Thinking of taking a trip to San Francisco?
San Francisco is a place that feels like it hasn’t changed in 20 years – from the bohemian people with creative hair colors to the lines of colorful colonial row houses and streetcars flying down the steep hills, this is a city with an altogether different vibe and a completely unique spirit in comparison to other cities in the US. The air is perpetually chilly, even in summer, distinguishing this area from the stereotypical “laid-back Southern California” ideal. San Francisco is definitely a city with a mission, whether it is to save the bottle-nosed dolphins or to promote vegetarianism or to support the independent music scene. Find yourself on Haight Street and you will certainly be asked to support an out-of-luck hippy that has most likely been on that street since the Grateful Dead left it. Sidestep this hippy, though, and find yourself in a wonderful world of music and food, much of which has a heavy Mexican influence.
Morning in San Francisco should be spent enjoying the limited direct sunlight of the day at Fisherman’s Wharf and making noises back at the sea lions sprawling on the docks. If you have an extra hour or two, take the ferry out to Alcatraz and take the audio tour to get an idea of island prison life. Take in the vast Chinatown, and definitely enter through the main gates – it’s like entering a different world. Visit some of the famous, but less touristy sites like Northern Lights bookstore, frequented by Jack Kerouac and his Beat cohorts in the 50’s and 60’s, and MoMA San Francisco, the outstanding West Coast counterpart of the New York Museum of Modern Art. And don’t hesitate to venture out onto the Golden Gate Bridge; the wind might try to blow you off, but hold tight and you will get an unbelievable view looking back onto the city and the harbor. Meander down through the sprawling Golden Gate Park (but not after dark) and get a glimpse of the famous fog rolling over the hills of Marin County into the San Francisco Bay at dusk. Night ought to find you in North Beach, the central concentration of bars and clubs.
San Francisco is not a huge, thundering city, but is rather entirely livable and fairly consistent, and has the quiet effect of making me never want to leave. Once the same friendly barista has served you coffee for 5 mornings straight, you might start to feel the same way.
Reference: Wikitravel
Reference: Only in San Francisco
This entry was contributed by Elizabeth Gleeson.
June 3rd, 2007 at 1:41 pm
I do want to visit San Francisco at some point. I always assumed that the cost of living out there is atrocious. But still, I will get over there for at least a visit.