I think I posted a "stairway walk" for the Noe Valley on my looonnnnggg post. That will take you to so corners.

If you will be in San Francisco on Sun Oct 9, my wife is the volunteer guide for the City Guides tour of "Victorian San Francisco" on that day.
www.sfcityguides.org

Stu Dudley

We leave San Francisco on Sunday Stu, so unfortunately we will miss that tour. It sounds fascinating. I understand, from another tour, that the city lost many Victorians in the past because at one time they weren't considered desirable. What a pity, we love them. They have so much character.
We plan to join the Alamo Square tour this weekend.
I hope London treated you well and you enjoyed some of the Indian summer weather.
Lisa

We loved London - but no Indian Summer.

My wife conducts the Alamo Sq tour on Oct 20.

Stu Dudley

Today, we headed out to explore The Mission. It wasn't a long walk from Noe Valley (with some lovely Victorians along the way) and suddenly we had some spectacular murals to marvel at.
I think my favourite was the Women's Building. I found so much emotion in this work. I'm not ashamed to say I had a fairly emotional reaction to it too. Inspiring stuff.
We came across the restaurant I've heard people recommend, Delfina, but it was to early for such indulgences. There was a large crowd outside the bakery Tartine. We may need to investigate further at some point.
But, despite fears that the weather might be... well, a little English today, it was quite lovely. No further excuse needed to sample the delights of Bri Rite Creamery. That salted caramel flavour is stunning and so unexpected. The friendly staff were a nice addition to our morning outing too.
Onwards to the beautiful Mission school. We'd been admiring the building, and the view from the park, on our journeys from the J line.
More retail therapy today, really loved the Levi's shop and the service was outstanding. Actually, it's been great wherever we've been.
Grant's obsession (sorry, meant interest) in architecture and skylines took us to the Financial District. Since it was after 3pm and hunger pangs reminded us we hadn't had lunch, we consulted our trusty Fodors and ended up at the Tadich Grill. I quite fancied the atmosphere here, especially the booths where I imagined the business shenanigans which may have gone in the past (just my imagination).
We had some lovely clam chowder (my first) as a starter and then I opted for the rainbow trout, while Grant had sole. Both were delicious and I loved the generous supply of lemons and a very pleasant tartare sauce.
Grant said the coffee was good too.
Tomorrow, we are off to the farmers' market at the Ferry Building and then will hopefully join the Alamo Square tour offered by the City Guides.

>>Tadich Grill. ......We had some lovely clam chowder (my first) as a starter> while Grant had sole

Thanks, we're excited about the tour and the farmers' market this morning too! So much to see and do here.

What an amazing day. We were out the door a little after 8am to get the J train to the Ferry Plaza and the farmers' market.
What a grazing adventure this turned out to be. Fresh, beautiful food as far as the eye could see. I started with some offerings from the Cowgirl Creamery, opting to take a brie-like Mt Tam triple cream home.
Next, we sampled a donut-like creation filled with a custard cream. Oh boy!
Outside, the spicey hummus tempted me and that had to come home with us too.
We got fresh strawberries and munched on a delicious pork and onion marmalade sandwich before Grant sampled some sorbet (his favourite) and we were ready to move on.
We found the 21 bus to take us to the start of our City Guides walk on Alamo Square and the Painted Ladies.
When we got there, our guide, the German-born Sabine, told us she had a treat in store for us.
You guessed it Stu, we did get to explore Richard's home. How generous of him to open his lovely Victorian home to a group of tourists. I have to say, the term "veritable treasure trove" must have been written for this home.
It took my breath away. The restoration work he undertook when he found it a mere shell in the 60s, and all the objects - so many I didn't know where to look first. The practical me wondered about the dusting challenge so many objects presented, but no need to focus on that when there was so much else to take in. That wallpaper, those chandeliers. So ecelectic and just plain awe-inspring. And the basement, with its musical marvels and cheeky postcards. Incredible.
Onward to learn about the different Victorian homes - how to spot them from the windows and roofs. I think I fancied the Queen Annes the best, but there was such a mix with such history. I'm an Alice Walker fan, so I was interested to hear she had owned the second from the left on Postcard Row. Fascinating, and a little shocking to hear the first on the left had recently been on the market for $4 milllion. Wow! And the pictures Sabine showed us of the area after the fires, the refugee camps, communes and the hippy era, the Russian Embassy building - so beautiful today. It was a lot to take in.
Back to Noe Valley to deposit our farmers' market goods in the fridge and then off to explore the Castro.
We walked along 24th, up Castro and some hilly territory (we needed it after the farmers' market graze fest), but what gorgeous architecture.
The Castro seems to have some amazing shops and wine-cheese shops too. Quite a buzz on a Saturday.
Hunger pangs hit in Noe Valley and we stopped at Patxi's Pizza where we met our match and had to take most of it home.
Quite tired now, and full of goodies.
Time to recharged before tomorrow - our last day in wonderful, generous, exciting, beautiful San Francisco.
The Haight tour awaits, then Pacific Grove.
Any advice on heading out of the city from the car hire firm in O'Farrell Street to Half Moon Bay, and on to Pacific Grove would be most welcome. Thank you.
What an amazing holiday. We're so very grateful for it all.

