how far away is wine country from SF? any other pretty/nifty things to do within a few hours drive from San Francisco?

I may as well make a week out of it and head north/south.

Napa and Sonoma wine country and Monterey, Half Moon Bay, Muir Woods, Carmel and the Pebble Beach are well within driving distance and worth the visit.

Flygirl: You could come up my way (Gualala/Sea Ranch) by driving Hwy. 101 north from S.F. to either Petaluma or Santa Rosa and driving west to Hwy. 1.

Both drives are beautiful - I just got back from Europe and DH and I kept commenting on the fact that no matter how scenic a place was, we were hard-pressed to find anywhere as beautiful as the Sonoma/Mendocino coast.

If you cut in at Petaluma, the drive features a lot of really pretty farmland and takes you to the coast at Bodega Bay. If you head west at Santa Rosa you will go by the Russian River which is lined with redwood trees and come out at the quaint vilage of Jenner at the mouth of the river.

Either way, it's a spectacular drive!

If you go down to the Monterey area, just a little further south is Point Lobos--a great place to take a short, beautiful hike.

Agree with gualalalisa. The coast scenery of Sonoma and Mendocino is world class. Particulary that infamous stretch of highway 1 between Jenner and Fort Ross, where it feels like the road is a tiny ribbon just clinging to the vertical pleats of the cliffs. Both hands on the wheel! Eyes on the road! Sometimes it's nice not to be the driver....
Anyway, for a day trip I would recommend Point Reyes or a combo of Mt. Tamalpais and Muir Woods. For a overnight or longer, a drive up to Mendocino, either on the coast OR take Route 128 through the Anderson Valley (Anderson Valley is the "other" wine country) to the coast either getting there or getting home.

You might be interested in the Hiller Aviation Museum in Redwood City. (or Belmont, or Redwood Shores... one of those towns)

flygirl - as you can see, there is PLENTY to do within a few hours drive of SF That's one of the reasons we all pay such high prices to live here.

All the suggestions so far are great. I would add Santa Cruz, the Santa Cruz mountains, and Half Moon Bay to the list.

thanks everyone, I am looking forward to it! I've only been there once but it's SO beautiful out there...

thanks to all, this is coming together! any other recos, feel free to post here!

Maybe J_Correa can help with this one...

There's an open air amphitheartre tucked into the side of Mt. Diablo in the east bay.

A great place to listen to a concert.

gc - I've heard of the amphitheatre there, but I don't have any details - I don't think I've ever been there.

Be careful about the weather. You can get very cold in the Bay Area. But the last time I warned someone of that. they spent the whole time in shorts. (only where appropriate)

Ah ha!

The Concord Pavillion!

We attended a few concerts there when we lived in the East Bay in the late 70's.

http://www.chroniclepavilion.com/calendar.asp

thanks everyone! I leave next week. One day we are going to the wineries, another free day I may do a bike ride in SF itself, or maybe get a car and check out somewhere else.

I do have parts of other days free, but those will be mostly centred around the wedding. (I am going for 5 days).

I'm going out for a friend/former coworker's wedding, isn't it romantic, they used to live in DC, currently Atlanta but San Francisco is their favorite city so they are getting married there!

flygirl,

Great suggestions so far. South of SF there are so many things to see. Off of the scenic 280 freeway in Woodside there's the Filoli Estate (www.filoli.org) Further south San Jose wouls make a great daytrip. Some of the mnore notable attractions are the Tech and Rosicrucian Egyptian Museums as well as the San Jose Museum of Art, the Winchester Mystery House, you could spend the day shopping and eating at sidewalk cafes in Santana Row. If you are into antiques there's a great Antique Row on West San Carlos Street. Along Lincon Avenue in Willow Glen is a quaint part of the city with small shops, antique stores, and cafes.

www.sanjose.org

If you are interested in seeing the coastal redwoods I highly recommend Big Basin in the Santa Cruz Mountains. (www.bigbasin.org)

Have a great trip.

I love Point Reyes - very idyllic!