San Francisco and what to do in it

As with all such stories, reductive, but it's still one of the better ones on the subject in terms of mass media

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/17/business/california-homeless-hotels.html

Deciding where to stay is proving really tricky. I think we do want a neighborhood that's both nice/interesting to wander around but also isn't far from downtown. I note upthread that Alex recommended Castro/Duboce Triangle/Hayes Valley/Lower Haight/Western Addition but there seems to be little in the way of hotels around there except maybe Beck's Motor Lodge, and Airbnb options are a bit limited too. Did find a niceish place in Noe Valley but feels like a bit of a trek north.

I note that everyone hates Fisherman's Wharf (is it just that it's soulless?). How is Lombard St/Marina by comparison?

Well Fisherman's Wharf just very tourist trappy by default, really. Certainly it's famous by default/in eight million film/TV scenes but the Ferry Building is kinda cooler.

Noe Valley is a hair of a walk but then I again tend to think in terms more of buslines and the like, which you may not want to do.

I'm not sure we want to do buses. Maybe! Just feels like a luxury of being on vacation is being able to walk places. Ferry Building is near financial district, yes? Is that an OK place to stay?

Well, yeah it has nice hotels but it IS the financial district, though you'd be close enough to North Beach. Personally I think Alex's suggestion is the better one, but I would leave it to others to suggest places to stay nearer there.

Thanks Ned!

little in the way of hotels around there except maybe Beck's Motor Lodge

my mom normally stays at the Willows Inn around there, she loves it.

and if you stay there, it's not worth waiting in line at Tartine when you're that close to Thorough Bread & Pastry

if you can stay at one of the big guys (the fairmont, etc) DO IT. use hotels tonight app for sick deals.

walking past the Dolores Park tennis courts, guy in front of me on the sidewalk (unmasked) starts belting out opera in a competent baritone. one of the tennis players turns to him and continues the song in a lovely tenor. guy in front of me smiles at him, keeps walking.

When we were in San Francisco a few years back, we stayed at the Hotel Zetta which was near 5th and Market, we got a nice deal and it was a good place to stay - clean, friendly staff, although honestly we were out and about so much it was really just a place to crash in exhaustion each night. There was tons of interesting stuff within walking distance, including SFMOMA and some great dining/brewery options. It was a long, leisurely walk, but we did walk to the Ferry Building from there one day.

Honestly, so much of what we wanted to see and do was all over the city, meaning that some form of transportation was needed at some point. In pre-pandemic times, we relied on Lyft/Uber quite a bit for the longest hauls. Obviously your comfort level and ability to do the same might be different.

Anyway, I would definitely recommend Hotel Zetta as a good place to stay with a helpful staff and, at least as of a few years ago, very reasonably priced.

The Ferry Building is bougie/yuppie tourist whereas Fisherman's Wharf is more middle-American tourist. It's basically like what Fisherman's Wharf/Cannery Row in Monterey is, but bigger.

It still stings that Aquarius Records announced their closing a couple weeks after we booked our trip and was closed a month before we got out there. At least we got to see the sign that was still up when Stranded first took over.

lol Stranded

Honestly, Aquarius' store wasn't that exciting tbh ... you shouldn't feel that stung. Like, it was a small storefront, it wasn't like all the stuff you could get through mail order in one huge emporium the size of Amoeba

If you walk past Fisherman's Wharf towards Aquatic Park, it's pretty cool... where the Balclutha is moored. Old fishing boats, a little beach, etc.

xpost - Yeah, I've seen photos (and now footage from that upcoming doc), it was more just that I'd been mail ordering from them for many years at the point and it would have been cool to see where so much of my money had gone and meet some of the people behind their awesome mailing list (or at least thank Andee for putting out that awesome Weakling record).

Stranded left that location now, right? Owner is ... kind of annoying

I used to have to bike from the Embarcadero to the Marina a few days a week for work, and I can attest to how actually pretty and sort of weird a lot of the area around the waterfront is.

But I also love fog and sea air.

And the weather's been great (ie cool and windy and cloudy/foggy) today, so.

