San Francisco A2K Gathering - April 9-12, 2004

Yes, King George is at Mason and Geary... close to Adagio, me thinks, and guessing about twelve blocks to Nob Hill MI.

http://www.kinggeorge.com/index1.html

I think it's about one mile.

Airport tips.

If you plan to rent a car at the airport, Oakland AP may be more convenient than San Francisco AP. The drive into the city is easy and pleasant, except for 7:30AM - 10:00 AM weekdays on the Bay bridge. BART goes from Oakland to the city, but be a little careful. The Oakland airport generally offers a greater number of lower cost flights and is a good deal less crowded and frenetic than SFO. If that is not a factor and you are shuttling or bussing into the city, SFO may be easier.

Cars & Parking

Parking is an expensive hassle in San Francisco. Daily car rentals are readily available downtown for the day trips you must take: otherwise cabs and cablecars are cheaper, more convenient and more fun. There is a large city-run parking garage at the corner of Stockton and Sutter streets downtown (just a block from where Cicerone took the photo above and conveniently near Union Square) that is much cheaper than the alternatives.

Restaurants

Most of the restaurants on Fisherman's wharf are ripoffs - except for Scoma's. The nearby Buena Vista cafe claims to be the originator of Irish Coffee. For a uniquely San Francisco treat try the Tadisch Grill on the 100 block of California street. It has been there for over 80 years and is a treat - a bit noisy, no reservations, good food & fun. Another place I like is in the Drake Hotel just off Union Square - forget the name but good novelle Italian cuisine and reasonably priced for the city. If you feel like really splurging on a memorable meal, I recommend Tommy Toy's near Montgomery St between the financial district and Chinatown.

Walkabouts

Try the embarcadero from pier 39 to the Ferry Building. Looks nice now - once it was the rather gamey and the scene of riots between the cops and longshoremen. Just past Broadway off to your right is the old "Barbary Coast" to which the swells from Nob Hill descended for booze, gambling and whores.

Another - start at the Palace of Fine Arts near the Marina - .go South on Baker to Chestnut, then East on Chestnut Street to Mallorca Way, then left to go North to the Marina Green and bask West to the Palace of Fine Arts where you started. A delight.

Take the Hyde Street Cablecar from Union Square to the end of the line. On the return trip get off at Lombard and walk down the winding block towards North Beach.

There are more if anyone is interested.

Terminology

San Fransciscans refer to places in the city as "the XXXX", as in "the Fillmore", "the Castro", "The Richmond", "the Marina" , "the Avenues" "the Sunset", "the Mission". All have a distinct character and most are worth seeing.

Van Ness street runs North & South and divides the city in several ways. The 1906 earthquake & fire destroyed nearly all the structures east of Van Ness, so the oldest remaining early Victorian strructures are all West of Van Ness.

George, riffing off the top of my head, some pleased positives and some thumbs lateral if not down.

Tadich Grill is not the best food you've ever had, but by decor and ambiance is old SF. Haven't been there in a while though, not a place I would aim for in particular (see the Nusbaum Coppola place... or others)

Palace of Fine Arts, I have a whisp of memory this has been refurbished, not sure, and I might love to see it.

The BV cafe, never mind. Unless you happen to be there and are thirsty. But don't drive across town.

The Drake Hotel just off Union Square, that interests me too.
I liked it years ago, and wouldn't mind checking it out again, going to the room at the top. I liked walking in there when I was nineteen, and it probably formed some part of my sense of cities.

Anybody looked at my restaurant posts? (uh, that took me about three hours... not to whine, and I plan to print the link out in full before April.)

Lombard, people in that wiggly street neighborhood are losing their minds over tourists walking down their street.

Chestnut Street, I can't picture ever being on Chestnut Street but it is famed for quiet cute little restaurants. I saved an article about a place called Angelo's...

So, I laid out all those names a few posts ago, and you do here, and mostly we will eat and drink where we happen to be at the time, and make our own list, the A2K list. Known to me as Awk.

Good idea, osso. Bring a hard copy of your restaurant list to the gathering. It'll come in good use - I'm sure.

George Ob are you making it? Looking forward to meeting you...

We'll probably argue, or agree to disagree. But I have appreciated yoiur a2k posts, your sensibility, and hope to meet you.

Ofcoarse, george is coming!

Now, if only we can get McTag and Feona to join us, I'd be a very happy camper.

We're trying to get Gautam to make that hop across the pond too!

I think I'll mail it out first. I'd like to furnish everybody with a real map too but no, can't.

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT - BUY EXCELLENT SAN FRANCISCO MAP FROM YOUR LOCAL GOOD BOOK STORE.

STUDY IT.

SOMEWHAT.

