disappointing meal of our trip...I would not recommend eating there, even though the ambiance was fun. Saturday morning we took off for Yosemite and stayed at the Evergreen Lodge. Lots of kids, but they were well behaved and we enjoyed making our S'more's over the open fire and staying in the little cabins.
What we didn't get to do...the science academy and the Cliff House. Maybe next time! Overall it was a really fun, but very busy, few days! Now back to work for a rest
Happy travels!
Oct 14th, 2010, 07:26 AM
#46
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We did a couple of hikes..nothing major. We took the tram up to the Mariposa Grove but then hiked back down. We also hiked to the bridge for one of the waterfalls, but someone else could give more advice on hiking...mostly we drove. I was surprised how far the major sites were from each other, and I was surprised how expensive everything was, for example, $26 per person for the open air tram ride up to the big trees! We did do the drive up to Glacier Point, which was worth it. It was like being on top of the world! We ate lunch at the Wawona hotel, which was nice and relaxing after doing the Mariposa Grove.
