Questions about San Francisco

[asheris]

Our family is starting to plan a trip to SF, and we've got some questions:

1. When's the "best" time of the year to go?
1a. Since we have a couple teachers in the mix, we might need to plan for summer; if it's not part of the previous answer, when's the best time in summer to go?

2. Where do we Absolutely Have To Visit While We Are There?

3. Are there any particular eateries we should make sure to visit for a certain meal/dish/drink?

4. What other questions should I be asking?


Oh - and, um, what exactly DO you do if there is an earthquake?

Comments

[curmudgeon.livejournal.com]

1. Summer is not the best time of the year to be here. From late June through August, when it's hot hot hot in the Central Valley, the heat rises and pulls the cold air off the ocean -- which creates the famous fog on our little peninsula poking into the bay. It can be 90 degrees across the bay in Berkeley and a clammy 55 in the city. Brrrr. I wear a fleece pullover all summer long, and if I want hot weather, I drive up to Sonoma.

1a. On the other hand, May, early June, and September are glorious. Which doesn't really help if you have teachers in the mix.

2. Avoid Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf. They're a giant tourist trap and they suck. Instead, eat your way through the Ferry Building. Wander around Chinatown and North Beach. Go to Golden Gate Park and visit the new De Young museum. Walk over the Golden Gate Bridge. Go downtown and visit SFMOMA and Yerba Buena Center. Hang out at the dive bars in the Mission. Walk all the way up Fillmore Street from Geary to the top of the hill, and then walk down the other side into the Marina. And then come to my neighborhood, where the tourists rarely go, and I will take you to the best bookstore in the city and feed you excellent cheap dim sum.

3. You have not been to SF until you've had:
- a Mission burrito from either El Toro or La Cumbre
- Vietnamese food at Slanted Door (in the Ferry Building)
- chocolate from Recchiuti (also in the Ferry Building) -- the salt caramels are obscenely good
- a bloody mary at the Zeitgeist
- sushi -- we have sublime sushi here (but don't bother with Ebisu, it's past its prime. I can recommend at least 3 other places.)
- a big bowl of noodles at Mifune in Japantown

I could go on and on. We are VERY SERIOUS about our food here.

4. You should be thinking about where you want to stay. Feel free to run any possibilities past me so I can warn you off the bad neighborhoods!

And if there's an earthquake, you probably won't notice it unless it's a big one, in which case you'll be joining the rest of us as we run around in a panic.

[keith-london.livejournal.com]

I suggest "Haight Ashbury (http://www.sfgate.com/traveler/guide/sf/neighborhoods/haight.shtml)" - only because I heard it in a song lyric.