Travelogue: San Francisco

Golden Gate Bridge

If I could only have twenty four hours in the city of San Francisco…

What to say about this magical place that hasn’t already been said. If it were up to me, I would be hard pressed to find a more robustly diverse city on this continent, both in its culture, cuisine, and scenery. In fact, I’ve often said that if money were no issue (who hasn’t played this game?) there would be no valid reason given to not live somewhere in the immediate vicinity of this haven of wonder. 

I’ve lived in the area and can unequivocally say that it is the closest thing I’ve found to the perfect utopia. This place shaped me from the very first time I set foot in the city and guides me to this day. Perhaps it's the Northern California values, however you would define that, looking out for the fellow man, for the earth, for oneself. Whatever it is, its impact on me cannot be understated. 

This city inspires me like no other. It is in a true sense, a muse. It keeps me reaching for more. It calms me when I’m anxious. Gives me life when I need a jolt. It is everything that I need it to be, and it never lets me down.

The music scene here cannot be beaten. The food, cannot be beaten. The sights, the sounds, you get the picture. Though perfect may be a loaded term (and San Francisco has its warts, plenty of them) part of the charm of the place is how authentic it always seems to be. It also fits like a glove in terms of my personal five step mantra for which I follow in nearly every place that I'm able to explore:

1. Find a good view - As a photographer, this is a must. It need not be from the top of a mountain or skyscraper, simply somewhere that captures the area in all of its glory

2. Make your top excursion a free one - Museums and galleries are great, but so is a stroll through a local neighborhood. A hike, or a beach walk. Most of the things I enjoy doing most while visiting a new place, don’t cost a thing.

3. Deliberately choose a “less touristy” part of town over a “predictably touristy” one- Taking a cue from step two, choosing less touristy areas at the expense of popular ones can improve your experience in many ways. It will generally be calmer, more authentic, and your money will almost assuredly go further.

4. Eat a good meal at an authentically local place (and/or) eat something you’ve never tried - It doesn't matter if you’re on a week long food specific trip, with a list of the top 20 restaurants in town, or you’ve got a few hours to kill in Amsterdam and just need to sample the tastiest Stroopwaffel- make food a top priority of your travels. The best things are often the simplest anyways, and many of my favorite travel memories are from food stands, street vendors and cafes. Bonus points for finding something you've never tried, or that you don’t even know what it is, but you try it anyways because isn't that what adventure is all about?

5. Seek out a culturally different experience - The very best part of traveling to a new area is living and seeing things from a local perspective. It’s more than choosing the mom and pop shop over the chain restaurant (which is a given) rather, it can be stepping out of your comfort zone completely, by trying to immerse yourself in something totally different.

Do these things and you’ll at least find a taste of the authenticity that San Francisco has to offer.

And that's what I wish people to find when they visit here; authentic San Francisco. It can be found, though it takes some careful planning. 

Bay Bridge

Now, one simply cannot come here for a day and leave with a full understanding of what San Francisco is all about. This is a place where you could spend a lifetime and not see everything there is to see. Or even if you did, things have a way of looking different each time. 

On the flip side, as easy as it would be for me to recommend weeks worth of itineraries to be able to capture everything the city has to offer, that's also not a realistic ask.   

As I’ve often experienced on my travels, sometimes a day is all we have. Or even hours. Maybe it’s downtime after a conference, or a strategically planned 12 hour layover (a favorite thing to do for my wife and I) but whatever time you may have, I’m here to help maximize your experience in one of the worlds greatest cities.

So much to see, so little time

Let's say just hours is all you do have. Don’t fret, you can have yourself a great time! First things first however, is that there is so much in proximity outside of the city of San Francisco that it’s tempting to experience it all at one time. Believe it or not, you could find yourself touching down at San Francisco International Airport, not spend a minute in the city other than driving through it, and have yourself one of the best vacations I could imagine. Sounds crazy but it’s true, I’ve done it quite often. Yes, go in any direction; south towards San Jose, even further on to Monterey or Big Sur. Go east to Oakland or Berkeley. You’ll find plenty there. Most spectacular though, is north. 

