Trip to San Francisco

[bmcgonig]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daylatedollarshort The ferry rides are great but they run much less frequently than the BART trains for commuting to and from the city and their schedules have been cut back due to COVID. BART trains will start running to midnight again starting August 2. Depending on the OPs interests, BART works well for those enjoying the nightlife in the city but lodging in the East Bay. Hamilton is back at the theater and runs through September 5th.

Agreed. Marin doesn’t have Bart and Bart is very useful for enjoying the nightlife. Although if you’re on a Blow That Dough trip many of the good restaurants have valet.

So yes a place in the East Bay close to Bart is also a great idea.

[wolf]

Live in the Bay Area. Local news. S.F. as others have mentioned. Crime is up.
Especially bad for tourist. They are targeted. In fact, Walgreen shut down it's SF stores.
Too many stores robbed in broad daylight. Homeless, is a mess. Not healthy.

IMHO, I would visit, "non -city", sites in the area. As a few posters have mentioned.

[Winemaker]

The main thing about auto break ins, is that something is left in the car that may be of some value. A few years back, we stayed in a hotel in Fairfield, close to Interstate 80. we got in late due to a wine event, and I left my knapsack in the car , since we would be checking out that morning. Lesson learned; the knapsack, with some cash hidden inside, and my laptop, some key rings, were taken, after they busted out a window. Had a large delay that morning, changing passwords, getting another rental car and filling out police report. The officer said never leave anything in car in plain sight, too much temptation.

I know they never found the cash inside the knapsack.

[wolf]

Not sure if this is correct. But was told, Rental cars, have "special identification". So
thief, still break in, even if your "stuff" is hidden in the trunk....

[YVRRocketSurgery]

We had a really good time in San Fran during a 24 hour layover in 2019. After BART/Uber'ing to drop off gear at our hotel, we were able to hoof it all over the area encompassed by Swan Oyster Depot, Ferry Building, and Fisherman's Wharf at a leisurely pace. Didn't feel rushed but we did have to drop a few places a little further out we wanted to see. I think 2 days would have been enough to hit everything else we wanted to see and maybe an extra half day if we wanted to head to Alcatraz.

Didn't feel the homeless problem was more pronounce than any other large city but I wouldn't be surprised if it got worse over the last year.
Vancouver had a really bad car break-in problem too. Definitely can't leave stuff in the car, especially visible. It's a pain in the rear but I'll walk around with my backpack if needed instead of leaving it in the car.

We're not big wine people but enjoy visting wineries, doing some tastings, and buying a few bottles. We last visited Napa in 1999 as part of a tour my megacorp bucked up for. Of late, we've been visiting the wineries in the interior of BC. Kind of nice having transportation taken care of for you. Alternatively, the flexibility of staying as long or short as you want to explore the estate when having your own wheels is really nice too.

[mh]

I usually stay in a place in Oakland near jack London square and take the ferry over

[gayl]

I often go into SF just for the day. Love the Marina area. Dislike Union Square. But I feel completely safe walking with little grandkids. Some of my favorite places are Crissy Fields, Fishermen's Wharf, Ghirardelli Square, yeah. That'll take up a day walking. If I have time or a 2nd day there's Chinatown and the area around the Ferry Bldg -> Pier 39

[imnontrad]

I LOVED walking around the Presidio. I was even able to not only park there but walk across the Golden Gate Bridge from there. Very few people go there and there are also places to stay in the historic buildings.
If you drive south of SF on Rt 1, look out for the "Flintstone House" on the east side.
And I really loved going to see redwoods at Big Basin Redwoods State Park but there was a catastrophic fire there last year.
I thought spending the time and money to ride a SF cable car was a waste. Also, I took one of the hop on/hop off busses around the area - bad experience. I wasted a LOT of time. (wear comfortable walking shoes) The pier area was "meh" except for seeing all the sea lions.
Check out the restaurants in Chinatown. If you walk in and see forks on the tables, walk on.

[Alan]

Thanks for the interesting discussion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBzJGckMYO4