On my way to San Fran...

SomethingCreative

we're in Reading at the moment, but will be spending the rest of the week in San Fran. Any suggestions on activities to partake in while we are there? Any good music clubs or record store (anything the average 21 year old PJ fan might enjoy)


Thanks in advance!

sponger

Eh, I'd much rather spend the week in Monterey, which is an hour and a half south of San Fran.

I'm thinking specifically of Cannery Row, which is home to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (the world's second largest),a carousel, and a whole bunch of nifty restaurants including Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., which is a personal favorite of mine.

Carmel is a nice day-trip too. Gotta take the car through 17 mile drive just so you know just how broke and penniless you really are in the grand scheme of things. I think some of the world's most expensive homes and breathtaking views on are this lengthy stretch of road.

As far as San Fran goes...beside's fisherman's wharf, there's Buffalo Park, which is a big Buffalo sanctuary situated right in the middle of downtown San fRan. It really is an interesting sight to see right in the middle of all that industrial background.

I lived in the Bay Area for a few years, and hands-down I would say that Monterey is a far better place to spend your vacation than San Fran.

Let me put it this way: To spend a week in SF and not take a trip to Monterey is like spending the week in San Diego and not spending the night in Ave Revolucion in Tijuana - a real travesty. Of course, the major difference is that Monterey is not really a place where you'd go to buy coke and bang prostitutes.

riffrandall

sponger wrote:

Eh, I'd much rather spend the week in Monterey, which is an hour and a half south of San Fran.

I'm thinking specifically of Cannery Row, which is home to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (the world's second largest),a carousel, and a whole bunch of nifty restaurants including Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., which is a personal favorite of mine.

Carmel is a nice day-trip too. Gotta take the car through 17 mile drive just so you know just how broke and penniless you really are in the grand scheme of things. I think some of the world's most expensive homes and breathtaking views on are this lengthy stretch of road.

As far as San Fran goes...beside's fisherman's wharf, there's Buffalo Park, which is a big Buffalo sanctuary situated right in the middle of downtown San fRan. It really is an interesting sight to see right in the middle of all that industrial background.

I lived in the Bay Area for a few years, and hands-down I would say that Monterey is a far better place to spend your vacation than San Fran.

Let me put it this way: To spend a week in SF and not take a trip to Monterey is like spending the week in San Diego and not spending the night in Ave Revolucion in Tijuana - a real travesty. Of course, the major difference is that Monterey is not really a place where you'd go to buy coke and bang prostitutes.

Oh please- Monterey is boring after a day. Military guys and Miller Lite. Yawn.
And Bubba Gump is a cheesy chain restaurant, definitely not what I'd consider "spiffy". (Whatever that even means.)
Also, "Buffalo Park" is not actually known as that. Most people call it "Golden Gate Park", and it is beautiful, but the buffalo paddock in the center is not the high point. That IS where the deYoung Museum is, though, and that's a cool day trip.

For a week in San Francisco, first and foremost stay AWAY from Fisherman's Wharf. I cannot emphasize this strongly enough!!!

My favorite restaurant in the city is Pacific Catch, which is in the Marina. Great food, very reasonably priced. They let you bring your drinks outside while you wait.
If you don't dig seafood-only, the 21st Amendment or Thirsty Bear are both great, they brew their own beer & I'm pretty sure at this time they should be out with their Octoberfest. They are closer to the Moscone Center, though, and are a little bit pricey. Just about everything in the city is though.

I'm not a big club person, so I can't recommend any of those, but bars I like are Toronado, Trophy Room (warning: a TOTAL dive) & the Noc Noc, all on Haight Street. Oh, Escape from New York pizza is also on Haight and they are AWESOME for late night.
If you're a smoker there's a bar called Black Magic Voodoo Lounge on Van Ness & Lombard that has a smoking permit, good beer on tap & a decent jukebox.

Feel free to PM me if you want more suggestions. I've written this all from a straight girl's perspective who likes PJ, but as you know it takes all kinds in SF so if none of this appeals, sorry

But whoever you are, STAY AWAY from Fisherman's Wharf unless you want to be ripped off & get food poisoning after. Seriously.

Wobbie

riffrandall wrote:

Oh please- Monterey is boring after a day. Military guys and Miller Lite. Yawn.

Yes - riffrandall speak truth!

Been to Monterey ONCE. Once was enough.

sponger

Pffft. There's more to life than bars and & restaurants.

If someone is going to travel great distances to a certain place, you'd think they'd expect more than a great place to eat and smoke.

I'm talking about taking in the scenery and culture of the area, not stuffing the belly and catching a buzz.

I guess some people will always be in their early 20's....

Wobbie

sponger wrote:

Pffft. There's more to life than bars and & restaurants.

If someone is going to travel great distances to a certain place, you'd think they'd expect more than a great place to eat and smoke.

I'm talking about taking in the scenery and culture of the area, not stuffing the belly and catching a buzz.

I guess some people will always be in their early 20's....

You're right. To each, their own. But me, I'd rather hang in SF....... and my "early 20's" were a loooooooooooooooooooooog time ago! :(

sponger

imalive wrote:

You're right. To each, their own. But me, I'd rather hang in SF....... and my "early 20's" were a loooooooooooooooooooooog time ago! :(

Yes, well, generalizations about Monterey and referring to one of my fav restaurants as "cheesy" kind of put me on the defensive, and a remark about your perma-adolescence was the best I could muster at the time.

riffrandall

sponger wrote:

Yes, well, generalizations about Monterey and referring to one of my fav restaurants as "cheesy" kind of put me on the defensive, and a remark about your perma-adolescence was the best I could muster at the time.

Chain restaurants ARE cheesy. That's why I said stay away from Fisherman's Wharf in the city.
Don't get me wrong, Monterey is beautiful. But there's only so much kayaking and otter-peeping I can do before I start to yawn.
I would put Peter B's brewpub on the bottom floor of the Portola Plaza Hotel much higher on the list than any chain.

One thing I forgot to mention to the OP- one of the reasons I recommend Haight St is because Amoeba Records is right there next to the Trophy Room. It's in an old bowling alley & is one of the best record stores anywhere.

Wobbie

sponger wrote:

Yes, well, generalizations about Monterey and referring to one of my fav restaurants as "cheesy" kind of put me on the defensive, and a remark about your perma-adolescence was the best I could muster at the time.

It wasn't me!

I just said I agreed with riffrandall (in general).

battan1120

Muir Woods

jimed14

not sure what kind of music you're into but here's the music schedule.

http://pollstar.com/tour/searchall.pl?Content=C-CA_San%2BFrancisco&By=City&PSKey=Y&StartSearch.x=8&StartSearch.y=14

if you're a music fan, you SHOULD stop by the Fillmore (on Fillmore and Geary) check before you go on who's playing and if you can get in and look around if it's an empty night. All the posters and pictures on the walls ... lots of history made in that place.

TONS of great places to see a show. (The Fillmore, The Independent, Slim's, Bimbo's, Cafe Du Nord, Great American Music Hall, Red Devil Lounge, Warfield ... and many more.)

You mentioned record store ... Amoeba music, on Haight street by the park. It's pretty much an airplane hangar filled with used CDs, vinyl, DVDs and posters.

SomethingCreative

I asked about MUSIC club because I want to see local MUSIC...not get buzzed...21 year olds care about MUSIC too