Cross the Golden Gate Bridge and into Marin County and enter an entirely different world. As is said about the City, one could spend all of their days in Marin and never able to see all of it. So before we go any further, I suggest one thing. If on a tight timeframe, don't try and do it all. Instead, just plan more than one trip! Seriously, you’ll thank me later. Yes, cross my heart, San Francisco is the best city on earth. There isn’t any other street I’d rather stroll down than Columbus Avenue at night. No beach I’d rather comb with a prettier vantage point than Marshall’s. But in my travels, I have come here and zipped right through town and into Marin, because it too deserves to be seen as its own world class destination . Sacrificing one over the other seems entirely cruel; so while we spend our time in (The City of) San Francisco this week, come back later in the month for (Everything else but the City of) San Francisco where we will dive deep into everything Marin has to offer.

Marshall’s Beach

So back to the south, and the city itself. What is it that you like to see and do? 

Museums, performance art? Check. 

Ocean, pretty views? Everywhere. 

Culture, diversity? More than anywhere. 

Cuisine? Safely in the conversation of “world's best.”

You don’t need me to tell you exactly what to do while here, but what I do want to do is spend some time to focus on the less talked about places, and try to carve out a plan to get a taste of what the city has to offer. 

Short on cash? Find your view

My goodness the culture just drips from this place, and the availability of so many world class experiences to boot - museums, galleries, Michelin Star eateries abound. But what to do if on a budget? Fret not, the best things in life are free as they say. Also, why not knock off the top two bullet points in the aforementioned travel mantra in one fell swoop?

What if I told you San Francisco is the very best city to maneuver around and sight-see? It doesn’t matter how.. By foot, by scooter, by public transit (the MUNI and BART are some of the nations best) and even by car if you’ve rented one. This city just begs to be traversed. 

The excitement of climbing the steepest grade of incline you’ve ever ventured up, and the anticipation of what lies on the other side, must be experienced. Considered one of the hilliest cities on earth, each new vista constantly leaves you saying “wow!”

So, outside of the myriad of further reasons given for why San Francisco deserves to be visited, it goes without saying that it is one of the most photographable places on earth. And in a city surrounded on three sides by water, with hills abound, finding your view isn’t hard to do.

Coit Tower, on Telegraph Hill

Sure it costs money for gas and bus tickets etc, but there really isn’t a better place on earth to just wander around, especially in these pandemic times (I could easily write an entirely new full length post on all of the concert venues, broadway shows, operas etc. that just aren’t in the cards at the moment). So for now, enjoy what you can, and take a ride, or a stroll.

As I mentioned, it is great by foot. In fact, one of my ultimate favorite things to do in the city is walk down Columbus Avenue. Neon signs, street art, and buildings old and new adorn each corner, making this stretch of town a photographers dream. 

If you need some green space respite, try the Presidio, with a few miles worth of inland and coastal trails.

The most favorite is of course combing one of the dozen or more beaches that make up the peninsula of San Francisco from ocean to bay. I have literally spent days here (like sunrise to sunset) looking for rare sea glass colors. I’ve had my share of luck, and it is this glass that I primarily use in making my sea glass art. 

The overlapping of hobbies is of great interest to me, and as someone who primarily looks for great photo spots, the “wandering” aspect of course kills many birds with a single stone. The point being, San Francisco, if just to look around, is worth your while. Whether it be the architecture, the way the sun casts shadows through buildings on the hilltops, the abundant green spaces that seem to connect the many neighborhoods, each different from the rest, this city is pure eye candy. 

Outside of just wandering around aimlessly, there are certainly considerations to be made when deciding how to best spend your time.

Old meets new in North Beach

Choose North Beach over Fisherman's Wharf

So you’ve searched “top San Francisco attractions” and have landed on “Fisherman’s Wharf.”

Ah yes, the much maligned tourist trap dotted with chain restaurants and plastic knick knack stands for as far as the eye can see. I mentioned deliberately choosing less touristy areas, and this is your greatest opportunity (and frankly, test). 

Intertwined with the commercialism that is in no way representative of the city and its culture, Fishermans Wharf, for better or for worse, seems to be where people turn to first. Pier 39 is where the action is, and it is what it is- over run, commercialized, inauthentic. I would say skip this area entirely, with a few caveats (there are a few things in this area that aren’t totally off putting). For example, If seals are your thing, then by all means check out Pier 39. They make for a very unique attraction that you may not find anywhere else that easily. They’ve more or less been here for decades, lazing away for tourists to laugh and gawk at their barking and flopping. 

