OT: Doing a West Coast Fly-drive. Any tips ?

capo-wear-i · Post by **capo-wear-i** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 4:35 pm

So...
I'll be heading off to the U.S of A in April for a two week fly drive (12th->28th). It's not booked yet. There 4 of us (2 couples) going. Here's the (rough) plan:

15 or 16 nights:

Fly in Las Vegas from Manchester

2 nights in Las Vegas
Grand canyon (possibly an air trip from Las Vegas)
3 nights camping in Yosemite (in lodging camp)
...
2 nights Redwood National Park
Down the coast
3 nights in San Francisco

Fly out San Francisco

Any tips? Places to see/avoid etc..

No clubs or stuff - my ears need a break !

mike holiday · Post by **mike holiday** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 8:28 pm

do a bigger section of the cali cost
PCH is bitchen

djadonis206 · Post by **djadonis206** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 8:39 pm

If you get a chance in San Francisco stop by Powells Place off Eddy Street

besides going to Mississippi or Alabama it's the best southern soul food I've ever had in my life (seriously)

However - after doing some research on-line it appears they might (I hope not) might be closed...

I wish Tone would go there and confirm or deny this - but if it's open you're sprung

ad

chrysalis33rpm · Post by **chrysalis33rpm** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:02 pm

I imagine you are coming up the East side of the Sierras, over Tioga Pass. Stop and swim at Mono Lake, California's version of the Dead Sea - otherworldly salt formations. Stop for a picnic and a walk at Tuolome meadows. Hike the Vernal Falls trail in Yosemite valley - amazing. Do not fall off the waterfall.

Use the bear proof containers to store all food, lip gloss, anything that smells like snack to a bear! They also can recognize coolers by sight. This goes for Redwood Nat'l Park too. I have known people to get their car doors ripped off so a bear could get in. But they're not interested in you as snack, don't worry.

There was an epic thread about San Francisco not that long ago, I am sure you can find it.

Cheers.

capo-wear-i · Post by **capo-wear-i** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:28 pm

Thanks all

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:45 pm

Powells is down on Hayes, around Octavia, I'll hit it up one of these days.

For a few days in SF:
drive to these places around town for great views
Yerba Buena Island (in the middle of the bay bridge)

top of twin peaks (south edge of town)

top of Rodeo drive. go over the Golden Gate Bridge north of town, Rodeo is the first exit after the 'scenic vista' turnoff parking lot at the end of the bridge. Rodeo goes under the road and up a hill, park up there.

same shot Sasha used for his SF Global Underground album.

while you're over on the north end of the bridge you can drop down into Sausalito, nice little super rich town on the bay.

Muir Woods is north of SF too, amazing redwood forest, that's where the speederbike/Ewok scenes were shot in The Empire Strikes Back.

then there's Coit tower around the North Beach (Italian neighborhood)/Chinatown. this can be crowded. the tower itself looks phallic but is shaped like a fireman's hose to honor firefighters after some fire, maybe the big earthquake.

North Beach and Chinatown are right next to each other, kill two birds with one stone. park the car at the garage here (this is a great tip, you'll thank me later

)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/north-beach-par ... -francisco
Mona Lisa and Francino's are two of my favorites to eat at up there.

the bay cruises are wonderful, I love taking people from out of town there. pick it up around Pier 39 off of Fisherman's Warf. ~$25 for about an hour, very cool tour.

the Alcatraz tour is also really cool, another guilty pleasure when people are coming in from out of town.

Haight Street - look for the corner of Haight/Ashbury on a map, it's literally the center of town (and just a few blocks from where I live.)

Golden Gate Park - pretty

Sutro Bath House ruins/Lands End park - my favorite spot to watch waves and a really cool park that you'd never think could be in a large city.
it looked like this back in the early 1900s

looks like this now

really weird though, there's always a dozen or so people to photo shoots there.

Lands End shot

there's a decent restaurant just south of all that along Ocean Beach, called the Beach Chalet, it's a microbrewery (get their beer sampler) with a nice view of Ocean Beach.
http://www.beachchalet.com/

Fort Point is another cool spot to drive to, it's a military fort under the SF end of the Golden Gate Bridge built during the civil war. now it's just a parking lot and if you're lucky there's surfers doing there thing.

close to Fort Point is 'The Presidio', a former military base turned into a park, some amazing views up there.

some downtown views with bars-
The Marriot

the Equinox which is a rotating restaurant/bar
http://dinesite.com/info/rstrnt-252592/

for a drive south of town, follow the coast to Santa Cruz, Pacifica with it's Taco Bell on the beach (I love that spot.)

the Grand Canyon is amazing, hike to the bottom and back up if you can, 26 miles, takes all day and the hard part is at the end, very very cool spot.

also you'll be in the area of Hoover Dam which has to be seen to believed, freaking huge!!

then there's Joshua Tree National Park in that area, the only place in the world where Joshua trees grow (as in the U2 album.)

agreed on the tips around Yosemite, beautiful country.

that's a good start, I might think of more. if there's anything particular you'd like to know about let me know.

