andiamo

Hi Tammy,
You mentioned coming to the bay area/wine country and asked whether it would be better to come around Christmas, April or June.

If you want to get away from snow and extreme cold, then Christmas is very pretty in the Bay Area. It will be in the 50's or so, but the holiday decorations are beautiful.

June will hit the onslaught of tourists in the area....and also in June, our "summer" weather hits with fog and cold days about 65 degrees or so. (Of course, there are a few odd days when it hits 75)

So, my vote would be for April. Our spring is usually beautiful, the rain is usually over by Feb at the latest, the summer fog hasn't hit as hard, and it won't be as crowded with tourists.

When I have friends visit, I always advise April/May or Sept/Oct.

Also, you'll probably get better hotel rates in April, than you will in the "summer" season of June, or during the holidays. Just a thought.

Have a great visit!!!!
Andiamo

tammy63

Andiamo.. I just found this post. Ha! I've been looking since yesterday morning after I read that you posted it under "California". I'm learning how to use this awesome site!! Thanks for the info. You are great as always! I forgot to mention that I live in Oklahoma so it gets pretty cold in the winter and warm in the summers. We love the 60 - 70 degree temp. I teach school so am limited to usually the "tourist" months everywhere we go. I was looking at our schedule and thought we had a break in April but it looks like the are built in snow days. Christmas sounds fun since I will already get to experience the October weather. CAN'T WAIT! As you know, the October visit will be with girlfriends participating in the marathon but the next trip I'm planning will be with hubby only. Did I tell you why I had to plan another trip?? My hubby was going to come with me to the October marathon so I had airline tickets and then found that my friends decided to not take the husbands! So.. I had to get another flight and my other tickets were nonrefundable but could change the dates as long as I use them in one year. That is why I'm looking for another time to come. Poor me?? right! LoL! Thanks again for your help!

andiamo

Tammy,
How awful you have to come to the number one destination city in the world twice in one year!

Glad you found my post. I've been to Oklahoma a few times for business, we have a call center in Oklahoma City. I always like it there, and the people were so incredibly friendly!!!!!!!!

Christmas will be fun, and if you start planning now, you can find a hotel at a decent price. I remember when I first moved here 16 years ago (from the East Coast) and had 50 degree weather while Christmas shopping with Santa and all the decorations! It's fun! SF is so pretty during the holidays, I'm certain you and your hubby will enjoy it. It will be very romantic! I recently had some friends stay at the Hotel Carlton on Sutter street. It's about 5 blocks from Union Square.....but they said the hotel was gorgeous, and the rates were really reasonable. Just a thought if you don't know where to stay.

Have fun in October with the girlfriend visit and the marathon. You didn't mention (or I missed it) how long you and your husband will be visiting. If I can offer any suggestions, please post back and I'd be happy to help. I'm just so in love with San Francisco, and love to help people enjoy it. I helped some people recently from Great Britian and had the pleasure of meeting them. We have since become great email friends. So, this site is great in so many ways!

Again have a great trip, and if I can help with additonal advice, please let me know.

Andiamo!
(and say hi to all the friendly folks in OK for me!!!)

andiamo

Tammy, sorry, one more thing, since you are new to Fodor's, you can always type in Andiamo in search, or click on my name above my posts and it will take you to all the advice I've tried to help with. It might help you find this post in the future. Sorry, I thought I put it under CA, at least I tried to, but looks like it ended up under United States. Sorry for the confusion.

'Mo

tammy63

Andiamo!

Hubby and I will probably just be there for 4 nights (5 days). I will certainly be whining for your help at least when we figure out the time for our visit.

I bet you do meet a lot of people! I am feeling so close to you I was about to ask you to meet me at the finish line with a cold rag and a puke bucket! LOL!! .. Just kidding of course but I've heard that your San Francisco hills are killers! I did a 10 mile training run this morning with hills and I was looking for an oxygen mask by the time I finished! Ha! Our humidity is horrible here though. I'm not an elite marathoner or anything. I just pray to reach the finish line perpendicular!!

LoveItaly

Good morning andiamo, in reading this thread I noted you mentioned that you posted under California but it ended up on the US Board. andiamo, no matter what state you put your post on it will end up on the US Board. The same for the Europe Board. Say you post it under Italy for example it will be on the Europe Board.

Enjoy your beautiful SF weather this weekend! It is suppose to be 105 again here in Sacramento Valley. Very hot!! Take care.

andiamo

Tammy,
So happy to help! Feel free to post with any questions. If you post near October, put a post with my name in it so I'll be sure to see it.

Good luck with the marathon, I'm sure you'll do great! Do you have a map of the route to check out how many hills there are? I'm not a runner, but know many. Some hints....don't try to run up the hill...you'll wear yourself out for the rest of the race...so do a fast walk, and pace yourself. The ones that run up the hills burn out pretty quickly.

Look forward to hearing from you, and will be happy to help you and Hubby with any questions or idea.

Andiamo