For a bite to eat, Scoma’s is a nice restaurant, a staple for decades that serves all things seafood, including killer Cioppino. Alas, if it's truly Scoma’s you desire, their sister location north of the Golden Gate Bridge in lovely Sausalito, captures the inviting waterfront vibe that the wharf could never produce in a million years. If it’s sushi you crave, nearby Grandeho’s Kamekyo provides a wonderful selection for a relatively great price. Yes there are many options for a great meal in this city (truly, world class) but if you happen to find yourself near the wharf, there are at least a couple of more than viable options that I quite rather enjoy.

With all of that said, while I won’t explicitly tell you not to go somewhere, it would pain me to hear of someone spending their time in such an unrepresentative scene at the expense of the other more substantive places nearby. So, after you’ve made your way winding down Lombard Street (yes, do it once, it’s fun) and you find yourselves at the crossroads of (my favorite street) Columbus Avenue, with Coit Tower in the distance, instead of taking a left to the wharf, take a right towards North Beach!

With the Transamerica Pyramid as your guide, head south down Columbus and explore the wonders of North Beach, chock-full of many great overlapping cultural influences from Italian cuisine to the Beat Generation. As I said before, it’s one of my favorite places in the city. It’s still slightly touristy, but it has so much that I love. 

Stop into City Lights, Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s independently owned, combination bookstore and publisher, that has stood since the early 1950s, inspiring poets and writers of all genres. Perhaps most famous for publishing Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems, City Lights still remains a vibrant part of the North Beach scene. 

City Lights Bookstore

Language of the Birds

Comstock Saloon

There are a few dozen restaurants nearby, suiting every need. For coffee, its Cafe Trieste. For late night drinks; the Comstock Saloon, Vesuvio, or Tony Nik’s. For everything in between, it’s something Italian. Molinari Deli, Calzones, Il Pollaio, there are just far too many choices. We’ll chat more about food later, as well as about visiting Chinatown, which North Beach segues into just beyond City Lights.  

Choosing North Beach is always the right call for me, and a constant reminder that streets less travelled are always better. 

Choose Cole Valley over Haight-Ashbury

The same logic can be applied when contemplating a visit to the Haight-Ashbury District. Now, I’m as big of a wannabe hippie as anyone else, fully aware I was born about 40 years too late. Ask me about my top five bands and the answer on any given day will always include CSNY, the Grateful Dead or Jefferson Airplane in some order or another. But consider that it is no longer 1967, and what you find in the Haight may underwhelm. Granted, I do love Amoeba Records, (the world's largest independent record store) but even they are a relative newcomer in the neighborhood. For nourishment, Ploy II Thai, housed in the upstairs of an old victorian on Haight Street, always leaves me satisfied.  I even stay here sometimes at the historic Stanyan Park Hotel; I love the place, and it makes for a great home base for your San Francisco visit. 

Yet it isn't the Haight, or nearby Golden Gate Park that are the highlights of the area. Rather, it is Cole Valley.

Tucked between the more famously named and frequented Haight-Ashbury and Castro Districts, is Cole Valley, the smallest of San Francisco’s neighborhoods. But what Cole Valley lacks in size, more than makes up for in community, charm, and authenticity- which helps us to fulfill the primary goal of this entry.  

Bordering the 80 acre Sutro Forest (a much smaller, but more ethereal green space than its famous nearby neighbor Golden Gate Park) Cole Valley assimilates into its corner of the world very much under the radar, but in perfect harmony with its residents. It’s a place I looked forward to visiting this fall, alas the pandemic had other plans. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it in the past, and will no doubt do so when I’m able to again. 

Cole Street serves as the main stretch, and on it, are featured a number of mom and pop establishments that would give anyone not from a big city, that sense of home. It’s also one of the best streets anywhere for breakfast, which I happen to think is the best meal of the day.

Reverie Cafe is a favorite of mine, serving top notch brunch in a wonderful “backyard” setting. Further down the road is Zazie, a bistro that like Reverie, has top notch first meal options.

If it’s dessert you’re craving, you’re in luck, Cole Street has that too. The aptly named Ice Cream Bar is a throwback to depression era malt shops, and you’d be hard pressed to not find something that satisfies your sweet tooth. 

