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How To Walk San Francisco In A Day

February 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The Port of San Francisco

The focus of this post is for those who haven’t been to San Francisco or those of you who like exploring and want to know a great way to see a lot of the city in one day. My friend Georgeanna and I set out on foot and little did we know that we would end up walking over fifteen miles. We didn’t take a single mode of transportation other than our feet because that is what most all tourists do and we wanted to do something different. If this is something you would want to do then read on.

Georgeanna lives in what’s referred to by locals as the Tender-Nob. It’s between the Tenderloin District and Nob Hill. Your point of departure might be different than ours but the main thing is to get a bearing of where you are and work your way around the city in a logical fashion so you aren’t wasting time crossing back over areas you have already been to. We started at 10am, but I would suggest leaving earlier since most of the well known breakfast eateries will be crowded and require waiting.

Taking this approach you really get to see the city. Driving through the Haight on a bus will not give you the feel that we got walking through all the unique neighborhoods. Driving down Lombard Street and taking a picture from your sunroof will not be the same and climbing a light post and getting a unique shot that others don’t have. It’s all about the experience and I think you will look back and be very glad you did this versus taking any of the typical tours.

Here is our path:
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Went to:

  • Breakfast at Dottie’s True Blue Cafe in the Tender-Nob
  • Union Square
  • Chinatown
  • The Embacadero from The Ferry Building to Fisherman’s Warf (jump off around Pier 23 if you want to visit Coit Tower)
  • Coit Tower ($5 gets you to the top for amazing 360 views of Golden Gate, Alcatraz, Bay Bridge and the city)
  • Lombard Street
  • Lunch somewhere in Lower Nob Hill (We ate at Sliders)
  • Walked down Polk Street and Filmore Street
  • Golden Gate Park – Visited the Botanical Gardens and Japanese Tea Gardens
  • Upper to Lower Haight Street
  • Walked down Market Street to Van Ness Avenue
  • Civic Center (good night photo)
  • Dinner at Sudachi in the Tender-Nob
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San Francisco to Lake Tahoe

February 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Lake Tahoe SunsetThe snow is coming down so let’s take a little trip to Lake Tahoe. Sound good to me! As of this writing Squaw Valley has received 32-38″ in the last 24 hours, 56-62 in the last 48 hours, and the storm total is up to 82-96″.  I always seem to get lucky when I’m out west but this is just unbelievable.

We left  San Francisco at 10:15pm in the hopes that less traffic would be on the road since the storm was so big. It started off really well, but once vehicles were stopping on I-80 to put on snow chains the flow started to come to a halt. A three and a half hour trip took six hours and we got to Squaw Valley at 4:15am. It took another thirty minutes just to get the car up the road, into the driveway and our luggage into the house. At 6:00am we finally got to sleep and it was really just a power nap because the lifts open at 8:30am. That 7:30 alarm for me was like being a kid in a candy store because it’s not often that you get over seven feet of fresh snow in two days. It was going to be one of those epic powder days that you remember for a long time.

On our first chair up you could hear the avalanche cannons going off which always just adds to the excitement because you know there is some serious snow. Run number quickly got off to a rough start for Georgeanna because she fell in some deep stuff. I waited for five or ten minutes and didn’t see her so it was time to go. As they say, you don’t have friends on a powder day. If you have never experienced powder let alone a storm of this magnitude it’s somewhat indescribable.  The feeling of just floating down a mountain with snow above your knees and hitting you in the face is what it’s all about.

Later in the day an area of the mountain opened called Granite Chief. We just happened to be right at the chair  and waited for people to start loading. Everyone cheered because this lift hadn’t opened the entire storm so it was completely untouched terrain. On our run down the chair passes over a thirty foot rocky cliff section that I have thought about doing on prior trips but this was the day to actually consider it. Powder equals more courage so I stood over it, used people in the oncoming chairs as spotters to let me know where I could safely clear and just pointed it. Right when you jump you hear nothing, it just goes totally silent. You just have to focus on nailing the landing and trying to ride it out. Jumping is the easy part; it’s the landing where you can go wrong. I stomped it! When I rode it out you could hear everyone on the lifts cheering for me because they love to see people throwing caution to the wind and going for it. I had perma-grin that you just couldn’t whip off.

Went to: Blue Coyote – dinner in the village

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The San Francisco Treat

February 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

San Francisco China TownSo far San Francisco in February is rainy mess, but that’s not going to stop me from exploring this 7 mile wide city. Today started off with a stroll through Chinatown and let’s just say there were plenty of those cat figures, swords and other random stuff that nobody needs. Then we went to hell on earth, the California DMV.  This place is run by a group of donkeys and that’s being generous.  My friend needed to do a simple little task of paying a $55 fine, but they do not allow you to pay online. Two and a half hours later and 5 or more trips from the counter to our waiting chairs we had accomplished what seemed impossible.  We got out of there just in time because she was about to go postal up in there. It definitely would have made the news that’s for sure.

San Francisco Westfield MallNext up was the Westfield Mall. It was incredible the amount of stores and eateries inside this mega-mall. One cool thing was their curved escalators that wrapped around a massive foyer. We didn’t really go there to shop so it was just a pit stop.

For lunch we headed to Katana-Ya, a ramen/sushi restaurant in the Tenderloin District that is known to serve the best ramen in San Francisco. Be prepared to wait though because it’s a very small place and it’s very popular with the locals. They keep a clip board outside where you put your own name on a list. Then you just wait outside on the street for your table to be ready.  It was worth the wait though.  I ordered the Ground Beef and Tofu Ramen which was really good. I don’t know about you but when I think ramen all that comes to mind is college and a salt lick.  This was not that.  I highly recommend you check this spot out if you are here.

San Francisco Trolly

Went to:

  • Chinatown
  • Katana-Ya – ramen lunch spot in the Tenderloin District
  • R Bar and Wreck Room – drinks in Nob Hill
  • Westfield Mall
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Richmond to San Francisco

February 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

San Francisco Fishermans WharfToday I made my first visit to San Francisco. I have never heard anyone say a bad thing about it so I am very eager to explore.  When we landed it was nasty outside, but I was extremely because my friends are I are going to Lake Tahoe tomorrow to go snowboarding. Rain in San Francisco means snow in Tahoe. And by snow I mean 3-5 feet of the white stuff. To use to classic snowboarder term, it’s going to be epic.

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