San Francisco is small, walkable and knowable. It reminds me of Rome, which is the same, And expands past knowable in similar ways. Well, SF has more hills, and I need to rest when walking up them myself, even when I am in good shape. Taxies have new allure in this city. I love to walk, but I love to walk flat.

Thus when I have a four or more block hill sparkling at me vertigiously, I will walk sideways up a bit and then up a lot and then sideways..
any decent hike would shine me on.

Luckily. as a tourist, I can stop and survey the scene in an ethereal way.... zone.....breathe......

so, we all don't have to scale the most vertigionous hills. This isn't some kind of marathon meet. If we know the approximate destination, a cab can take a group there.

I who love walking miles on miles haven't walked a lot lately and am wimpy relative to myself. People who do local mountains on weekends will just snicker, but others will quail at SF hills.

A2k folks are here for both.

And yes, if an a2ker has never been on a cable car, then don't we all need to do a cable car thing together? Maybe,
at a slower time, we can do a ridey...........

Lola, are you coming in with the PDiddies? Bob didn't realize that I haven't finalized reservations at the Nob Hill. Still trying to find the most centralized place with cheap parking. That might be it, but I'm still looking.
We are looking forward to meeting new faces with old names we have admired.
Osso, I loved your list, but know so little about the city or where things are located that I became a little overwhelmed by all the good choices. I would rather leave it up to you and c.i. to pick---although, one of the Indian restaurants sounded great. Also love French food, but any food is good with me, unfortunately.
What will the weather be like in the middle of April?

San Francisco proper is rather like Eureka, where I live. Eureka is a victorian seaport some miles north of SF, and is often, very very often, under actual Fog. But hey, when it is clear, you could sing, as it is almost like Venice, Italy was, once, Venice being without dirt particles in the air, or many, anyway, relatively speaking.

Eureka has generally amazingly clean air. But back to temperature.

April? Take sweaters and jackets and be prepared to throw them off or wish for more. Mark Twain is famed for some comment about the coldest winter being SF in August.

I suppose it gets really really hot in SF in Aug or Sept, but I think that is unlikely in April. (yah, but don't trust me, check your international weather.com..... )

Eureka in April is about 63 and I'll guess that for SF. Sometime in the month, for sure.

CI can tell more...

Well, I love french and indian...

I think what will happen is we will each have these lists at hand after I mail them, so that if we are hungry and look around we'll see some place and choose, and maybe choose nothing on the list. but it'll serve as an orientation list.

I love lists, but usually they only serve to position me in space.

We a2kers will not be together all the time. This'll just be one more handy (or not) list.

In the meantime, the adagio looks good to me versus that hyatt for a meet in the lobby... the hyatt being a fair walk more. But maybe I am wrong, and everybody would like to meet at the hyatt.

We're talking Friday. Hyatt. Adagio. St. Francis lobby. King George lobby.

Any other ideas?
Well, what are we talking about, a general Fri dinner? Got to think about that, if so. A general Saturday breakfast might make more sense.

Let me not push, I don't really care, as long as I made it to town and can meet everybody.

Waaaahhh! Vicarious traveller lurking here !

I wish you could get your vicarious tush over here. Or that I was more financially endowed and could go Ozward.

Looking about, batting eyelashes at finaciers.

But, no, where are they, the financiers?

In the meantime, g'to see you...

ok, I'll cancel the Nob Hill reservation and wait to hear. I would love it if we all, or most of us stayed in the same or close hotels. The Adagio looks good.

I want to play touch football in the park with all these women.
I want to climb up under the Golden Gate and share a hookah with george.
I want to marry a squre-jawed hairy fellow. He'll wear a tux. And thong undies.
I want to ride the back of a cable car and hang out over the street singing all your Tony Bennett favorites.
I want to have sweaty slippery baby oil sex with Grace Slick thirty years ago.
I want to do a hit of acid and paddle to Alcatraz on a raft made from blow up vinyl intimacy companions while wearing a George Bush mask.
I want to go surfing.
I want go down to chinatown and get my jeans pressed at the same laundry that Palladin used.
I want to burn another bone or three with dys and friends.

dys and the nun are still booked into the Nob Hill Motor Inn.

Diane
San Francisco without fog and wind? My months of choice for any location along the northern pacific coast are April and October. These months have never failed me (or else my memory is going putz). But, Osso is right, always bring a sweater just in case.

I also highly recommend using the Oakland airport and it's rental car facilities. You will find it closer and easier to get to most of San Francisco's down town sites from Oakland than from SF airport, which is in San Mateo---especially in rush hour traffic, which is most of the day now. If I were going to get a hotal room, I would get one in the East Bay and commute by BART to San Francisco. Much less expensive for rooms and parking. And BART and SF's transportation is good enough to take you most anywhere. I have suggested the City of Alameda before because the freeway to the SF Bridge is easier from Alameda than anywhere else---and the prices and parking are great.

BBB