Case (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
case) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomsecrets2013-06-10 06:34 pm
case) wrote in fandomsecrets2013-06-10 06:34 pm
[ SECRET POST #2351 ]
⌈ Secret Post #2350 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
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Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 05 pages, 113 secrets from Secret Submission Post #336.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
What to do in San Francisco
(Anonymous) 2013-06-11 12:10 am (UTC)(link)Re: What to do in San Francisco
Re: What to do in San Francisco
(Anonymous) 2013-06-11 12:52 am (UTC)(link)That's all that comes to mind in general terms, but if you have any specific questions, or if you have anything in mind, feel free to ask, I can probably address it.
Re: What to do in San Francisco
(Anonymous) 2013-06-11 06:16 am (UTC)(link)If you're able to take some day trips, Muir Woods has awesome redwoods, down the coast to Monterey is a gorgeous drive plus there's the Monterey Aquarium, one of the best in the world. Point Reyes is also beautiful coastal views as long as the weather cooperates.
Re: What to do in San Francisco
First, get a Muni Passport! The seven-day ones are $28 and give you unlimited rides on the cable cars, the buses, and the Muni Metro. DON'T drive around, parking looks to be horrendous and basically every street in the city is one-way only, AND you're competing with the cable cars in places... And the cable cars are extremely expensive on their own. $6 a ride, IIRC - and that's even if you're not going the full length of the route.
Also regarding cable cars, there's one exception to getting on anywhere - the very ends, specifically on the Powell lines. The California line is pretty chill, but if you try to get on, say, a few stops up from the turnaround in Powell, or at Lombard Street near the Powell and Hyde, it's going to be so packed you're not going to be able to squeeze on. I got off at Lombard to take photos, the next THREE cable cars were completely packed in BOTH directions, and I ended up just giving up and walking down to the turnaround to board there.
Fisherman's Wharf IS touristy, but is worth it for three things: Ghirardelli Square (get the Powell and Hyde cable car, then walk up towards it - the chocolate shop is an eye-opener, and the sundaes look delectable), the sea lions at pier 39, and Musee Mecanique. (It's full of antique coin-operated arcade games! And they all work! BRING QUARTERS.)
Speaking of museums! My favourite museum not just in San Francisco, but in the ENTIRE WORLD (and I've been to some of The Greats, like the Natural History Museum in London and the New York and Smithsonian natural history museums), is the absolutely goddamn amazing California Academy of Sciences. I love it so fucking much <3 As well as the usual natural history museum stuff (done exceedingly well, incidentally!), it also has a planetarium, a FOUR-STOREY INDOOR RAINFOREST, and an aquarium which I actually think beats out Monterey Bay Aquarium in some respects. It's just. The best <3 And the architecture is goddamn amazing, I've studied it at a postgrad museum level and just... guh, it's one of the best-constructed museums ever. Ever.
...Right. Sorry, I got carried away. The Exploratorium is also goddamn amazing! It's on pier 15 now, so you could, say, get the Powell and Hyde down to Ghirardelli Square, see stuff around Fisherman's Wharf, then get the F-line streetcar over to see it! You'd want at least half a day there, though. For art museums, California Academy is almost right next to the de Young - some lovely stuff, and the view from the observation tower is great. For smaller ones, I also am very fond of the GLBT History Museum.
Speaking of the GLBT History Museum, just wandering around some of the neighbourhoods is great. The museum is in the Castro, Chinatown is really fascinating, North Beach (right next to it) has some great shops, including the amazing City Lights Bookstore, there's also a Japantown which has a huge Kinokuniya and great food (I found Hyrule Historia in Japanese AND a plushie Umbreon!), and the Mission is quite nice. Mission Dolores itself is really serene and peaceful, and the shops along Valencia are incredibly quirky. 826 Valencia is a pirate store! And right next door is Paxton Gate, which is like a curiosity cabinet you can walk inside of! I've bought two fossils there on two different trips, and when I inevitably move to SF, I AM going to buy their entire stock of succulents. Yup. Gorgeous minerals, too!
Now, FOOD. San Francisco has... everything. Anything. Think of a cuisine, and it has it. I went to MULTIPLE amazing vegan restaurants when I was there (if you're interested, try Herbivore! There's one in the Mission and one not far from Alamo Park). You're also there at the right time to hit up the farmer's markets - there's a huge one every Tuesday and Saturday (and I think other days in the summer, lemme check - yeah, Thursday too) out front of the Ferry Building, with some of the best fresh fruit there. The last time I was there in summer (granted, early July), I got to try Rainier cherries and pluots for the first time :D If you eat dairy and nuts, you HAVE to try the almond brittle by Alfieri Farms, and if you don't have dairy, just the nuts are goddamn brilliant. My favourites are the applewood smoked almonds. They also have a more permanent set-up inside the building! Also inside the building are just... this fantastic array of other food places, including a really really good gelataria (THEY MAKE CHOCOLATE SORBET), a fantastic chocolate shop, a cheese place that's supposed to be amazing, and this amazing store just dedicated to mushrooms. Far West Fungi! They're neat. There's also a stall selling vegan and organic donuts :D (Pepples!)
Now, you may also want to check out more of the Bay Area. Monterey is a really nice day trip, probably easier to drive down than to get public transport. Another option is to get a ferry across to some other areas in the bay, I went to Sausalito and it was wonderful. You could also drive across the Golden Gate, too, then head up to Muir Woods from there. And it's a little bit longer and you'll have to start early and get back late, OR alternatively spend the night there, but you're only a few hours away from Yosemite National Park. You can stop off at the fruit stalls in the valley on the way, too, for amazing and CHEAP fruit! (Seriously, I saw cherries for sale there for $1.47 a pound. That's $3 a kilo. To put that in perspective, cherries when they're IN SEASON in Australia are literally three times the cost.)
Oh, also, I'm not sure how familiar you are with the Bay Area in general, but even though it's summer over there, bring a jacket. It can get pretty chilly at times, and then there's the fog...
And now that I've spent a thousand words rambling about my favourite city in the world, I'll wrap up here and just encourage you to have the most amazing time ever <3 (...And now I miss San Francisco. Sigh.)
Re: What to do in San Francisco
(Anonymous) 2013-06-12 11:13 pm (UTC)(link)Re: What to do in San Francisco
Also, forgot to mention where to actually GET those Muni passports - if you're not getting one at the airport, then the best place is a booth near Powell station, near the cablecar turnaround. There's also some in the Ferry Building, IIRC. They also have general tourist info-y stuff, like maps.
But yes! Enjoy it! <3