I am enjoying your travels. San Francisco is my favorite American city. Many great suggestions have been given. Fisherman's Wharf for a shrimp or crab cocktail or crab sandwich & Ghirardelli Square, Marin Headlands/Golden Gate Bridge/Muir Woods, Chinatown/Cable Cars, Golden Gate Park/Cliff House (especially for the wave action on the rocks) are all great, actually must see places while in San Francisco. I don't know if anyone mentioned Hyde Street Pier. My husband loves the old ships. If you do go out from San Francisco, wine country and Monterey are good choices. Also, if you want an old amusement park boardwalk on the beach and see surfers, I'd suggest Santa Cruz.

I suggest point reyes national seashore north of the city. It's amazing. you sould see the beaches! There is this little lighthouse that you can see and it is so cool against a side of a mountain that overlooks the sea. I was amazed when i went there.It's probly one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.

Ah, I love it when people tell me they are going to SF! I normally don't watch the Travel Channel but i caught your commercial playing. anyways I was born and raised in sweet san francisco so hopefully you can get to visit some of the places I think is completely worth visiting.

1) Twin Peaks Try to go there in the daytime and nighttime. If you can't, then you MUST go at night. It offers you a view of the city at night and the beautfiul city lights. You can see market street, the bay bridge and the famous Pyramid building. absolutely gorgeous. remember to bundle up because SF is extremely cold these days!

2) Chinatown the size does not compare to New York's chinatown! However, everything is so close, intense, and raw! Be sure not to wear nice shoes! You get to see the live fish jumping around and fresh, fresh ingredients sold everyday. If you go to San Francisco, you must visit Chinatown with all its history of immigrants. Be sure to check out Gold Mountain on Broadway to eat dim sum. One of the best dim sum restuarants in Chi-town. Also, you Must must go to Golden Gate or was it Golden Door ? bakery. Anyways, it is on GRANT street. you can't miss it because the lines are always out the door. They make the BEST egg custards in town. price is a bit steep but it's worth it. if cheap chinese people like me are willing to shell out money for it, then it must be good haha. Grant st has a lot of touristy shops. If you can, just take a minute to walk around!

3) Little Italy. Like NY, our Little Italy is right next to Chi-town on Colombus st. The movie A Lot Like Heaven (orsoemthing, with Reese Witherspoon was filmed in this area) At night time the atmosphere is just so comforting. Take a nice stroll and see all the people dining outside. Pop in to many of the little coffee shops or Gelato shop. Calzone is a pretty good restuarant

4) Broadway is the place to be If you're in the mood to go party, drink, and dance. You will for sure get to meet a mixed diverse of people. People come from different parts of the Bay Area into the City just to have fun! There's also some strip clubs too! some good spots, Zebra Lounge, Sake Lab, Buddah Lounge and you'll see where the good ones are with the long lines for that night! sfclubs.com if you want to be on the guestlist!

5) Downtown Union Sq- we have the largest Bloomingdales on the West Coast. Newly open in Sept!! You gotta visit it and admire it's architecture. PLus the only H&M store on the west coast!! Pop in BLONDIE'S for pizza. cheap, fast, and goood. Swing by Beard & Papa's too for the cream pastries! oh yeah, you must try Boudin's clam chowder in a bread bowl! Sf's famous bread!! Downtown in itself has so much going on, you'll find so many sights to see.

6) CABLE CAR Since you're in that area, hop on the Cable Car turnaround stop. Can't miss it, right next to the huge GAP store. long lines, but worth the wait. Be sure to sit on the RIGHT side so you get to catch all the NICE views. it will lead you to Ghiradelli Square. Anyways, you must get off on the famous crooked LOMBARD ST!! take some pics. (ie, cute pics is when you guys are standing IN the street with your backs faced to the camera!! catches the beauty of the street and the beautiful scenary!!) hop back into the cable car and get off at the last stop. stop for the ice cream and take pics!! the chocolate is delish! insider tip, go to Aquatic Park. its allll the way a the end. it's a long walkable pier. u might see people crabbing if you go in the middle of the night! this offers a gorgeous view of the city and the huge ghiradelli sign. go at night, its prettier!!

PIER 39. famous tourist spot. cutsie but eh, for me honestly. nice to stroll and catch the seals. oh its CRAB SEASON! so you must eat it!!!! go to SWAN OYSTER DEPOT. catch the ferry to Alcatraz (tickets sell out quick so hurry!) hopefully the weather is nice and not FOGGY!!

head over to the FERRY BUILDING. cute shops and the outdoor ice skating rink is open now! it's a fun cute place to have fun!!

gotta walk the GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE of course! Crissy Fields is nice to take pics too!! cros sthe bridge to the MArIN HEADLANDS to take some nice shots of the bridge/city and you!

GOLDEN GATE PARK! Japanese tea garden, stow lake (supposedly haunted) lots of ghost stories in the park, Legion of Honor, De young museum, go along 7th and lincoln way to enter the park. lots of stuff.

Go to the SUNSET district. it is known as "ASIAN" district. plenty of good restuarants in this area. stop by Polly Ann ice cream store. best green tea ice cream in the city!

HAIGHT ASHBURY- the hippy, love, peace and drug days! you must go. plenty of bars, thrift shops and good food. it just has this vibe you can't explain

ALAMO sq. it is where the famous houses in the show FULL HOUSE are located. nice picture spot

SF is quite diverse. Offers you many different foods and a variety of things to dO! sorry there's many typos. but hope this helps!

