Nah. The ones we get at Pier 39 are actually almost all ‘loser’ males, who are either too young to breed in the Channel Islands or get kicked out. We get our highest sea lion counts in June and July, sometimes up to 1500 animals (rare to have that many, but it happens). We also get a few confused Steller’s sea lions in the summer, who generally should be further north. They’re really obvious because they get about 4x larger than most of the sea lions out there.
I’m going to go ahead and recommend whale watching because I work on whale watching trips out of San Francisco, and I try to recommend that every time this comes up. Plus, we’re in the middle of the migration of the grey whales north. To keep this non-commercial, I’ll suggest a Google search rather than any particular company. Whether or not you take a boat trip, I would also recommend going out to Point Reyes both for its general beauty, and the lighthouse there is one of the best places for land-based whale watching.
If you can, I highly recommend Burma Superstar at Clement and 3rd for good Burmese food - it’s a pretty good location to stop on the way to or from the Palace of the Legion of Honor (art museum) or the De Young (also an art museum - very nice and very new).
Someone mentioned Chow and Home - I liked Chow, but I’m not that much into the “comfort food” type restaurant, so Home isn’t my thing, but I hear it’s good.
I should mention that at dinner time there is always a line at Burma Superstar (they don’t take reservations). There is a reason that a line is always there.
I really like the R&G Lounge. I stopped there once on a whirlwind tour of the southwest (which turned out to include SF and Chicago), and made a specific point of going back when we went on our honeymoon over 10 years later. I love that place.
Also, we really enjoyed The French Laundry in Napa, but that goes without saying. Also in Napa was Domain Chandon’s restaurant, which was excellent. We also really, really had a good time at Farallon, in the city (near Union Square).
Oh, it’s nice if you’re looking for a touristy place (or want to see sea lions). But most of the restaurants there are mediocre and overpriced. I wouldn’t know about the crab stations.
If you are interested in Berkeley, I’ve got a bunch of restaurant recommendations there.
I second the Point Reyes recommendation if you’re renting a car. West Marin is absolutely amazing. I just remembered that i posted a quite detailed list of recommendations in this thread too.
Everything **wevets **says about Burma Super Star is true, but I want to note that the last time I was there, a few months ago, they took our cell phone number and called it when the table was ready–so we could wander around grocery stores on Clement looking at weird Japanese candies.
If you do plan to visit Berkeley, Jupiter is fun for drinks, but I think Venus (on Shattuck and Channing, I think) is a much better planetarily named restaurant for dinner. Even better, from the Downtown Berkeley BART station, walk down Shattuck to the Gourmet Ghetto in North Berkeley and eat at the world-renowned Chez Panisse or Chez Panisse Cafe, or grab tapas and drinks at Cesar, or check out the new gourmet food court. And Vik’s Chaat House is the both the best and the cheapest Indian food in the East Bay/SF, IMHO, but you’ll need a car or some patience with the bus to get there, as it’s not in walking distance of any BART stations.
It’s hard to go wrong at an SF restaurant outside of North Beach (which is WAAAAY overpriced). The crab stations are fun, though, and it is worth it to see the Musee’ Mechanique. The best craft-brewed beer in the city is 21st Amendment, followed closely by Magnolia, but I think 21st’s beer is much better.
If you like beer as much (or even almost as much) as wine, I HIGHLY recommend The Anchor Steam Brewery tour. You’ll have to call ahead for reservations, but you’ll get all the free tastings you want afterwards. There in the Potrero Hill neighborhood, and there are some pretty good restaurants up there, too-- Goat Hill Pizza, Liberty Cafe (HIGHLY recommended), Lingba.
More foodie spots: Taqueria San Juan (although you can’t go wrong with most of the taquerias in the Mission), Thepin Thai in the Lower Haight for thai food, Curry n’ Naan for Indian food (there’s one in the theater district), and for BBQ there’s Brothers on Fillmore and Memphis Minnie’s in the Lower Haight. That has the advantage of being on the same block as the Toronado, which is beer lover’s heaven-- they have many Belgian beers on tap as well as in bottles.
It’s been a long time since I was there, and I was a kid with my dad navigating, so it’s hard to remember some things. The Transamerica Pyramid was the first skyscraper I had been up, so I was impressed, but it’s not tall for a skyscraper. I was going to mention the Musee Mechanique as well but I didn’t know the name of the place or where it was.
Up north are the Muir Woods. The Costal Redwoods there aren’t as big as Giant Sequoias, but they’re pretty big.
If this is your first time in California and is likely to be the last, or the last for a while, you might think about driving out to Yosemite for a bit. Mapquest says it’s a 4 hour drive. If you do that you could skip the coastal redwoods in favor of the giant sequoias. A couple good spots on the walls of the Valley are Glacier Point which you can drive to, and Sentinel Dome which is an easy mile hike.
It was my first time out west. The sky at Glacier Point must have had a hundred times as many stars as I’d seen before. If you get out of the city, look up.
Also in Napa was Domain Chandon’s restaurant, which was excellent. We also really, really had a good time at Farallon, in the city (near Union Square).