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Sushi in San Francisco & other advice needed
Greetings!
After great advice - I booked my weekend with my stepdaughter to celebrate her 16th birthday. We are staying at the Westin St. Francis (on starwood points plus 60.00 cash a night - so it appears a good value). We arrive from the Orange Curtain - errr I mean Orange county ;-) on a Friday at 1:00 pm into SFO. I will take the BART - I have never flown into SFO - only Oakland so any information on the BART from SFO is welcomed. We leave on Sunday evening around 8:00 pm or so. The only firm plans we have right now is the Alacatraz tour deal on Sat am at 10:00 am. My stepdaughter will be 16, she is easy going, fun, loves to shop, eat Sushi and Italian food. I am going to try to get her into a day spa - I thought that would be fun for her - but we are both open to suggestions. I am looking for any recommendations for Sushi or anything else you can think of. I have received GREAT advice on the original thread but wanted to start one that had S.F in the subject line - :) Thank you all so much! |
Re: BART from SFO
Once you exit the secured area, follow signs for AirTrain (free). Not sure if it's the same at every terminal, but you go UP escalators. Once you arrive at the AirTrain station (there's one for each terminal), there are 2 platforms for each lines: Red and Blue. Both stop at the SFO BART station, but depending on which terminal you arrive at, one line will be faster than the other (check the directional arrows). See map here: http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/atsfo/airtrain/map/ When you get off at the SFO BART stop, you need to buy your BART tickets from the machines. There are about 4 machines total. Go to BART's site so you know in advance how much it will be. It was $5.35 one-way adult fare from SFO into Powell Street (Union Sq). If you're taking BART back to the airport, you can buy a ticket with $10.70 on it. Basically, it's a stored value ticket and becomes invalid when the money runs out. Not sure what the fare is for your stepdaughter. I brought enough change with me so I put in $5.35 into the machine in cash. The ride from SFO into Union Sq is about 30 minutes. Get off at Powell Street station, and exit the Powell street side (thru the plaza, see map here: http://www.bart.gov/stations/powl/map.aspx ). Walk up Powell street - it's a slight incline up - and Westin St Francis is 3 blocks north. |
P.S. all the stations I mentioned have escalators, so you don't have to worry about dragging your luggage up flights of stairs.
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I can't tell from BART's website to see if there's a discount for children.
http://www.bart.gov/tickets/index.aspx Regarding buying tickets from machines, <i>All BART stations have automatic ticket vending machines that accept nickels, dimes, quarters and $1 coins, as well as $1 $5, $10 and $20 bills. You can also use credit and debit cards in <b>select machines</b>.</i> It's best you have exact change in cash, in case those machines at SFO's BART station don't take CC. How long is the Alcatraz tour? i'm sure you know about the Farmer's Market @ Ferry Building? The market is only from 8am-2pm on Sat. Would it be possible to drag your SD there at 8am before the Alcatraz tour? If not, will you have time to go there AFTER the tour? You can easily get between Ferry Building and Alcatraz pier via the F-line (historic tram cars). http://www.streetcar.org/mim/streetcars/index.html |
<i>Not sure what the fare is for your stepdaughter. </i>
No discounts for kids as far as I know. The machines give change, so you can put in a $20 bill and get back change for the first ticket, and then used the change plus for the second ticket. |
There are lots of places for sushi. I'd say ask on Chowhound as that provides you with the up to date info from folks in the absolute know.
I am still working on the facial idea. |
Mom, is this your email address d...n...m at aol? Just want to be sure. I got sushi advice from a foodie friend and I want to email it to you.
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Bar Crudo is absolutely gorgeous. They serve nothing but raw dishes (except their seafood chowder which was the best I ever had in my life), more sashimi-style than sushi-style. The raw seafood comes with mediterranean and Asian flavors and spices and is delicious. Very reasonable prices. And were atmospheric, definitly a hip place in San Francisco.
http://www.barcrudo.com/ |
As I recall, you need your BART ticket to exit the train to the street, so don't toss it after you get on the train!!!
Deb |
MomDD, I can't tell you how much I enjoyed the shops at the Ferry Building. Put it early on your schedule so you'll have to go back as many times as you can :-) I dropped my bags off at the hotel and headed on for a late lunch at the Slanted Door. I bet your daughter would love it. And, then strolled the shops a bit, bought chocolates, etc.
When I went back on Saturday I was shocked at how much busier it was. Have fun! |
It's true, Saturday at the Ferry Bldg is wall-to-wall people. Lots of tourists, true, but lots of San Francisco residents who actually shop there, too.
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If your BART ticket still has residual stored value on it (eg, you put in $10.70 on it and only used $5.35 on the first trip), then when you insert your BART ticket in the turnstile at Powell St, you need to take the ticket back.
If there's no remaining value, the turnstile machine "eats" the ticket. AFAIK, if you put in $20 on the BART ticket and only used $10.70, you cannot get the money back by turning the ticket in. On the ticket machine, you can specify the exact amount you want to store on the ticket. The Farmers Market on Sat gets more crowded as the morning goes on. The earlier you go, the fewer people there are. And I can tell many local residents shop there, as they bring their shopping carts and their reusable bags. If you plan on buying something, make sure you take your reusable bag at home with you! |
I would further suggest only putting the fare you need one way on BART ticket, no fun losing the ticket with fare on it before you get to use it for the return trip to SFO.
Better the machine eat the ticket after the trip from SFO to Union Sq than lost it and the $$ on it. [No, we didn't lose ours, but DH did lose his 7 day Muni pass, which we replaced immediately and then had to come home early so we didn't get our value on the Muni pass this last trip.] Deb |
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wow!!! I sure do love hangin' out with you folks! I cannot wait to delve into all this wonderful information. YK - thank you so much on the BART.
SF - yes, that is my email. Going to go back re-read through this all and get a feel for it! |
Here you can learn about different discounts on BART
http://www.bart.gov/tickets/index.aspx Who's eligible? Students age 13 to 18 who are enrolled in middle or secondary school. The orange ticket may be used only for trips to and from school or school-sponsored events, Monday through Friday only. What's the fare? 50% of full fare. Orange tickets with a $32 value are sold for $16. DD, even if you buy a discounted ticket for your SD and use it to/from airport, it will be more expensive then buying a full price ticket at the airport. |
Okay... I have to go back and read through the ticket stuff. I tend to mess up on that. I purchased museum passes in Paris for my children under 18 and did not need to - and I know I spent too much money on the subways in Paris - I never could master it.
We decided to go and see Wicked in SF. So far here is what we have: Friday arrival 1:00 pm SFO 8:00 pm Wicked tickets Sat. 10:00 am Alcatraz tour... |
What Dayenu is saying: is that even though there are discounts on BART for teenagers, it won't work for your SD on this trip. The discount ticket is a $32 value BART Orange card which you'll only pay $16 for it. However, full price, roundtrip tickets to/from SFO on BART are only $10.70 total, there's no point of paying $16 for the "discount" BART Orange card.
In other words, both you and your SD should just buy the full fare ticket on BART to and from SFO. Each ticket is $5.35 one-way, per person. |
OK~I am just back from "the city". There is a Cinta Aveeda Salon on Bush within walking distance of your hotel. They do facials.
Nordstrom Spa (also walking distance from your hotel) has a teen facial. To my memory the spa uses Decleor which is a wonderful botanically based line. I get my facials on this side of the Bay. I can tell you prices generally run $95-125. |
oh Pam!!! Thank you!!!
Okay..got it Dayenu and YK. :-D |
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