San Francisco and what to do in it

We got a great deal at a boutique hotel near Market & 5th when we went back in 2016. It worked well, since it's pretty easy to get around. I recommend dinner at Nopa and getting the cioppino at Sotto Mare (not typically a seafood guy, but I loved it).

Alcatraz tour was way more fun than I expected, but make sure to book it ahead - we missed the window for getting the night tour, which would've been even cooler.

We did a day trip that started out in the morning at Muir Woods then up to Napa/Sonoma for a winery tour. Thought it worked nicely.

Other things we enjoyed:
walking the Sutro Baths "ruins"
SFMoMA
getting Pliny the Elder on tap
Coit Tower
De Young museum
Amoebea/Rasputin for record shopping
walking by the old Aquarius locations to see the sign and weep silently
City Lights bookstore

oops, clearly Aquarius "location"

oh, if you go to Nopa for dinner, follow up with pies at Chile Pies Baking Co. great pies

As touristy as north beach is, Specs and Vesuvio's are both pretty great bars.

Alcatraz is indeed worth it.

I think we're going to take a bike tour

How many miles have you got in you? There's a lot of fantastic choices.

Short: Bike across GG Bridge to Tiburon ferry dock, take ferry back (if you go in the reverse direction, there's ~250ft climb up to the bridge)
Pretty long: Bike to Muir Beach and back
As long as you'd like: Bike north through Marin and Sonoma, take SMART train back (various options to get back from San Rafael)

And of course you can go east (but hot in July) or south (Hwy 1 to Santa Cruz) too.

if you find yourself in north beach tony geminani's pizza slice joint (by stockton and filbert iirc) is pretty stellar and a nice little walk to/from coit tower. also, land's end (where geary street ends at the beach), i think that's the same as the sutro bath ruins, is really nice on a warm day. and Swan's is always the bomb (cash only) for oysters, house cured salmon and other fishy delights

Yesterday Kate and I were at this new spot in Chinatown before a reading at City Lights:

https://chinalivesf.com/

Very self-consciously higher end than a lot of what is around it. The layout's nice and the food was excellent, so there's that.

Since you're starting in Eureka go to Humboldt Redwood State Park on your way south. After that, no need to go to Muir Woods.

Last time we were in the Eureka area we stayed in Trinidad, about 10 miles north of Eureka. They have a great little coastal community. Highly recommended if you want to get away from it all.

the new joint across from nopa, barvale, is p good.

All these recommendations have been great, thanks! Keep 'em coming!

Re: the bike tour, we have pretty much a whole Saturday open, and it seems like a lot of the operators offer all sorts of options, which is great. And they promise it doesn't have to be an ordeal, if we don't want it to be.

We got a great deal at a boutique hotel near Market & 5th when we went back in 2016.

Do you remember what is was called? Maybe Hotel Zetta?

Yep! That was it exactly!

Super friendly place, clean, good service. Bar and lounge downstairs, but to be honest we were so busy exploring the city that we p much just crashed in our rooms every night when we got back.

the new joint across from nopa, barvale, is p good.

Seconding. We were there the other week, great cocktails, good food.

Thanks for all the ongoing recommendations. We just booked an airbnb ("Victorian garden suite"!) in NoPA, so that part is done. Next step is filling in time slots as we creep closer to the (late July) date.

lots of stuff to do in san francisco lately

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-people-are-leaving-san-francisco-2018-3

We are playing Thursday at the Elbo Room;

https://www.facebook.com/events/1561835020558986??ti=ia

dammit i live a block away and i'm stuck down the peninsula tonight

Hello people what’s good to eat around the TL. Will travel just looking 4 tips. Maybe in the 2-3 dollar sign range

There's always Del Taco.

More seriously -- this spot's recently opened, a half block from the Great American Music Hall, and was damn delicious. Was just there last night.

https://esanclassic.com/

TL tends to excel at the one dollar sign cuisine, like Shalimar, Turtle Tower or Saigon Sandwiches. But I bet Ned's pick is good.

I am also more than down for one $ sign. 2-3 was more of a ceiling. Thank you!!

here's a thing to do in San Francisco
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/979/41848078352_986da54df9.jpg

Are they leaving on a rocket

shakey always has the best designs

awesome poster

So I'm doing a thing next weekend to raise money for the Great Slate, which also features excellent house music (hooray for Dav1d S1ska.)

Tickets are here or Facebook if you want me to spam you with DJ mixes and candidate interviews in the runup.

"You do not have permission for this event."
??

which one? the Facebook or the Eventbrite?

Eventbrite

That's awesome. We've been donating to the Great Slate as well.

thanks, real Eventbrite

:( RIP Rene Yanez https://missionlocal.org/2018/05/rene-yanez-mission-icon-dies-at-75/

dude figured v large in this book I finished a couple months ago (http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/15634.html)

RIP, Rene. I never knew about his diagnosis. Saw him a few times at art events the last month or so and he was still engaging with the community and encouraging young artists. What a legacy. Gomez Pena wrote a beautiful letter to him that was getting shared around Facebook.

Home was broken into today.

I was thinking about getting a PS4 this week so at least I dodged a bullet there.

That book looks amazing.

xpost Yikes. Lose anything?

Yes, they went straight for my Mac.

Scrambling now because I tried to do that Locate My Mac thing, forgot my iCloud credentials, then requested a reset, and saw that it sent the request straight to my stolen Mac.

Oh god that sucks

Never have to reset your Apple ID password

sorry to hear about this, I've had the same experience and remember how if feels

...it* feels

They took my sheets and bath towels too! So I've got the expected sense of violation, plus I have to deal with my germophobia and just the leeriness of even touching my stuff, which I now know they toggled through.

Rifled through, not toggled

OK, our visit is in a few weeks. Doing some A+ tourist stuff, like Alcatraz night tour and a long bike tour, plus dinner at Nopa. Looking for a good Sunday night dinner suggestion, though. Any good ideas? I figure staples like burritos and the like we can fit in anywhere, and staples at the other end (like State Bird Provisions) I worry might be booked up already.

I enjoyed Hogwash quite a bit last time I was in town.

Looks awesome but very ... Chicago.

Blue Plate is perfect delicious comfort food, and you can get a reservation there.

Shanghai Dumpling King (either location) is great, and low-cost. Good alternative to some of the higher-end dim sum places.

Dosa is good for fancy Indian food/cocktails, but pretty pricey.

Not really doing high-end food anymore, but Coi is pretty nuts if you're into molecular gastronomy.