Not sure how you're planning to get to Half Moon Bay (coast or not), but I'd take one of two routes - when you exit the car rental, turn right on O'Farrell, then right on Stockton (at Macy's). At Market, zig onto 4th. Three or 4 blocks on 4th, then get on 101 south, exit 280 toward Daly City, stay on 280 until 92 West toward HMB, just keep driving until you get to Main St. In HMB.

Leaving the city, you can get to 280 South directly from 6th. Which is better depends where the car rental place is.

I would try to hug the coast as much as possible. On Sunday morning you won't hit much traffic. Head west on Geary to Ocean Beach, then follow the Great Highway south to 35 and then off on Hwy 1 to Pacific Grove. Follow #11 past Devil's Slide, Montara, and Half Moon Bay. How about breakfast at HMB on Main St!!

Stu Dudley

Oops - you are leaving on a Monday - not a Sunday. Still - there will not be much traffic on the route I suggested. That is a reverse commute.

101 or 280 freeways will be packed if you hit them at the wrong time - which is likely. Take Geary, Great Highway, 35, 1.

Stu Dudley

Thanks s7307 and Stu. We have to pick up the car by 7am from 340 O'Farrell Street - so hopefully it will be quiet while we get used to driving the automatic and driving on the right hand side.
The plan is to have breakfast at Half Moon Bay and explore a little and then head along the coast to Big Sur before backtracking to Pacific Grove. Then we will explore Pacific Grove (where we are staying) and Carmel (we have two days) before heading to Healdsburg for two days and then flying home.
Appreciate all your help, comments and advice.
Thank you
Lisa

Geary is one-way till you hit Van Ness - so drive on the left side of the road of you like. After Van Ness, it is mostly a wide divided street. Same with much of the Great Highway.

Stu Dudley

Ha, thanks Stu.

I would suggest just driving to Pacific Grove and exploring it on Monday--its not that big, then using one of the two days you have in the area to drive to Big Sur and explore places along the way, such as Point Lobos.

Hi SAB, we may decide to do that. We'll see how we do for time. Thank you.
Today, we headed out with plenty of time to get from Noe Valley to the Haight for the start of the City Guides tour at 11am. Or so we thought...we didn't factor in the Castro Street Fair and road closures and not being able to get our second bus - the 33. We eventually got a taxi - the first driver apparently "declined" the job, according to the operator. The one who did pick us up took us to the main city library, even though we gave him the Page Street library address. Anyway, we got there more than half an hour later, and thought our chances of finding the tour were pretty slim. Remarkably, we spotted our group down Cole Avenue in the Panhandle. I can't believe it, but we were so relieved. And it was a great tour - three hours. We heard all about the area from the 1906 fire to the Diggers and the 60s, the summer of love and residents including Janis Joplin, Hendrix, Grateful Dead, Hells Angels and Jackson Browne. We were looking at the Jackson Browne house when we met the owner, who had recently painted it using 31 colours. It looked amazing. We visited Buena Vista park - what great views. Danny Glover's house was pointed out and we saw where the Diggers had their symbolic funeral before leaving the area. Another remarkable tour by City Guides - these have really shown us the diversity of San Francisco's neighbourhoods. We can't recommend them highly enough.
We had a couple of hours exploring Golden Gate Park before it was time to head back to Noe Valley and pack ahead of the next leg of our trip.
We'll be sad to leave the city, but are looking forward to what lies ahead.

Did you get accosted by any aggressive panhandlers? Let us know, so that others can learn from your experiences/observations.

Did you see the Grateful Dead house???

Stu Dudley

Hi Stu, no we didn't come across any aggressive panhandlers. By the time we got there, the area was teeming with people. Also, because we were so late, Grant wanted us to run everywhere - sometimes I suspect he thinks we're in an episode of The Amazing Race!
We did see the Grateful Dead house and, like the Hells Angels house across the road, I'm well...grateful we had a guide to point them out. They look so ordinary, and beautifully maintained, they don't really stand out. I guess that's right, that history is just one chapter in the life a house.
Have to pack up now and head out on the road.
Farewell San Francisco, thank you for your beauty, diversity, helpful, proud people who made us feel so very welcome.
Onwards to Pacific Grove.

A very early start today. We booked a taxi online yesterday for 6am today and it arrived on time. Yay!
We got to Alamo in O'Farrell Street at 6.15am. Unfortuantely, it only opened at 7am. We thought it was open 24 hours, but apparently that is only the airport branch.
So we waited and waited and the staff we could see inside did not take pity on us. I imagine they aren't allowed to open early. So, we got the car and Stu's directions got us out of the city on our way to Half Moon Bay without drama. Another yay! Thank you Stu.
We still got to Half Moon Bay early. On our way we passed the Cliff House restaurant and saw people out for an early morning surf. Gorgeous.
At Half Moon Bay, we enjoyed the sleepy (it was still early), quaint atmosphere and, spotting the sheriff's car, we decided we had found our breakfast stop at a cafe and bakery.
We found the sheriff inside, enjoying a muffin with his morning coffee.
We shared buttermilk pancakes with strawberries and enjoyed seeing all the Halloween decorations and baked goods - especially the cookies. They looked like little works of art. Fab.
On the road, we had to brake suddenly to avoid a deer. A big, beautiful creature. A wonderful treat to see and a reminder to be cautious on the road.
We loved the stunning ocean scenery we saw on the road, especially as we got to Big Sur. Even in cloudy conditions, it was impressive and breathtaking and we were grateful for the opportunities to pull over and take a million pictures.
We had lunch at Nepenthe - arriving before the lunch rush and being rewarded with a table offering an incredible view.
We both opted for the Ambrosia Burger. What a tasty choice. And, since we were driving now and both have sore throats (you relax on holiday and get sick!) large glasses of lovely orange juice. Divine. There were some cheeky stellar jays getting very close. The staff told us they could be pests. Apparently, they favour a diet of french fries and sugar packets - I can relate to that!
A few more million pictures and we were back on the road, heading for Pacific Grove.
We had wondered about doing the Big Sur drive today, but later, when the rain came, we thought perhaps it was just as well. The weather may improve, but it may not...
We found our home for today and tomorrow - a lovely, quaint cottage. Stocked with all we could need and more in an adorable "cottagey" beach style. I never want to leave. Wish we had longer here. We braved the rain to explore. So many lovely shops and restaurants. The beach is so close. Hope we have the opportunity to explore - go away rain. Tomorrow, we will explore the town some more and head to Carmel. We fancy dinner at Clint Eastwood's restaurant. I don't think you can book for a table for two. Grant keeps calling it "Clint's Place", as if they are pals. Bet that's news to Clint. We'll see where we end up. It's all part of the adventure.

I am enjoying this trip report! We are headed that way in a couple of weeks, so we just might follow in your footsteps
Hope the weather improves and your throat feels better.

Thank you Npiazza, sore throats and weather aren't getting in our way too much. It's so beautiful here, and there's so much to see and do. Hope you have a fabulous holiday.