Anyone been to San Francisco?

Mimisinger

Wed, Jun 18 2008, 11:37 pm

Dh and I would like to go away this summer with ds. And, seeing how I've never been to California, I'd like to go. So, we're thinking about San Francisco.

What can you tell me about kosher food?
Accommodations?
Sites to see?

It will be for Dh and I and ds, we will probably go from Sunday-Thursday and we were thinking of renting a car if it's possible.

mummiedearest

Wed, Jun 18 2008, 11:52 pm

I have been there briefly. you can check out kosher food locations on shamash.com, but make sure to call the places before going there to double check. some places are listed and not kosher. (I don't mean hechsher I don't trust, I mean serving bacon sandwiches.)

I honestly don't remember the difference between san francisco and LA aside from the bridge and the noticeable population of gay people. sorry, I guess I'm not a huge fan of california in general. then again, I'm not a huge vacation fan either...

Rutabaga

Thu, Jun 19 2008, 12:30 am

San Francisco is a lot of fun. You can easily get around the city without a car, but if you are going to be there for more than a couple of days then you can drive to some great nearby places.

In SF:
Explore Chinatown. Many guidebooks contain self-guided walking tours. Sabra Restaurant is right inside the main gates.
Take a trolley ride.
If you are traveling with a kid you must visit the Exploratorium.
Walk around the Haight-Ashbury district. If you don't keep cholav yisroel, you can pop into the Ben and Jerry's scoop shop there.

Near SF:
Go to Muir Woods to see the redwood trees. There's a very easy path to walk or longer trails if you like to hike.
Visit the Scharfenberg chocolate factory. A lot of their products are kosher.
Do a scenic drive along Rt 1 to see the coast.
Head out to Point Reyes National Seashore. It's a beautiful national park.

Tamiri

Thu, Jun 19 2008, 12:38 am

You can easily drive to see the Sequoias and Yosemite (stay overnight at a place closer to the park), but it's a crowded season.

ShiningThrough

Thu, Jun 19 2008, 4:39 am

Great post, Rutabaga!

I love northern California... There's plenty to do in SF, but see if you can manage a day trip out into the Redwoods (very holy vibe there), Sonoma County (wine country- a beautiful drive, but no kosher wineries, just checked 4U), Berkeley (a fun and colorful town across the Bay) or Big Sur (stunning coastline 120 miles south of SF, check out the link for Carmel River State Park here: http://www.parks.ca.gov/defaul.....d=567) If you don't mind extra driving that would be a gorgeous day trip.

Hope you're arriving early on Sunday and can enjoy the weekend specials... Check out open markets and other happenings in advance to make the most of your 1 Sunday there...
Chinatown and Redwoods and Big Sur are good to do during the week.

ENJOY!

ChossidMom

Thu, Jun 19 2008, 4:48 am

I was in California once on business and decided to go up to S.F. to check it out, when I was single.

So, I get to S.F., check into a hotel, sleep overnight, and in the morning I took a 1 day tour to all the areas like Muir Woods, Alcatraz etc. Well, guess what? While I was on the boat going around the bay, around Alcatraz and under the Bay Bridge there was an EARTHQUAKE. The date was October 17, 1989. It was a strong and fatal earthquake. For those of you who may not remember, the Bay Bridge partially collapsed (one level fell down to the next one.

The crazy thing was that I literally missed the earthquake cause I was on the boat and didn't feel anything. I did feel the aftershocks though.

Needless to say I got out of San Francisco the next morning.

ShiningThrough

Thu, Jun 19 2008, 5:22 am

Hey ChossidMom, glad you were okay! I was living in Oakland then and remember that day so well... Glasses fell out of our kitchen cupboard and broke...

Hope the OP has a safe and uneventful vacation. Yes

Mimisinger

Thu, Jun 19 2008, 7:23 am

Thanks all, your suggestions sound great. It's funny dh was looking last night and thought he'd found kosher wineries...

But the trees sound great as well as everything else, keep it coming - Thanks!

Oh, and what kind of open marketS?

fleetwood

Thu, Jun 19 2008, 7:37 am

When we were there we visited Napa and found a kosher vineyard, I think it was Gefen. But you need to find out when they're open. Near our hotel, I think it was union square was an Israeli place where we got Shabbos food. Just be prepared, we went in the summer and it was chilly. Oh one other thing You MUST travel by trolley but if you have a car you need to visit Lombard street,its claim to fame is that it's crazy, curvy, crooked. Have fun, San Francisco is beautiful.

yo'ma

Thu, Jun 19 2008, 9:02 am

Check the weather. When we went in the summer, we ended up buying a light jacket because it was a bit chilly. The weather is not like LA, cuz it's more north.

Rutabaga

Thu, Jun 19 2008, 9:27 am

Oh, I forgot to suggest Alcatraz. They have tours during the day and in the evening. I went at night because there were plenty of other things to do during the day and I wasn't about to go bar hopping or whatever at night.