Hey TJs, Take the Ferry from San Francisco to Angel Island. This was the site of the old immigration station. Asian immigrants, mostly Chinese, were detained and questioned there for months and sometimes years when immigrating to America. There is a museum there on Chinese Immigration and many Chinese poems carved on the walls by detainees. The result of the government sanctioned "Chinese Exclusion Act". Some call it the "Ellis Island" of the West, but many suffered there trying to enter the USA. Asians were not given the same quick passage into the USA as Europeans were.

Wanna go ice skating? Check out the outdoor Kristi Yamaguchi Holiday Ice Skating Rink at Justin Herman Plaza in front of the SF Ferry Building.
http://www.embarcaderocenter.com/ec/attractions/rink_details.html

Hey Guys,

I’m glad you enjoyed Memphis, my hometown (even though I live in LA now). You’re going to love San Francisco. Fisherman’s Wharf is for tourists and the uninformed. You’d do best by visiting the Ferry Building. Try to go on a day when the Farmer’s Market is in operation. Free samples and a good, cheap meal out on the sidewalk. Take a stroll down Polk Street (a.k.a. Polk Gulch) and grab a bite at Nick’s Crispy Tacos, on Polk at Broadway. The food is good, inexpensive, and affords you one of the most bizarre of dining experiences (Mexican street food that you eat in a red velvet ballroom!). Also on Polk is Good Vibrations, a clean, well-lighted sex shop that you probably can’t put on the air, but that’s worth a visit nonetheless.

Your big splurge in San Fran should be—if you can arrange for tickets (they’re hot)—a visit to Beach Blanket Babylon, a genuine, wacky slice of that most amazing of US cities.

Have fun!

Hey TJ's, it's Saturday, so...welcome to San Francisco!

Your weather report looks great all week - highs in the 60's, lows in the 40's, clear and dry all week.

Since you'll wwant to make the most of your 168 hours in SF, here's a link to a handy list of places to eat that are open late.

My personal favorites were Bagdad Cafe (open 24 hours), The Grubstake (until 4 am), and Sparky's (24 hours). Years ago, when my girlfriends would get done dancing at Mitchell Bros. at 2 am , we'd always head to one of those three places with some of the other dancers and get something to eat and unwind. Ahh, memories....

Many of the Safeway stores (big grocery chain) are open 24x7, so you can always get something there. The Marina, Potrero and Castro stores have lots of people in them late at night. Cali does have a 2 am liquor cutoff, though. (And this Thursday from 4-8 most Safeways in town will be having what they call a "Holiday Party," which is typically just a bunch of free samples, but might get you a free snack if you're out and you don't want to get dinner yet.)

There are lots of other good grocery stores in SF, like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. But there are so many good markets with great fresh organic food you won't have any problems finding one (though perhaps not at 4 am!).

Hope you stay deliciously nourished all week!

San Francisco has a beautiful City Hall, open from 8am to 5:30 pm, and there are free tours at 10, 12 and 2. Given your time contraints, you might consider taking the City Hall virtual tour instead, but I definitely suggest you walk through the rotunda for a few minutes and look around - it's gorgeous, and it's also a view of the inside of a government building and capitol dome that you didn't get while you were in DC. The building itself was influenced a great deal by the buildings in Washington, but with the appreciation of San Francisco's role as the gateway to the Pacific and the Far East ( so it's fitting that SF will be the city that sends you all home ).

While you're inside, head down to the basement, there's often a nice photo or art exhibit. When I was there a few months ago it was incredible photos from the days following the Great Earthquake, which was exactly a century ago this past April 18.

(And if you ask really nicely, the folks at building maintenance just might show you the normally-off-limits special earthquake retrofit work done after the 1989 Loma Prieta quake.)

Three nice bookstores worth checking out are City Lights (near the Pyramid), Cody's Books (near Union Square) and Kinokuniya Books in Japantown.

Hi everyone,

I posted five (5) new suggestions for your final splurge. They're over in "Splurge Days: How should the TJ's spend their extra cash?" I thought they'd make a good endpoint here in the San Francisco thread, too.

I hope you like them!!


Best wishes,
Bruce

Some suggestions for you final splurge. Travel to Napa Wine Country and take a Hot Air Ballon Tour. http://www.napavalleyballoons.com/
or
Have dinner at one of SF's finest and exclusive restaurants.
I suggest Masa's at 648 Bush St. www.masasrestaurant.com
Have the Nine Course Menu in their Wine Cellar.

This one is for Zach. San Francisco has a Cartoon Museum at 655 Mission St. http://www.cartoonart.org/ Check it out!
Might also want to check out the Musee Mechanique
http://www.museemechanique.org/ Loacted at Pier 45 at Fishermans Wharf, it features antique mechanical coin operated amusement and entertainment machines. Admission if Free.

Suggestion for another splurge. Take the Napa Wine Train. Wine tasting and dinner or lunch. Kewl! http://winetrain.com/

Hey guys!! Remember in New York that there was a Chinatown, well, in San Fransisco, there is also a Chinatown.This china town is AWESOME!!!!!!!! OK, I admit it i've never been to San Fran before, but my mom has. She has been there before and that is how I know all this stuff. San Fransisco's Chinatown is Awesome!!!!!!!!!

In all absolution, you must go see the view from Twin Peaks at night. It's breathtaking!

And another place I think you should go to is the Pacific East Mall in Richmond. It's a mall consisting of mostly Asian oriented shops and restaurants, plus a supermarket. There's a little place there called J & S Coffee and Tea House. They make wonderful honeydew melon milk tea with tapioca, and on the weekends, they make these pandan waffles around noon that are to die for and addicting. All in all it is just a great place to go around and shop.