fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2749 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2749 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

__________________________________________________

02.

__________________________________________________

03.

__________________________________________________

04.

__________________________________________________

05.

__________________________________________________

06.

__________________________________________________

07.

__________________________________________________

08.

__________________________________________________

09.

__________________________________________________

10.

__________________________________________________

11.

__________________________________________________

12.

__________________________________________________

13.

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 073 secrets from Secret Submission Post #393.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 1 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

F!S, I am visiting the US for the first time tomorrow (omg!). As part of my trip, I will be in San Fran for two days, and New York for one night.

So, my question is if you were only in these cities for the short time I'm going to be, what would you do?

Well don't call it San Fran to any locals for a start. ;) Then go to Golden Gate Park, especially the Japanese tea garden. There was a swarm of gourmet food trucks outside the tea garden the last time I was there (2011, so idk if they're still there) so that might make a fun lunch.

A friend of mine who lives there seems to enjoy calling it Speedotown, though that's mostly an inside joke.

OP

But how else will people tell I'm an obnoxious tourist if I don't call their city annoying abbreviated names? It is the Australian way after all. (Jokes!) I definitely want to go to Golden Gate Park, it looks absolutely lovely :)

San Francisco... I really love Chinatown and North Beach - they are right next to each other; most enjoyable in the morning IMO, so that you can see all the Chinese markets, and go to Liguria Bakery for foccacia if it's before 10:30 or so. In Chinatown, Grant and Stockton are the two main streets; Grant caters primarily to tourists, with lots of import-export and souvenir shops, some of which can get a little chintzy for my taste, while Stockton caters more to locals, with lots of produce and fish markets and stores with lots of Chinese stuff. Personally I find Stockton more interesting but your tastes may vary. Coit Tower is also near North Beach and it does give a pretty outstanding view; the curvy bit of Lombard Street is also near there, which is nice to look at, but don't try to drive down it, because it sucks to drive on and I think it's closed right now.

You could also do the Mission, which has some funky stuff in it and some nice restaurants and Dolores park which is always interesting. And of course Golden Gate Park, which has some interesting museum-type things, including the Japanese Tea Garden, the Botanical Garden, the Academy of Sciences, and the De Young Museum for ancient art (if you like museums you could also try the Exploratorium, which is a really great hands-on science museum). Another thing near Golden Gate Park is the Haight Ashbury, which unfortunately is a little harder to recommend, because very little of the "hippy spirit" is left, except for a couple head shops.

Hrmmm that's all that comes to mind at the moment, but feel free to ask if you have any questions.

OP

Thank you for your advice! Will definitely try to check out Chinatown and North Beach in the morning :)

For San Francisco you might consider taking one of the hop-on, hop-off tour buses. They are not cheap, but they really are a good way to see a large cross section of the city...

Ah! This is a good topic to bring up - getting around San Francisco.

Don't drive unless you really have to. Traffic is often annoying and parking is usually awful. And it's small enough that you usually don't have to. Taxis are useful if you can afford them, though - you have the option of using taxis or using Uber and Lift (sp? they might spell it Lyft) which are ubiquitous and maybe cheaper.

Biking is alright if you like biking, except that it's hilly and people can be kinda aggressive. There's a bike rental program that may be interesting and pleasant. But IMO the best way to get around as a tourist is to use the public transit system - it's decent (although not perfect) and you don't have to worry about car rental, parking, etc. You can buy one or three day passes, I believe, which is probably the most economical thing to do if you're going to be riding it a lot. Especially if you want to take the cable cars. Which you should! They're honestly really fun to ride, and they're actually extremely practical for getting around the northeast part of the city. But they cost 5 dollars to ride them if you don't have a MUNI pass.

OP

Thank you for this advice! I won't have access to a car so I was thinking I'd do public transport, but I hadn't investigated it. I am sure I will save a lot of money by getting the 3 day MUNI pass!

Pier 39 is for tourists, but that doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't go. A quick stroll through and then pop around the back of the stores to see the sea lions! Chinatown is fun, and Japantown. Golden Gate park is lovely. If you have a car and can spare the time, driving up to Muir Woods is an excellent place to see redwoods forests, and you have your choice of trail lengths, I think the shortest is maybe 15 minutes and they're very accessible even if you don't normally do a lot of hiking.

OP

Thank you!

[ SECRET POST #2749 ]

Travel advice!

Re: Travel advice!

Re: Travel advice!

Re: Travel advice!

Re: Travel advice!

Re: Travel advice!

Re: Travel advice!

Re: Travel advice!

Re: Travel advice!

Re: Travel advice!

Re: Travel advice!