SF - is my itinerary too much?
 

We (husband, myself, 17 year old, and 13 year old) leave next Saturday for San Francisco. We should arrive on Sunday in the after noon, giving us 2 1/2 days to see the city.

Day One (half day) - Lee Carter (shopping), La Taqueria (early dinner), Mitchell's Ice Cream (dessert), than leave car at hotel and take bus to Crissy Park for fireworks.

Day Two (where my craziness takes hold) - Drive down Lombard St and Filbert St (cheap thrills for the kids), tour coit tower, tour Maddie's Pet Center (13 year old's request), late lunch at Dolores Park and see the San Francisco Mime Troupe (17 year old's request), leave car at hotel and take cable car to Wharf, Tour USS Pompanito, pick up quick dinner take out and take night tour of Alcatraz, cable car back to hotel.

Day 3 (family plotting against me at this point) - walk through Chinatown for morning, visit cable car museum, take Powell-Hyde cable car to bay and back for fun, get car and see Musee Mechanique, Exploritorium/Tactile Dome, Dinner at Swan Oyster Depot or Mayes Oyster House (would love to know which one we should eat at), visit recycled records (another 17 year old request).

Leave the next morning for Six Flags

OK, am I totally insane? My family is energetic and will put up with my planning to a point. With only 2 1/2 days I really want to use our time wisely and have a good time. I'm actually pretty flexible when things happen or don't work out as planned. So any thoughts from those in the know? I'm still open to change at this point. I have purchased the tickets to Exploratorium and Alcatraz so those events are pretty much set.

After Six Flags our whole pace slows down to a crawl as we take 5 days to venture up the Northern coast to Oregon.

what a kid-licious itinerary. It can be done. Mitchell's Ice Cream is great! You will be in the Mission(now referred to as Lower Noe Valley) and so the bus ride will be rather lengthy to Chrissy Field unless your hotel is not near Mitchell's.If you want to consider another SF taste treat,check out Pauline's Pizza on Valencia. The pesto pizza is particularly good. Your kids might get a kick out of the john there.(It's rather like a shrine). If you get Sunset, the most recent issue has a review of good pizza in the city and describes Paulines. Day two does sound a bit crazy. I'd allow for some flexibility around what all you have planned. The Mime Troupe is an interesting choice for your 17 year old. What time is their show? You should really factor in parking, which around places like Mitchell's,Delores Park,North Beach(Coit Tower) can be a timely undertaking. You can wander around the wharf and then take the boat to Alcatraz for the night tour. I do not know from where you are travelling, but you might be pretty tired and need some time between the Mime Troupe and the Alcatraz night tour. Consider hanging out at the hotel for some r&r and then ask your hotel for good take out or good family food in the vicinity before heading out to "The Rock".
The Exploritorium should not be rushed through nor should the tactile dome(although that takes less time. Swan's is great but very small. You will find more tables at Maye's. Since you will be in the Polk Street area either way, you might consider Crustacean for good dungeness crab and garlic noodles. If the kids want burgers and fries..check out the Grubstake in the same neighborhood. There are also lots of places near the Exploritorium on Chestnut Street. It sounds like you might be staying at Cow Hollow Motor Inn.They can give you suggestions in the Chestnut Street area.BTW, you can also walk to Chrissy Field from there. You are a very good mother and you should have your children read this so they know an SF soul thinks so. Rest up..you have a whirlwind tour planned and then you go to Six Flags!

I would recommend doing COit Tower in the morning as soon as it opens because the parking lot fills up quite quickly and you are left to find a spot down the hill on the street and walk up or just not find a spot.

Thank you for the feedback. We are staying at the Bereford Arms (on the fringes of Union Square) on a friend's recommendation. We plan on dropping the car off at the hotel and catching a bus to Crissy Field from there. I think if we get out driving up and down the streets on day 2 early, we could get to the Coit Tower before it opens for parking. I will add the aditional restrurant ideas onto my list, they sound terrific. Thanks for the help.

The Mime Troupe puts on a free musical theater that is politically based. This is something my 17 year old is interested in seeing. They use the word mime in the ancient meaning 'to mimic'. If you are still interested, music starts at 1:30 with the show at 2:00.

I am in absolute awe of your energy. I'd build in some flexibility in case you feel yourself in need of a nap at some point! Always tell yourself you will be back to catch what you missed this time.

Kudos to your child for putting Maddie's on the list. St. Francis would be proud.

When we were in SF the end of May, the cable cars were not a viable transportation option. Except late at night they were full, and there was a considerable wait to get on, and then only if you were at one of the route end stops. Considering that other transit is about $1 and the cable cars are $3, they are for the tourist experience, not for ordinary getting around.

Check out the rules for your hotel's parking. It could be quite expensive ($40 per night) and there may be additional charges and waiting times if you plan to go in and out.

We found that walking, buses, and trams were the way to get around. The transit system offered passes for varying numbers of days and bags of tokens (not good on the BART) at a discount. A token got unlimited travel and transfers for 1.5-2 hours.

This link will get you lots of transit info for SF:

http://www.sfmuni.com/maps/indxmaps.htm

I have gone back to look at other SF posting and others have said the same thing about crowded cable cars. We are getting a 3 day passes and could use the bus on day 2 to get to the Wharf and ride the cable car after touring Alcatraz at night.

When I made this post I accidently posted it twice and now have to look for both. If possible I would like to end this post and have anyone with more suggestions or input to add it to the other. I hope that's not asking too much. My mistake I know. Thanks again for the information.