Keep eating your way around town

It seems we’ve veered right into the food portion of the mantra anyways, which you hopefully have gathered by now that no matter no high or low my views on a particular part of town may be, good food is to be found everywhere. 

I ate at Quince with some work colleagues once. It was as you'd expect a Three Star Michelin Restaurant to be. Other worldly, if not, indescribable.  But do you know where I’ve had just as satisfying a meal and experience? Reverie Cafe. Point being, you needn’t dish out your life savings to leave town with a good tasting experience.

Two of the final neighborhoods I recommend visiting in this post also happen to be the home of some of my all time favorite restaurants, and fulfill culturally immersive experiences as well. Always a go-to spot for me no matter what my itinerary holds, is the Castro District. 

Castro

With its wonderfully welcoming LGBT community, vibrant night scene, brightly colored murals and street art, the Castro itself is worthy of spending time in, no matter how little of it you have to spend while in town. Start at the top of the hill and make your way down Castro Street, strolling past the beautiful Castro Theatre, taking some time to stop into the many fun and unique stores on the stretch. Harvey Milk’s Castro Camera is now the present day home of the Human Rights Campaign Action Center and Store, which you must visit before heading next door to Anchor Oyster Bar. 

Serving fresh oysters and chowder for decades, Anchor Oyster Bar is simple food at its finest. It matters not where it ranks in comparison to the city's more swank destinations (which usually ranks pretty high anyways), rather it's the vibe that wins the day. There are no more than a dozen or so seats here, save for bar stools, which make this a tough table to get on a busy evening or weekend. No matter, I usually head here to grab lunch and browse the neighborhood in the afternoon sun (if there is any).

If I can’t make it to the Castro, it's Chinatown that I will no doubt visit. Now that I think of it, I really do seem like a sucker for the early morning meal, and Chinatown doesn't disappoint. With its wide selection of bakeries serving windows full of tasty treats, the best rule of thumb here is “follow the locals.” Yes City View Restaurant has some amazing Dim Sum, and go there for dinner if you can…but I must be craving breakfast as I write this. 

Anchor Oyster Bar

Chinatown

Chinatown is the perfect place to let your adventurous food spirit fly. I try to respectfully defer to the chef or baker, asking them what the best item of the morning may be. I was once pointed towards some sort of tasty morsel or another, told it was Bolo Bao, and without bothering to figure out what was inside it, I nervously bit into a wonderful surprise that was amazing, but had I known what it was, in my ignorance and poor assumptions, I may have passed. Red bean paste and pineapple. Who knew such a thing could be so good?

The location of that pineapple bun, Good Mong Kok. Divine. I’ll be back there as soon as I can. Other options are easily found nearby as well. Golden Gate Bakery usually has a line out the door; and for good reason as their egg custard tarts are to die for. Eastern Bakery is another place to sample whatever has come fresh out of the oven. Even the markets themselves, featuring layers of complexity, with spices and dried goods abound, are worth your time, even if only to browse.

An added bonus of Chinatown is that it is yet another fine example of overlapping interests by having the chance to eat great, experience something different, take in the sights, etc. You could spend hours here without coming across anyone that looks or talks like you, making this utterly refreshing and fascinating. I’m a magnet for places like this, where I have the chance to learn so much. 

And learn, do I ever. Every time I’m here. From the people. From the waves. The sights, the sounds, the aromas.

There are days where I miss it terribly, where it pains me. But most of the time, I smile knowing that the city is always there, ready for the taking, when the time is right. 

In conclusion, any time spent in San Francisco is worth celebrating. I’ll make it back here as soon as I can, God willing, and hopefully for days on end. Alas, what I wouldn't do for just twenty four hours. 

If I did…

• I’d head straight to Cole Valley for breakfast

• Buzz through Haight-Ashbury and spend some time in the Castro

• Grab lunch at Anchor Oyster Bar

• Drive around, up and down and all around

• Take an afternoon walk through the Presidio

• Take a hike down to Marshall's Beach to watch sunset

• Go to North Beach for dinner and cocktails

• Stop into City Lights

• Stay at Hotel Boheme

• Wake up at dawn and have coffee at Cafe Trieste 

• Grab a treat (or ten) in Chinatown before returning to the airport