[QUOTE=usedtobe]
demolishing any building over 100’ - that 60 story monstrosity by/on the old Terminal is #1 on the list.
I don’t care how cool you think it is to be further from street (and the city) by building higher and higher towers - those belong in NYC, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. Anywhere except SF - keep it magical - bask in the fog as it rolls over Twin Peaks - grab a Market Street (antique) streetcar - the boat is always the fav - and just ride to the end and back - $2 gets you from the walls of the Financial District to the Castro and a few more neighborhoods in between.
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Muni fare goes up to $2.25 on Monday.
I’m with you on the building heights. Salesforce has plunged my office into permanent darkness with their new building that’s going up about twenty feet away.
[QUOTE=The Second Stone]
Herb … he was a great writer who managed to put me in his column once.
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To educate the newcomers a bit more: The Garden Court was originally an open courtyard - the horse drawn carriages carrying those rich enough to stay there were NOT going to dump them out in the rain - there was a U-shaped “driveway” under that glass dome where the passengers would disembark.
There used to be a drawing of the original courtyard hanging in the main hall.
There was also a display case with the gold-rimmed china and gold tableware used at the time.
In the S.E. corner there is/was a bar with deep leather seats and (walnut?) paneling. Into the 70’s, that was a private club for the Railroad Barons. I did bend an elbow or two in both that room and the Pied Piper. I worked on New Montgomery.
That antique bar across the street is connected by tunnel to the hotel - a carry over from Prohibition. That bar did not allow women until 1980. There are small, dark rooms upstairs - guess what business the women in the bar were originally engaged in?
Did the 1930’s Soviet-syle murals of the Rincon Post Office survive? Those are superior to the ones in Coit Tower.
Damn it people- what did you do to the place in just 6 years? In 1999 (I had family visiting) the air was crystal clear. By 2005, even using some heavy-duty photo filters, I could not get the shots I had always meant to get (GG Bridge from Rt 24 alongside Oakland’s Children Hospital and the overlook from the old artillery emplacement. You know what I mean - I am not broadcasting that location - there are only a couple of dozen parking spots as it is.
Look over the Marina district - there is a 7 or 8 story apartment/condo building - Fontana West. That thing blocked some VERY expensive views of the bay. A residential height limit of 40’ was quickly enacted. Point being: you are blessed to be in one of 3 magical cities in the US (NYC, New Orleans) - act like it. Nod when you pass on the street (residential). When I left in 2008, there was exactly one old guy who practiced the “Hail fellow, well met” custom.
Do not litter. Drop your coins for the street performers - especially the musicians. Somebody has to pay them, and it’s your turn to be the grown-ups.
For the sake of Emperor Norton - clean up the place?
Go to the Trolley Museum. It is free and it is awesome.
Eat in a real Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. We went with a friend from Hong Kong and she ordered stuff for us you just don’t get in the restaurants you’re used to.
If you like comics - like newspaper comics - there is a nice museum for them also.
And I hope it rains in January. A lot. We could use it.
Herb Caen once quoted another local who said, “Shucks, I can’t tell January from July around here, and I don’t see how Death can, either.” (Commenting on how statistics showed over a number of years, how more people died in San Francisco in July than in January. )
I used to go to SF every December for an annual construction conference. Compared to Alaska, it was like summer. I always made a point of going to Stella, getting a cannoli and an espresso, sitting at an outside table, and then calling my boss in Anchorage to ask how her day was going.
I really hope it rains in January. California is in a terrible drought, and if we don’t get rain this winter we’ll be in deep trouble.
If you want to visit Coit Tower, consider walking up the Filbert Steps. This is a stairway that goes up the eastern side of Telegraph Hill. It’s very scenic - there are great views of the bay, and the houses and gardens are very nice. If you’re lucky you’ll get to see some of The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. I’d recommend driving up to Coit Tower - you’ll spend a long time waiting in a line of traffic for one of the parking spaces in the tiny parking lot.
The Asian Art Museum is very nice. I think it’s at least as good as the other major art museums in the city.
No one has mentioned the Exploratorium yet. It’s a really great science museum with a lot of hands-on exhibits.
The Ferry Building Marketplace is a food-lover’s paradise. Even if you’re not a foodie it’s well worth visiting.
If you’re going to visit wine country you should consider Sonoma County as well as Napa County. Sonoma doesn’t have as many high-end restaurants, but it’s more scenic and less touristy.
Muir Woods would be a nice place to visit as long as it’s not freezing or raining heavily. You can see some old-growth redwoods there without having to travel very far. You’ll be under a canopy of trees where little direct sunlight reaches the ground, so won’t matter much if the skies are gray.
Occasionally it does happen, though. I’ve lived almost my whole life in SoCal, so I expect SF to be a little chilly at any time, compared to what I’m used to. But whatever time of year I visit, I always seem to become acclimated to the extent that I don’t find myself wanting any more outerwear than I’d use in L.A. I’ve been there in January and found myself carrying my coat draped over my arm, at least during daylight.
An exception might be a really heavy rain, but so would it be in SoCal. That is, it would be if I could remember what a heavy rain looks like.
I agree. SF, being right on the ocean, has temperatures that don’t vary much compared to the inland areas, which are MUCH hotter in the summer and a bit colder in the winter. The best time to visit is fall and spring, but anytime is good. In the winter, it just depends on the jet stream and the storm pattern-- it could be very pleasant or it could be raining like crazy.
My only time in San Francisco was in January, and we (my family and I) found the weather to be quite nice. Certainly better than New York in January, and therefore, way better than Chicago in January (which I’ve been to at that time of year as well).
Warning:
IIRC, the count is 286 for the Filbert St steps (which used to be a local secret, like a few other points (which I do not mention on the web, fer cryin’ out loud!).
If you start, you have a long walk. I have never had the energy to continue it up to the tower.
While we’re on Coit Tower:
Lily Coit was a firehouse Groupie - she loved men who fought fires. IOW: she humped anything that wore a fireman’s hat.
The tower’s unusual shape is that of a fire nozzle, circa 1910.
