San Francisco To Do's

[zicklepop]

What would the Revision3/digg peoples think would be good places to visit in San Francisco?

Some key places that come to mind is Google, but their in Mountain View; Apple, but their in Cupertino; and visiting the Kevin and Alex, their not doing a live taping next week.

[wastern]

Personally I'd make the trip up to see Apple

[klitzy]

Dude, just walk around....I went there last summer with a kid I know from China and we had a blast just walking around. Haha, maybe thats my teenager attitude coming in though. But seriously, the food down there is awesome down around "fishermans wharf." It also depends on where you are from. If you are from New York, might not be so fantastic but being from a small town in Virginia, it was pretty fun.

[thebigkahuna]

i just got back this week, i went for the launch party.

walk around fishermans wharf, its cool down there. you might be able to see the bush-man hes hilarious. alcatraz, the golden gate bridge and that big a$$ wheel is down there. and right by the cannery you can get those cool trollys rides by Lombard St. for like 5 bucks. i spent almost nothnig just walking around. union sqaure is cool, if you like shopping.

anyway, have a good trip

[klitzy]

OO OO I know what else I saw. It just came to me. His name is Super Niner and he is an old man who plays these classic rock and roll songs and tells jokes. He's hilarious and was right outside of the area where you get on a trolley.

[ramzis-hairy-chest]

There's a Titanic Exhibit going on at the Metreon Theater.
http://www.sftitanic.com/

I also recommend a restaurant called The Stinking Rose:
http://www.thestinkingrose.com/

It is imperative you try their Bagna Calda.

Try taking SF's public transportation if possible, because driving around SF is hella awful, unless you have a friend that know the area pretty well. Also, I don't mean to sound like your mother, but bring something warm to wear.

[mongoose]

I love this thread. I'm going down to SF in October to visit Stanford (I'm looking into going there) and visit family. I'm pretty stoked. I haven't been there for probably 10 years.

[ariastar]

I live in Mt. View and am not that far from the city. I LOVE LIVING HERE!!

If you want to do the tourist thing in the city, head to Pier 39 and that general area. Be sure to hit up the Musee Mechanique, or however it's spelled. It's by Fisherman's Wharf. If you want a more local experience, head by the Mission during the day, but not at night. If you can bear to leave the city, head down to Silicon Valley.

Down the street from Stanford (gorgous campus), on University Avenue, is Google's original office space. My ex-fiancé used to work in the same space for the company now there, Picaboo (which sucks). The office is shockingly small, and i have no idea how they kept it cool enough. My roommate's dad is a VP at Google. I have friends who work at Google. (Yet my roommate still couldn't get a job at Google.)

Yeah, Apple is in Cupertino. So is the Computer Sciences Museum. I love that place. Seeing one of Google's original servers, an original enigma machine, etc., is pretty cool. All that held the original servers together was gravity. Another Loma Prieta (like 1989) would have detroyed them.

Know who Wozniac is? Buddy of Jobs. One of my friends is working on a business with Wozniac. And Jobs frequents downtown Palo Alto, the Apple store there especially.

Living around here, places like Google and Apple and all lose their mystique.

Back to SAN FRANCISCO!

Okay, you can tell a tourist because they are the ones without jackets. Seriously, wear layers. The microclimates are extreme. Noe Valley may be 80, and then Union Square 60. Lombard is pretty fun, and if you liked the movie Mrs. Doubtfire, head to Steiner to see the house.

If you aren't familiar with driving in SF, definitely take public transit. It's surprisingly good. But drivers are irrational and you will probably get into an accident if you drive. Since so many roads are one way and the only legal way to make a left hand turn in 95% of the city is to make three rights (lost yet?) you will get lost, be watching for the signs, and not be paying enough attention to the other drivers. There's a reason that most cars in the city, even luxury autos, ahve dents. Even locals get into fender-benders a lot. Acceptable for locals, bad for people renting cars.

At the Wharf and Pier 39, there are these guys who spray paint elaborate as all sin pictures in minutes. Usually cityscapes or skies, but really nice anyway, and then sell them for about $15. People will buy them before they're completed, so you have to hurry.

These guys paint themselves silver and then pretend to be robots. They're awesome as well.
'
The Stinking Rose is all about garlic. Sony sold the Metreon. It's going to suck now. And on Columbus is an underground bookstore full of books the government doesn't want you to see. Literally underground. You open the door and go DOWN. Pretty cool.

Golden Gate Park has teh Japanese Tea Gardens. Worth a visit. And there are frakking buffalo in the park! REAL LIVE WILD BUFFALO!!

If you don't mind gay guys wearing nothing but leather chaps, you could always head out during the FOlsom Street Fair. Or is a marathon full of people in elaborate costumes with naked people running against the throng, Bay-to-Breakers is fantastic. The city sure seems to love nakedness. And no one cares!

Head north over the Golden Gate to Sausalito and head back, stopping by the Marin Headlands. The view of the bridge and city at night if so romantic. But watch for mountain lions! Yeah, they're there, and I encountered one, but wasn't attacked.

Go out of the city toward Oakland through the Caldecott tunnel one night. Exit Fish Ranch Road. It will swing you onto Fish Ranch Road (duh). After one mile, take a left onto Grizzley Peak Blvd. After a quarter mile, look to the right. It's awe-inspiring. You can see SF, Oakland, Berkeley, gthe North Bay, further down the penninsula, the Bay and GOlden Gate Bridges.... Stay overnight and watch the fog roll in. In the morning, when it rolls back out and the city starts to come to life.... Amazing. If I weren't heading to a ren faire tomorrow I'd probably go out there tonight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tell you what. To anyone planning to come here: Send me a messge and we'll meet up and I'll show yo a few things. Even better, I have a car and can drive and know the city well enough.

[thebigkahuna]

OO OO I know what else I saw. It just came to me. His name is Super Niner and he is an old man who plays these classic rock and roll songs and tells jokes. He's hilarious and was right outside of the area where you get on a trolley.

man that guy is still there i know exactly what yuor talking about

[zicklepop]

Wow thanks a lot and thats a lot of information! Read through it all and I'll be sure to take the advice I can, especially since I'm going to be in a rent-a-car.