San Francisco/Bay Area Travel Advice?

[harby]

I'm driving down to California from Seattle in a few weeks and going to stop over in the Bay area for a couple of days. Going to hit a Giants game on Saturday night and an A's game Sunday afternoon. Anyone have any advice on good hotels or neighborhoods to stay in? I was looking at staying in Oakland since I'll be spending some time over there anyhow. I'll have a car obviously but wouldn't mind leaving it parked and using public transit to get around if I can. Outside of the ball games, just planning on doing some record shopping and whatever I happen to run into. Thoughts or suggestions? Appreciate any advice.

[futures]

Man, am I jealous of you, haha.

 

Amoeba is the obvious for records. In Haight Ashbury. I've only been to SF twice and each time was for only 2 days so I never really got a chance to search for the hole in the wall record stores. But Amoeba is fun.

[Guest]

Go down Hickey Blvd. while listening to Hickey.

[xadamhudsonx]

I always stay near Union Square. Nice (and often fairly cheap) hotels and you can catch any public transpo you need from there.

 

Also, you have to go to Dottie's True Blue Cafe for breakfast. You may have to stand in line for a bit if you're not an early riser, but it's well worth the wait.

[amnstypls]

When I go up north, I stay in Hayward. Its about 5 minutes outside of Oakland, but the hotels are very cheap, and you don't have to pay ridiculous parking fees.

[fooood]

Amoeba records on haight street!

[monsterrod]

The Rogue Taproom in the financial District. Get drunk and then eat Chinese food.

[lemongoat]

Go to the A's game Saturday, Cespedes bobblehead day!

[fooood]

Eat at a place called San Tung and order the dry fried chicken and thank me later!

Haha

Have fun in the city it's awesome!

[realnoice]

There's so much to do in Oakland/SF

 

If you're going to be staying in Oakland - take Bart to SF's Embarcadero for the Giant's game and Bart to the A's game!

Enjoy the Bay! 

[michaelmanfredi]

I was just there a little less than a month ago!

 

You have to eat at a pizza place called "Delfino's." There are 3 location i think around the city. Such an awesome place, good music, and great pizza.

 

Also i suggest to hike through Muir Woods. Take the long route (i think its called the Dipsea trail), it was the highlight of my trip, beautiful scenery. Allow like 2-3 hours for it haha but it's totally worth it.

 

Lastly, go down to the wharf and get a dungeness crab (crab itself or sandwich). 

[castaway]

Drive up Lombard street and have a fucking panic attack. That's what I did there a month ago. 

[futures]

I was just there a little less than a month ago!

 

You have to eat at a pizza place called "Delfino's." There are 3 location i think around the city. Such an awesome place, good music, and great pizza.

 

Also i suggest to hike through Muir Woods. Take the long route (i think its called the Dipsea trail), it was the highlight of my trip, beautiful scenery. Allow like 2-3 hours for it haha but it's totally worth it.

 

Lastly, go down to the wharf and get a dungeness crab (crab itself or sandwich). 

I've never enjoyed seafood, really, but when I was at the wharf I felt like I couldn't leave unless I had a crab sandwich. It was amazing.

[smailtronic]

Muir Woods is pretty solid. California Academy of Sciences is a neat place too.

[BuzzersonKillwell]

I'm also going to San Fran and would like to see big trees without going to Yosemite. Is Big Basin Redwoods St. Park better than Muir Woods?

[cwhitmuzik]

Someone find my california vacation thread from a little while ago, i'm too lazy. lots of good suggestions in there

[michaelmanfredi]

I'm also going to San Fran and would like to see big trees without going to Yosemite. Is Big Basin Redwoods St. Park better than Muir Woods?

 

Good question. Muir woods is a LOT closer than big basin which is why a lot of people go there. Big basin, i'd say, is a lot more scenic, and again, if you go to big basin, make sure you go on a long trail and bring water!

[BuzzersonKillwell]

Thanks! We are driving up so Big Basin is sort of on the way. Is the size and amount of big trees roughly the same. 

 

Honestly, I just want to see a few big ass trees. 

[futures]

=[ Someone bring me with them!

[michaelmanfredi]

Thanks! We are driving up so Big Basin is sort of on the way. Is the size and amount of big trees roughly the same. 

 

Honestly, I just want to see a few big ass trees. 

 

i mean, the parks are in the forests so...yeah there's a lot. and as far as size, they're both the same. 

 

but if you're bored one day i'd still suggest going across the bridge (like you would if you were going to muir) and going to eat in Sausalito. beautiful town.

[Questhate]

Big Basin is also generally much less crowded than Muirwood as well. If you're driving up from the south, I'd def stop by Big Basin, and then maybe grab a meal in Santa Cruz (brunch at Zacharys, or lunch at Cafe Brazil). If you want some good exercise, try this 11-mile hike with some nice waterfalls (although waterfalls may not be great this time of year): http://www.bahiker.com/southbayhikes/bigbasin/waterfallloop.html. Obviously, there's smaller trails as well.

 

To the OP: Try to look for a place in Downtown/West Oakland, Emeryville or Berkeley since you'll have a car and will be in the East Bay anyway. If you stay in downtown SF, you'll have to worry about how to park your car, as overnight parking fees get spendy fast. Also, you'll want to avoid downtown SF if you don't need to be there since it's so crowded. Hayward isn't that far from Oakland, but it's a good 40 minutes from SF. 

 

As far as things to do, what weekend will you be here? We can help you pinpoint some cool local events happening. If you'll be here for the weekend of Oct 4-5, the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival is happening in Golden Gate Park. They haven't announced the entire lineup yet, but it's free and worth checking out at least one day. Some really nice acts have been confirmed already: http://www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com/2013/

 

As far as record shopping -- Amoeba in SF and Rasputin in Berkeley are must-visits. Also check out a smaller store like 1-2-3-4 Go! Records in Oakland or Rooky Ricardo's in SF (if you like Soul records).

 

Food -- too many to name! Let us know what type of food you like, and we can narrow it down. Although, I will definitely endorse the earlier recommendation of San Tung. 

 

Tons of stuff to do. I'd suggest exploring SF by bike -- you can rent them at different spots. Golden Gate Park is closed to car traffic on Sundays, and it's all cyclists and roller bladers and whatnot. You can stop by the Academy of Sciences or De Young Museum -- both located inside the park. Also, you can bike from the Embarcadero, along Fisherman's Wharf, through Crissy Field up to the Golden Gate Bridge (and across) and back. Gorgeous ride that is one of my favorites in the area. 

 

Different bar scenes all over -- Mission bars have the hipsters and tech douchebags, Marina has the bros, North Beach has all the clubs that attracts everyone from around the Bay, Castro has all the gay bars obviously, Uptown Oakland is really on the come up nowadays with tons of hipsters, Shattuck in Berkeley has all the Cal students, etc.

[harby]

Thanks for the all the replies and suggestions. Ended up getting a place to stay in West Oakland so it sounds like that was a decent choice. I'll be down there in a couple of weeks and really looking forward to it. Definitely plan on hitting Amoeba, Rasputin, and 1-2-3-4 Go! while I'm there. I think that between record shopping and hitting up 2 baseball games I'll have plenty to keep me busy for two days. Thanks again for the suggestions!