Vancouver/Seattle/San Francisco Trip

ConorKavanagh

Hey guys. Apologies for the delay in replying. I wasn't really checking here after the forum went down for a couple of days there last week. All of the different recommendations that you've made have been put onto the list of things to do in San Francisco. It is much appreciated because as I may have outlined previously, we have a pretty good idea what we're going to do in Washington, but are not as clear on what we're doing when we reach San Francisco. Really looking forward to the trip now. That's a pretty good tip about the Chinese restaurants brianlux, re: looking for one with more Asian customers than non-Asians. Makes sense now that I think about it! If any of you all are ever planning a trip to Ireland be sure to let me know!

tempo_n_groove

There are quite a few things you can do right by the Presidio.

Drive or walk through the Presidio.  Hike the Enchanted forrest trail.
Baker beach is literally right around the corner and has awesome views of the Golden gate bridge.  The far end is a nude beach so don't be to surprised if you see naked people at the end there, lol.
If you like Star Wars then you can walk over to Lucas Films studio and see the Yoda fountain and take a look at the small museum of Star Wars stuff in the building.
Not too far from there is the Palace of Fine Arts.
Take another little walk to the end of the pier and listen to the Wave organ.  Walk across the street of Marina Blvd and head towards yacht harbor and walk past the lighthouse until you reach the end.

Now you need to get in the car.

Go over and ride the Seward  Street Slides at Seward and Douglas st.  It's closed on Mondays for whatever reason so don't go on a Monday!
Not too far is Haight Ashbury and the Grateful Dead house.  HA is very corporate and not worth more than a few minutes there.  The hippie kids all hang out by the signs trying to sell you shit too.

Back in the car and head over to The Mission District to walk down the alley to see the Street Murals . This alleyway is local street art and a history lesson and politics all rolled up in one.  It has the cit's history on the walls there.  It's in between 24th St. and 25th St., and Treat St. and Harrison St.  Ask the locals if you can't find it.  Remember to look at the sidewalks too as there is always something cool to look at.

Back in the car and head over to 1700 16th avenue to see the Secret Tiled staircase.  It's a really neat mosaic stair case.  You'll get what I mean when you see it.

All this can be done in a day.  This is all parts of San Fran that most people wouldn't know about or see so enjoy!  Let me know if you actually see any of this and what you thought.

ConorKavanagh

Oh my God thank you so much! There's so many things in your post that are interesting to us. We're definitely eager to see the Grateful Dead house and also Lucas Film. I have a soft spot for Yoda so definitely need to go and see my favourite little guy's fountain! What are the Seward Street Slides?

tempo_n_groove

ConorKavanagh said:

Oh my God thank you so much! There's so many things in your post that are interesting to us. We're definitely eager to see the Grateful Dead house and also Lucas Film. I have a soft spot for Yoda so definitely need to go and see my favourite little guy's fountain! What are the Seward Street Slides?

They are actual human slides!  You ride a piece of cardboard down them!!!
https://youtu.be/ni-Pzt-YRHk

tempo_n_groove

Since no one mentioned Seattle yet I would recommend Gas Works park, the troll under the Freemont bridge, drive on the floating bridge, the ballard Locks and damn, it'll be a little early but you should be able to see some steelhead or an early Salmon through the glass there.
Do a tour of Seattles Underground. 
I would also tell you to take one of those boat tours by the piers.  They have a whole slew of info that you can learn about the city.
They have a beautiful Botanical garden there.
Take a ride on the tram just to see the city or maybe get where you need to go, lol.

tempo_n_groove

I forgot to add that if in Freemont go see the Lenin Statue  and grab a great taco right there too!

ConorKavanagh

That statue of Lenin.....why is it there? I googled it and found an article from a few years ago that said the thing was up for sale. Ha ha.

tempo_n_groove

ConorKavanagh said:

That statue of Lenin.....why is it there? I googled it and found an article from a few years ago that said the thing was up for sale. Ha ha.

I know I can google it but I'll go off of memory.

In 1995? this person found it in another country and brought it back here to the US.  What I don't know is why Freemont decided to erect it?

ConorKavanagh

That sounds crazy. So someone just bought it and left it there on the street?!

tempo_n_groove

ConorKavanagh said:

That sounds crazy. So someone just bought it and left it there on the street?!

Here you go!
https://fremont.com/explore/sights/lenin-statue/

ConorKavanagh

That is such a bizarre story. Okay that is a definite addiction to my time in Seattle. Fremont already sounds like such a cool part of the city I think.

jerseyjammer1

Lots of great info in this thread, as I've never been to the area either. Any thoughts on seeing Mount Rainier?  If I'm making a daytrip from Seattle to Mount Rainier National Park, what is the best one or two things to see?  And is do-able in a daytrip. Maybe two hours each way?  Leaving Seattle in early AM and returning early evening.  Myrtle Falls, Grove of the Patriarchs, Paradise Valley/Trail? Appreciate any thoughts! Thanks

tempo_n_groove

ConorKavanagh said:

That is such a bizarre story. Okay that is a definite addiction to my time in Seattle. Fremont already sounds like such a cool part of the city I think.

Enjoy!

I can't wait to hear about your trip!!!

ConorKavanagh

I'm watching The Killing at the moment, which is kind of making me scared about winding up in the boot of the mayor's campaign workers cars. But yes, I'm really looking forward to it and will be reporting back!

PJ_Soul

ConorKavanagh said:

I'm watching The Killing at the moment, which is kind of making me scared about winding up in the boot of the mayor's campaign workers cars. But yes, I'm really looking forward to it and will be reporting back!

FYI, The Killing is actually filmed in Vancouver. They just use stock skyline shots to make it seem like it's in Seattle, but all the actual scenes are Vancouver.

ConorKavanagh

Interesting. Now that I know that it kind of takes the magic out of it for me ha ha. Kind of how the recent Ghostbusters was filmed in Boston mainly, masquerading as New York. Still though, looking forward to making it to Twin Peaks and seeing some of the locations I watched so often.

oftenreading

You should be in Seattle by now, OP. 

How’s it going?

ConorKavanagh

Hey there oftenreading. I wasn't on here in a couple of weeks. I got back to Ireland this morning. This has been the best couple of weeks ever. Do you know The Morrissey in Vancouver? I got to play at the open mic night in there a couple of weeks back. Also, loved Jam Café there.

tempo_n_groove

@ConorKavanagh

Tell us about your trip!!!

ConorKavanagh

So basically we crammed a helluva lot into a short space of time while we were in Vancouver.
We went to Stanley Park for a walk around Beaver Lake on our first day. It was such a beautiful park and we just enjoyed strolling around and checking out the scenery, then when we made it to the edge of the park, took in some nice views of the city.
My girlfriend was really excited to see Jam Café, so we queued up early one morning (which is something I normally wouldn't be caught dead doing), but it was worth it to try their red velvet pancakes!
We went up to Squamish to the Sea To Sky Gondola, which was breathtaking. Although about a week before we left Ireland there had been a blizzard which caused me considerable stress so I wasn't too happy to be surrounded by snow on the walk. 
It was cool to see the Jimi Hendrix Shrine as well, despite the fact that the place was closed.
I could go into more detail but a definite highlight for me was getting to perform in The Morrissey, as I hadn't played any of my music in public in years and have recently just started working on my 2nd record, but live performance has been something which I've been increasingly nervous about. So I figured since I was on the other side of the planet, where no one in the audience would have any expectations for what I could do, I might as well try and subdue some of the anxieties about playing shows going forward.

I'll do a much longer post about Seattle in the coming days, and I'm sure I could go into way more detail about Vancouver. Anyway, we thought it was a pretty nice city for the 3 days we spent there. It was kind of strange being outside of Ireland for St. Patrick's Day and seeing how people seem to take it as such an excuse to get wasted everywhere.