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:49 pm

oh yeah, if you're in the Fisherman's Warf area, I'd recommend McCormick and Kuleto's for pretty good food and a killer view. then hit up The Buena Vista for Irish Coffees then jump on a cable car which is right there. the cable car museum is in North Beach, it's pretty cool to see.

thing about Fisherman's Warf is that it's ALL tourists, it's not SF for REAL, it's hanging out with tourists.

btw Fisherman's Warf is right next to North Beach then Chinatown is up from there, might be a good order to hit those places, or in reverse order. really, it's not a large town, 7 miles by 7 miles. driving kinda sucks, take cabs.

Pitch Black · Post by **Pitch Black** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 11:14 pm

Tone, you are the greatest ambassador for your city!

If you're doing a lot of driving, I would reccomend getting a vehicle with XM Sattelite radio fitted. I just couldn't get enough of the movie-score station when I visited SF last year. http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=72590

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 11:21 pm

love this town, I still get a kick out of being a tourist here myself.

djadonis206 · Post by **djadonis206** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 11:24 pm

Now I want to go back to SF

chrysalis33rpm · Post by **chrysalis33rpm** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 10:03 am

Damn TD, another slam dunk!

I'd also suggest Buena Vista Park as a place to view downtown from, and with great cafes just steps away (go to Valencia Street in the Mission for cafes and bars and restaurants).

capo-wear-i · Post by **capo-wear-i** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 5:21 pm

Thanks for all the tips so far - looking forward to SF

We're definitely trying to avoid LA.

Any more must see stuff up on the coast or in the desert ?

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 7:34 pm

capo-wear-i wrote:Thanks for all the tips so far - looking forward to SF

We're definitely trying to avoid LA.

Any more must see stuff up on the coast or in the desert ?

Death Valley is also pretty cool, but that's more southern CA.

Buena Vista Park has some great views, that's just off of 'the Haight'. Mission Dolores Park is another one with a view.

+1 on Valencia, check it from 16th St to Cesar Chavez.

there's also Union and Fillmore, and Chestnut St for more shopping/walking areas.

Lombard Street

which is hailed as the crookedest street in SF, it's not, it's the 2nd crookedest St, the #1 street is on the other side of town and nobody knows about it.

if you're a fan of Mythbusters, their shop is here in town, you can drive by and see some familiar outside scenes.

it depends what you want to do. if you want museums, check out The Exploratorium and SFMOMA (each has a FREE admission once a month). if you're into sex clubs, check out The Power Exchange. if it's Asian trannies, go to Asia SF, it's all up to you. if you want dinner in bed with Cirque De Soleil style entertainment, check out Supperclub. if you want to bike around an island in the bay and picnic, check out Angel Island. are you into bar hopping? hiking? driving? educational stuff?

oh, then there's wine country about an hour north and SF is between 2 race tracks, Laguna Seca and Sears Point (or whatever they're calling that today.)

there's also Monterey and Caramel further south, two super rich beautiful towns.

oh and then there's...

capo-wear-i · Post by **capo-wear-i** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 9:06 am

are you into bar hopping? hiking? driving? educational stuff?

More outdoor type stuff than museums and and bars. Anywhere with a bit of scenery. I reckon we'll save the other tourists type stuff for bad weather..

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 1:49 am

capo-wear-i wrote:
are you into bar hopping? hiking? driving? educational stuff?
More outdoor type stuff than museums and and bars. Anywhere with a bit of scenery. I reckon we'll save the other tourists type stuff for bad weather..

the bay cruise tour
http://www.redandwhite.com/

Muir Woods
http://www.nps.gov/muwo/

Mt Tamalpais
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=471

Angel Island
http://www.angelisland.org/

Lands End
http://www.virtuar.com/ysf2/ap-Land-end.htm

wander the northern edge of town from the northeast edge (the warf) to the northwestern edge. all along there is scenic and a good walk. plus you can walk the Golden Gate Bridge.

every Sunday they close Golden Gate Park to cars, if it's nice out, the locals go nuts, especially if it's unusually sunny.

hmmm dunno, those should keep you busy. I'm just killing some time at the end of the work day.

oh, SF is a coastal town (duh) so the weather can change quickly, always have a coat with you.