SF with 12 year old - late July 2007
 

Hi everyone,
I am taking my 12 yr. old niece along with a couple of my friends to San Francisco at the end of July and am looking for advice in creating an itinerary. As I have it planned right now, we are traveling from Las Vegas on Thursday 7/26 planning on arriving in SF in the early evening. Probably just check in to the hotel and grab some dinner. Friday we are off to Gilroy for the Garlic Festival in the morning and heading to Santa Cruz to spend the late afternoon and evening at the Beach Boardwalk. Saturday morning we are planning on the Bay Quackers Duck Tour and then walking the Barbary Coast Trail. Golden Gate Park is scheduled for Sunday morning with the remainder of the day open to revisit points of interest from the previous day's tour that we wanted to see or do more in-depth. Monday takes us to Pac Bell Park for a tour with an unplanned day until the 4:30 departure cruise to Alcatraz. Tuesday is our last full day in SF with a planned trip to the USS Pampanito museum and the Aquarium of the Bay. Wednesday morning will be the return drive to LV.
Any suggestions? Are there any must see/do's we are missing? Also, are we including anything that is a waste of time? How about restaurant recommendations (my niece is not a picky eater, so anything goes).
I got some great advice from Fodor's for my trip to Boston last year and I would love to hear your opinions again. Thanks for being there.

On Sunday, visit the Haight Ashbury area (next to GG Park).

Stu Dudley

Since you are driving you might consider staying the first night in San Jose or down in Morgan Hill/Gilroy. While not scenic or all that interesting it would prevent you from turning around the next morning and driving back down to the area.

It would probably save you 3 hours (rt) of driving.

This is an interesting itinerary designed for your niece! She may be also interested in taking the fire engine tour to the bridge, maybe walking the bridge. Other then that... you are a great aunt!

>>Other then that... you are a great aunt! <<

or Uncle !!!

Stu Dudley

Your friday is a bit of a problem. Friday is not the busiest day at the Garlic festival - but it is busy enough to have heavy traffic. Driving from SF to Gilroy to Santa Cruz to SF could be a huge hassle.

The festival does take quite a bit of time - just Gilroy and back would be a pretty full day w/o the side trip to Santa Cruz. And Gilroy can be <b>HOT</b> at festival time.

If it were me, I'd spend the first night in/near Gilroy. Then you'd only have 1/2 the drive up to SF for night 2. You can decide after you are at the festival whether you want to detour to Santa Cruz.

Stu, you are right! Kbot, please solve the mystery: are you an aunt or an uncle? Aunt Faina And Uncle Stu will be having sleepless nights :)

I agree with staying the first night near Gilroy to avoid the extra driving and traffic. Otherwise, it will be a long day.

If you don't make it to Santa Cruz the same day as the Garlic Festival, I would go Tuesday in place of the USS Pamanito and the Aquarium of the Bay.

Thanks for the tips. For the record, I am a proud Uncle. Since I don't have kids of my own (that I'm aware of, at least), I really enjoy being able to spoil her.

We have to stay in SF Thursday night because a friend is flying in that night, but I do like the idea of doing Santa Cruz on Tuesday and staying in the area that night. Very good point.

While I am sure I would enjoy the historical significance of the Haight Ashbury area, is it something that a 12 year old would be interested in?

As far as dining goes, where's the best restaurant in Chinatown. A friend recommended the House of Nan King. What do you think?

Again, thank you all for the great advice. Keep it coming...We go on vacation every year and I have to one up it each time. It's a pride thing.

I'd not recommend the House of Nanking.

Depending on your budget, I'd suggest a &quot;dim sum&quot; lunch at New Asia or Miriwa, both on Pacific, or Yank Sing in the Financial District (for a more expensive version of dim sum).

For dinner, try the Far East Cafe on Grant or the R&amp;G Lounge on Kearny.

Welcome to California and have a safe trip! You're a great uncle! &gt;:D&lt;

Hello, Uncle! Visiting Haight Ashbury or not depends on your niece's interests. Is she a history buff? Does she know anything about the Summer of Love? Or at her age does she show any interest in smoking weeds? It all depends on her interests and personality.

Hello kbot,

I would not recommend House of Nanking either. It had its day a while back, but the last few times I went there, it was very basic dishes ech covered in the identical sauce.

The Haight Ashbury? Sure, take her there, but expect illusions to be punctured a bit. Even though Haight Street itself is kind of grubby, the magnificent Victorians in the surrounding blocks are worth seeing. Check out the area around Buena Vista Park, and upper Masonic and Delmar streets. My suggestion would be to take a late afternoon stroll around the Haight and then have dinner in the adjoining Cole Valley neighborhood.

Faina, good grief...the girl is 12. I hope you were kidding.

Another recommendation for New Asia for dim sum.

As for Haight Ashbury - as others have said, it depends on the kid's interests. I was facinated by the 60s when I was 12 (I was 12 in the mid-80s) and thought it was really cool to go to the Haight Ashbury neighborhood. Other friends thought it was lame and would rather hit the mall, so it just depends.

FainaAgain - Are you trying to corrupt my niece? I think we're going to pass on Haight Ashbury and its &quot;doobie&quot;-ous reputation. Maybe I'll visit some other time, though. While doing some research, I found some really good reviews for Chef Jia's in Chinatown - any opinions? How about Tommy's Mexican Restaurant? Is there usually a long wait there, and are the margaritas really worth all the hype I've been hearing?

Kbot, there is a restaurant Tonga Room in the Fairmont hotel, it looks like a polinesian village, from 8 pm thunderstorm with real rain and lightning, there is a pool in the middle of the room, a boat floats in with live singers.

Your niece may like it. They open for dinner only. 7.30 is the best time. I have boys, not girls, the younger was 12 when he went there first time, still likes it.

It's on Mason @ California street on the &quot;other&quot; cable car line :)

We went just a couple of years ago. My girls were just about 12. Their favorite place was Chinatown. We did the Wok Wiz tour with a lady named Dorothy. She was wonderful and the kids thought she was great. She told stories of being born and raised in Chinatown. We all had dim sum lunch somewhere afterwards.
They also like shopping there because everything was affordable.
We all liked dining in North beach at LoveItaly's suggestion, the Mona Lisa. Good italian food, casual and reasonably priced. We took them on the Sunday afternoon to see Beach Blanket Babylon and they thought it was fun. Hope this helps.

skip the musuem and aquarium of bay, both are waste of time.

Must Do's!

Coit Tower
Ton Kiang( restaurant in Richmond District
Golden Gate Bridge
Try Burgers at the Ferry Building Marketplace