I found out last week that I am going to San Francisco in early December for training. I'm staying at a hotel near or Fisherman's Wharf, with no rental car. So everything I do will have to be fairly close I guess. I'm already thinking I would like to see China Town and Alcatraz again. I went once with my parents years ago, but don't really remember anything else to see or do. Anyone have any other recommendations? Any good music shops in that area? Thanks!
You should go across the Golden Gate Bridge on December 7th. Then stay on the other side for Solo Bass Night II in Larkspur! http://www.unpronounceable.com/solobassnight/
Check out Hiaght-Ashbury Music and Ameoba Records both on Haight St. Ameoba has a kicken jazz section and a HUGE used section with out of print and hard to find cds galore. There are also some great clubs, Slims, The Warfield, Bruno's, Bimbo's, and many more with lots of live music. Try to get a copy of the pink section of the sunday SF Chronical for all the live music listings. I would stay away from the wharf if you can. Everything is way overpriced and way touristy. It's defintally not the hipest SF experience, plus, public transport in SF is great, you dont need a car with a little preplanning...... SF Clubs http://www.sanfrancisco.com/nightlife/ SF Muni website http://www.sfmuni.com/cms/mms/home/home50.htm Bay Area Rapid Transit website http://www.bart.gov/index.asp Bay area transit guide http://transit.511.org/index.asp Dont be afraid to explore off the beaten path, the worst that can happen is you all a cab to get back to your hotel. Just stay out of the Tenderloin District and Hunters point. ANd ask your hotel where to stay away from, they will tell you. Have fun and let us know how it goes!!!!
Just a couple miles north after crossing the ggb, drive up to Muir Woods for a very nice and beautiful walk for a couple hours, and then plan on driving about 5 minutes farther up the road to the (I think it's called Muir Beach) observation area and watch the sun go down. Then, it'll be 4:30. ;-) Go back and do what the above poster recommends.
Wow that was a ton of information fast! Thanks guys. lt looks like about a 2 hour bus ride (thanks a ton for the links Jady) to get over to Larkspur for Bass Night. That would be pretty close since my training is supposed to last until 6. I will see if I can manage it. Any other recommendations are welcome.
*subscribed as well* In a couple weeks my wife and I are going to be in SF, for the 2nd half of our wedding... so, I have been asking around about Napa and SF as well.
In Napa - the Skunk Train is a "can't miss" - very fun, good wine tasting, and the weather should be great. If you go from Napa over to Vallejo, you can take the ferry right into the touristy area Fisherman's Wharf. A lot touristy, but the ferry ride is pretty nice (and not too expensive).
The Mission is where it's at. Seriously, you can't have fun in SF without at least passing through The Mission. Start on Valencia, from 16th to 24th, and spread out from there. The Elbo Room, El Rio, Pancho Villa, 826 Valencia, Cafe Valencia, La Onda, La Boheme, 12 Galaxies, The Lab, Country Station, Glam-A-Rama, Rainbow Grocery, Suriya... I could live happily without ever leaving the Mission.
Black Magic Voodoo Lounge bar on corner of Van Ness and Lombard is a great place to go for a few drinks - friendly, fun place, sometimes with live music of the acoustic variety. Near to where you're staying, too.
san francisco is a awesome. i wish i could go back/live there. make sure you get a bowl of clam chowder, its a must have.
Thanks again. I think I'm going to have a hard time fitting all this stuff in now Any special place to get the Clam Chowder?
If you go to Guitar Center on Van Ness, definitely eat at Tommy's Joynt on the same street about a half mile toward downtown. Beer & buffalo stew!
I've been to SF a million times for a multitude of reasons. Half of my current band is up there and my girlfriend lived there for 3 years. If you like Indian food, go to Tasty Curry (near UCSF) - damn that's some good stuff. I've introduced a couple friends to Indian food and they ended up with uh... intestinal discomfort. But if you have a good stomach it's the best! There's a cool Burmese place on Clement called Burma Superstar. Stop over at Genki and get yourself a crepe with Nutella, whipped cream, stawberries, and bananas - yum! Yeah I'm a bit partial to the fine Asian cuisine in SF, but mostly everything I've had there is good. They do food right in the bay! After I turned my friend on to Orange guitar amps he got his own Orange at Rocker Guitars on Howard St. (I think). I've never been there but I'm definitlely going to hit it up next time I go. They seem to have all the good stuff like G&L and I think they carry Lakland too.
I just got back from SF. It is such a great town. Head in to downtown and check out the San Francisco Centre Mall if you're into shopping. Sweet mall with all kinds of nice stores. We took a trolley ride, check that out. Stand on the outside edge and hold on to one of the rails. That was a blast. It is $5 to ride it from Hyde up to Powell. I thought it was great just to walk around and soak up the history. I was looking at the old houses, and stores. Sorry I have no info on the music scene. The guys I was with were not the musical type. They just wanted to eat and shop. -Mike
Height street... Oh yeah... Bunch of hippies and great music stores. Love that place!!! Man, really sucks that we didn't get a chance to hang out... next time dude... next time for sure!
I agree. We had too much going on Saturday after my buddy got sick. After the football game, all I wanted to do was crawl in a hole and die. -Mike
Hrmm.... just so's you know, the mall downtown and the mall known as Haight St. are clogged full of tourists, suburbanites, and not much else. Even if you go to Haight "to see the hippies", all you will see are suburban teens with matted blond dreds, begging for change, trying to sell the worst quality of "buds" and dirty braided hemp items, feeding their dogs scraps from a garbage can out in front of the McDonalds, and pretending they didn't come from a middle-class family with a lawn just a couple weeks ago. Haight St. Music is a pretty decent percussion store (congas, cowbells, etc.), but for bass gear it is no better than what you'd find in any small town IMO. Club Deluxe on Haight has some pretty cool jazz acts once in a while, but not reliably. There is, of course, Amoeba. Amoeba is one of the finest CD stores on the entire planet, and that's not even hyperbole. People from Japan make pilgrimages to Amoeba. Amoeba is the only reason anyone who lives in SF will ever go to the Haight. Even at that, I pretty much stopped buying CDs because getting there is just too obnoxious to be worth it. However it is a worthy destination if you want to buy hard-to-find CDs. Sorry about the grumpiness of this post, but IMO downtown and the Haight are the two worst places in SF, and I would never bring an out-of-town friend there. If you DO end up on Haight St., roll downhill to the "Lower Haight" by Fillmore and visit Toronado and Rosamunde for beer and tasty sausages. Also a nearby bar called Noc-Noc for hard-industrial music and ambiance.
That's pretty much what i meant about it being great. Other then that, place is not what it was when i first saw it... i mean it has GAP in the middle...
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