San Francisco

I love this city too, been there like 5 times so far, going again in July.

Have you done a boat ride to the Golden Gate yet? Last time it was a blast and somewhat scary. Water was choppy as hell and our "captain" couldn't legally buy a beer ... I'm going with the assumption that he and his "crew" had permission from their parents to do these "tours".

I'm thinking of doing one of those Alcatraz tours next time.

I was only in SF for 24 hours when I was 12 but the place is seared in my memory. I'd absolutely love to go back and spend a bit of time there one day.

bleah, not a huge fan. My brother lives there and every time I visit I feel like I should like it more than I do. Just don't dig the vibe of it.

The Sony Metreon is not a bad place to catch a movie.

I'm going there for the first time next month for a vacation. I can't wait. I'm going to be the biggest tourist that I might as well wear a Hawaiian shirt and carry a camera around my neck.

A friend went over to the US to study medicine. He's lived in three places so far. Houston, San Francisco and LA. Houston he detested. He went to LA because of a great job opening but he's always looking for a way to get back to San Francisco. He absolutely loved that place. I've heard nothing but praise from him all the years he was a resident there.

The Red Vic Movie House will be playing The Room at midnight on Saturday. That should give you a nice non-touristy reason to hit the Haight/Ashbury neighborhood. Also, Amoeba Music is up that way.

The Red Vic is good. I finally got to see The Life of Brian on the big-screen there the last time I was up that way.

SF's full of great moviegoing, actually.

Right now, the San Francisco International Film Fesitval is going on at the Kabuki Sundance Cinemas in Japantown. Details here: http://fest09.sffs.org/

Depending how long you're in town, you can also see virtually every currently buzzing indie at places like the Lumiere at California and Polk, the Opera Plaza multi, the Roxie in The Mission, or The Bridge on Geary (Anvil opened there today). Currently, the Landmark on Fillmore is doing a midnight showing of Metropolis with live music.

The Cartoon Art Museum on Mission (not far from the Metreon) is a fun little side trip. Right now, they have exhibits on Stan Sakai (creator of Usagi Yojimbo), as well as a display of props and costumes from the Watchmen film.

As someone else mentioned, there's great music/movie shopping at stores like Amoeba and Rasputin's (which is just off Union Square, near the cable-car turnaround).

Great eats for not too much dough include Dottie's True Blue Cafe on Jones Street, near Geary (allow for a lengthy wait, but the food is worth it, particularly if you like traditional breakfast fare), and Big Nate's BBQ on Folsom (that's NBA Hall of Famer Big Nate Thurmond).

If you're still going to be here next weekend, May 3rd will be the first of 2009's Dashiell Hammett tours of San Francisco, with local author Don Herron taking you through key locations featured in Hammett's hard-boiled detective fiction: http://www.donherron.com/tour.html

And today's SF Chronicle has a feature on finding famous Bay Area movie locations. It's on the back page of the Datebook section, or you can find it here.

And finally, here's a fascinating landmark for you: a couple years ago, the long-disused San Francisco Armory building in The Mission (I understand a couple of scenes from the original Star Wars were shot there) was bought out by a British fetish porn entrepreneur, so there is now a massive porn film studio situated in a huge castle in downtown S.F that's worth a walkby and looksee. I sort of doubt they give tours, but I do know they have plans to turn the outside areas into some kind of community cultural arts hub. You can read more and see (unfortunately SFW) pix here.

Make sure to be very loud and hit the buffet.

I'll get right on that.

Thanks for the suggestions, folks! I'm not going until Memorial Day, but I'll let you know how it goes.

I've been advised that you're to stay the hell out of the tenderloin. At any hour of the day.

Oh and the Oakland airport is really really long.

I've never noticed this museum. Is it new? Definitely on my todo list for my trip in June now.

It dates from the late 80's, though I know it's moved at least once.

Their website's a little ragtag, but it'll tell you what you need to know.

Yes and no. It's definitely one of the bad parts of town, but it runs right up against several of the big theaters (stage, not movie), and "regular" folks brave its parking areas all the time.

But for most visitors, there's simply no need to go there.

Touristy stuff: A tour of Muir Woods (redwoods!) and Sausalito is cool, and your tour guide will probably stop at the scenic overlook on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge, giving you a truly magnificent view of the SF Bay, Alcatraz, the SF skyline, and the bridge. Truly one of the greatest vistas in the country.

Geek stuff: If you're a science-fiction/horror fan, check out Borderlands Books.

Stoner stuff: Haight Street is interesting and colorful, and if you need weed, just follow it to Golden Gate Park and wander around until someone offers to sell you pot.

Best views of The City can be had from Treasure Island. You can take the regular bus, no need for a pricey tour.

Henry's Hunan Restaurants...there are four or five of them around town..are great for good food at a low price. For once, satellite restauratns have retained the quality of the original. THere is one at Natoma Street a few blocks from the Metreon.
Great food..the whole Hunan food phenemenon was started at the original Henry's on Sansome street....but careful, it will take your tongue off. I suggest you order it made Mild if you have never tried Hunan food before.
My own favorite SF Restaurant..Original Joe's in the Tenderloin,..sadly, has been closed for nearly two years after a fire. I hope it is not gone forever. Best Hamburger I ever ate.

Going to San Fran in a few hours (still haven't done my bags) and will be there for a whole week. So how was your trip, anything you would recommend?