I used to have to bike from the Embarcadero to the Marina a few days a week for work, and I can attest to how actually pretty and sort of weird a lot of the area around the waterfront is.

― it's like edging for your mind (the table is the table), Thursday, April 22, 2021 1:02 PM (fifteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

But I also love fog and sea air.

― it's like edging for your mind (the table is the table), Thursday, April 22, 2021 1:03 PM (fourteen minutes ago)

Yeah -- I worked for a year for a restaurant in Fisherman's Wharf and also had a few jobs where I worked near the Marina. I agree with Table. ...

I worked across the street from Pier 39 for many years. It's chill but also a dead zone

yr kid might like the Exploratorium which is a block up from the Ferry Building.

More than a block, but yeah - it's rad, and cool for adults too.

I live just a few blocks from Fisherman's Wharf and The Cannery. In normal times it would be a very festive place to take a kid but it hasn't come back to life yet. Going west on the north waterfront from Fisherman's Wharf to the beach at Aquatic Park, then Fort Mason, the Marina Green, Crissy Field and Fort Point - those are really great areas for walking

Yeah, have deep love for that area. I had many surreal bicycling experiences there, some good some bad.

We've booked the Hyatt Regency in the Embarcadero Center. Paid extra for making it refundable till the day before, in case we change our minds, or everything goes tits up with a new Covid variant. I think someone said it was a bit more like London's South Bank round that way, which fits with our bougie yuppieness. What are yuppies called when they're middle-aged? Muppies?

Exploratorium still closed, which is a shame.

IIRC, the massive lobby of the Hyatt Regency was where they filmed the original Logan's Run

omg i love the Hyatt lobby, it’s so cool

Indeed!

So the dates you'll be around again? I know it's upthread somewhere but just to reconfirm.

If you like Greek food, Kokkari is an easy walk for a splurge meal.

It seems that Logan's Run used the Hyatt Regency Houston rather than San Francisco, but I'm not letting that put me off. It was used in The Towering Inferno, however, which I've never seen. Might watch it as prep.

Will be there May 15-18. What day might be good to have a drink?

Well the 15th itself is a Saturday but I understand if you'd all just want to take it easy that night. How about Sunday the 16th in the afternoon?

Belated yes to that Sunday plan!

I'd join for that

I may be able to join too.

In other news, SF is finally down to last May levels of new infections:

https://data.sfgov.org/stories/s/dak2-gvuj

Yes, we're continuing to do very well. And this weekend is definitely the busiest outdoors we've had in months.

So for next Sunday the 16th, what's a good suggestion as to where to meet? Shall we try and keep it casual like a park hang or do we want to try for something more formal w/r/t outdoor seating etc? In terms of time, I'd say any time from early afternoon on is great.

Somewhere outdoors where you can get a beer would suit me. Not sure if my wife and son will join us or not next Sunday but hanging out with them in the Portland waterfront park with the food stalls and pint of Mo Haze IC was a very nice start to the vacation so maybe something like that if it exists?

I have a couple of ideas -- while the Ferry Building is again almost blatantly obvious as a choice simply because you're in Embarcadero Center, would rather defer to lukas (and/or sarahell, if you're in?) to make another call if they feel one's warranted.

the Hyatt lobby also features in Mel Brooks' "High Anxiety"

Washington Square Park in North Beach is about a fifteen minute walk from Embarcadero Center and is a pretty nice place to hang out, that would be my pick.

Sounds good to me!

And me!

Sounds like a plan. Let's lock in details later; hell if we even wanted to picnic lunch it there's a slew of spots to choose from right there. Otherwise bring some beers to split?

sure. I'll probably order some pizza from Tony's too.

So it's almost here -- should we just aim for noon Sunday? Any particular spot in the park? I can bring some beer and cider -- maybe some 21st Amendment and Golden State retrospectively, though I might see if I can get a Cellarmaker growler or something. Me, Lukas, Alba and family, anyone else?

Don't bring much for me to drink, I'll have a drink or two max.

If I got pizza from Tony's, would anyone eat some?

Oh absolutely!