San Francisco area
 

I'm looking for ideas for a two night mid week get away for my husband and myself in the San Fran area the week of 2/16. Any ideas? Thanks.

maybe my sister, who lives in berkeley (hey, it's in the area) will put you up. she's a pretty good cook, and though it's a little lumpy, the hide-a-bed will work just fine.<BR><BR>think we need a little more here to be helpful, bluesky.

There are a lot of great choices depending on what you are looking for - do you want to be in SF, along the coast, in the wine country, in the forest...?

Okay, here's more. We've been to SF area several times, so we're looking to get out of the city itself for a couple of days. Wine country sounds interesting, but we are non-drinkers. Besides touring vineyards, etc. what else is there to see and do in Sonoma/Napa? Spas, etc? We'd considered Yosemite, but we've had snow here in NY for weeks now, and I'd rather get away from that. We spent the day driving down to Monterey area this past October, so we'd rather head in a different direction. Hope that's enough to go on! Thanks.

Given those parameters, I would choose to either go up the coast from SF and spend a couple days near Point Reyes, on the Mendocino Coast, or Humboldt Bay or go to the Santa Cruz mountians to see some spectacular redwood forests. Big Basin state park is great. There are many lodges and cabins for rent along Hwy 9 where you can stay - the Brookdale Lodge comes to mind, it's been around for awhile and has quite a bit of history. For more luxurious accomodations, try the town of Saratoga. <BR><BR>

bleusky,<BR><BR>I like J Correa's idea of Big Basin. You may also want to look into the Roaring Camp Railroad Steam Train Redwoods tour (www.roaringcamp.com) Being that Big Basin is close to San Jose (www.sanjose.org) you may want to look into staying there to take in the sights in and around San Jose/Silicon Valley as well as Big Basin and Santa Cruz which are all a short drive away. <BR><BR>The best place to stay in San Jose would be downtown which puts you in walking distance to many attractions including the Tech Museum of Innovation (www.thetech.org) the San Jose Museum of Art (www.sjmusart.org) as well as theaters: including Broadway plays at the American Musical Theater of San Jose, and great restaurants. Other points of interest including the Winchester Mystery House (www.winchestermysteryhouse.com) and the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum (www.egyptianmuseum.org) are a short drive from the downtown area. The Old Town area of Los Gatos also is a nice day trip from the city as well. <BR><BR>

OR you could go South of SF to the Monterey/Carmel area. <BR>Very quaint and the scenery is beautiful.

bluesky has already been to Monterey, and does not seem inerested in going there again as he would like to see something different.

bluesky has already been to Monterey, and does not seem interested in going there again as he would like to see something different.

I would suggest the Timber Cove Lodge, north of Jenner, on Hwy 1. It is a 3-4 hour drive from SF. It is a luxurious resort on the cliffs of the rugged Pacific. Not far from it is Fort Ross. Fort Ross was constructed by the Russian settlers, and invaded, burned by Local Indians, and rebuilt a few times. It is a wonderful place for a picnic. There may even be spring flowers in the area this early.<BR><BR>It is certainly different, and beautiful. I hope storms are over by that time. Check road conditions.

It's pricey, but Manka's in Inverness has an excellent reputation--I can vouch for the restaurant. It would give you an opportunity to explore Point Reyes.

I have been to the Timber Cove and was less than impressed with the sevvice and the cleanliness of the rooms.

I had nver been along the coast noorth of Sf before and decided to go up there a couple of months ago. After seeing the Monterey Bay Area, the coast north of SF pales in comparison. I would not recommend it.

We just back from an overnight stay at Point Reyes Seashore Lodge. We are long time Pt. Reyes fans. This inn is relatively small with a great &quot;continental breakfast&quot; which includes good coffee, fresh fruit, yogurt from an organic local dairy and pastries from a good bakery in downtown Pt. Reyes. They are running a midweek special $125/noc through the end of February. We found it quiet, comfortable and in close proximity to what we needed. The visitors' center for the Seashore is a .6 mile walk out the back of the lodge. We hiked one of our favorite spots &quot;Abbots Lagoon&quot; which I recommend. There is so much to see in the park and the beauty of it in winter is really something to behold. The area is about 1.5 hours from SF. If you decide to do this I'd be happy to provide other information on the area via the fodor's site.

Point Reyes is nice if you have not already experienced Carmel, Monterey, or Big Sur. If you have already seen any of those srea, Point Reyes will not impress.

I don't know about that - I grew up on Monterey Bay so I have seen Monterey, Carmel, and Big Sur many times, and was still impressed by Point Reyes. It's a different section of the coast and has different characteristics.

Last Feb we went to Sonoma and stayed at the Lodge at Sonoma. We had a great time. Went out to lunch at the Bella Luna(I think) which is right on the square in Sonoma. Went to a hands-on cooking class at Ramekins which also owns the General's Daughter Restaurant right next door. We noticed that Ramekins has a B &amp; B upstairs. The rails along the banister leading upstairs are shaped like asparagas, and the doors on the building are giant serving spoons. Very cute.<BR><BR>We visited Ravenswood winery which is right in Sonoma and had the best time there. We also visted many other wineries around the Sonoma Valley. Shopped a bit around the square to walk off our lunch. It was a great time. <BR><BR>The Lodge has a spa called Raindance right on the premisis.